# Low AMH



## Frizzybee (Sep 7, 2010)

Hi everyone

I have already posted under the the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh however I'm hoping for some advice from some 'experts' out there!

We had our first appointment at the ERI at the beginning of September.  We thought we were just going in to discuss how the NHS self funding worked, but within 5 minutes we were told you will be getting ICSI in January and we are going to do all your bloods today and an internal scan.  (We have been on the waiting list since April this year, however the list is apparently 2½ to 3 years long, and time is not on our side)  

I was told that I need to lose 2 stone by the end of the year, otherwise they won't do the ICSI, which is fair enough, and hopefully the kick up the backside that I needed!  I've already lost 5lbs so hopefully I should manage to get the rest of the weight off.

Our next appointment is on the 1st of November, when my husband has to give a sample and I have to get a mock transfer.  I then have to go back in December for another internal scan, when I have my period?!  Sounds lovely!

We were quite excited that it was all moving forward finally, however we got some pretty crap news over the weekend!  We got a letter from the hospital saying that my AMH results were only 2.7!  The last sentence said that the letter would help us decide whether we wished to go ahead with the IVF treatment or not!  We really can't face never having a child, so we don't really have a choice but to go ahead!  

Why does this process make me feel so old before my times!  I'm only 36 for gods sake!

What I would like to know, is are we being unrealistic?  Can we get pregnant with such a low AMH and a lower than average count?

Any advice that you can give us would be greatly appreciated!

thanks

Julie xx




Julie xx


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## Mazza1971 (Aug 19, 2009)

Hi Frizzybee. Welcome to fertility friends. You can get pregnant with a low AMH and plenty of people on this site have. You will probably be put on the short protocol and require maximum stimulation. However, until you have done a monitored IVF cycle, nobody not even the experts know how you will respond! 

Do you know how many antral follicles you have? I only have between 5 - 6 and on my first cycle on a lower dose of drugs I only had 2 follicles so my treatment was converted to IUI. On subsequent treatments I always managed to get a transfer even if I only had 3 follicles and my eggs were always good quality. Unfortunately, although my second IVF resulted in a BFP it did end in a miscarriage but shows that a person with a low AMH can get pregnant!

Good luck


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## H&amp;P (Feb 19, 2009)

Julie,

Sorry to hear that yet another clinic has just sent out this bombshell by letter without even the courtesy of a phone call 

I'm sure one of the moderators will be along soon with some more links for you, but a few that have been useful to me are below.

Good luck with the weight loss   

http://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=246581.345 Poor responders chat thread

http://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=230320.0 Poor responders research thread

http://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=174687.0 Miracle stories

http://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php?board=112.0


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## Frizzybee (Sep 7, 2010)

Maryd - thanks very much for your comments!  I had my first vaginal scan at my last appointment, and they couldn't find what they were looking for, I presume that would be the antral follicles? They said that sometimes the bowel can get in the way, and that's why they couldn't see anything!  Hopefully at the next appointment they will do another scan along with the mock transfer and find what they are looking for!

Driver225 - Yeah the letter was a bit unexpected, considering they have all my phone numbers.  It would of been nice to to get a phone call so that I could have asked a few questions!  Thanks for the links I'll have a wee read over them.

julie x


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## Ceri. (Sep 6, 2004)

to FF!

Firstly, I'm sorry for the late reply in welcoming you to the site. 
Please have a good look around the site and feel free to post in any area, and make yourself at home. There are many who are on their TTC journey, and others who have been fortunate to have little ones with assistance. You will soon discover that our members are very encouraging of one another and offering advice or just simple hugs. There's a vast amount of information here for everyone, so start reading, posting and getting to know others. You will make some great friends too, lots of members often have meet ups locally too, for chats, coffee, shopping or even nights out! You can share conversations with one another freely, simply because we all understand each other. It's hard when family and friends don't fully comprehend what this journey entails and the emotions that go with it. That's where we come in!

Here are some links which you should find really useful at the moment&#8230;&#8230;

*What Every New Member Needs To Know (includes a list of common abbreviations) ~ *   CLICK HERE

*Complimentary, Holistic and Spiritual Approaches ~ *CLICK HERE 

There may be some questions within this list, which would be good to ask your consultant:
*Questions for your first cycle consultation ~ (use the ones that apply) *CLICK HERE

Driver has already left you the links for the 'Poor Responders' thread, you'll find lots of women in your situation there 

*Male factors ~ *CLICK HERE

General ICSI questions can be posted here:
*ICSI ~ *CLICK HERE

While undergoing treatment, you might find it useful to join other ladies having treatment at the same time. The Cycle Buddies threads are just for that. Just pop along to the appropriate month and say "Hi" when you are ready to start treatment.

*Cycle buddies ~ *CLICK HERE

You can also chat live in our chat room. We have a newbie day in the chat room every Wednesday where you can meet one of our mods for support, meet other new members and get technical support with navigating the site and using all the functions available here.  CLICK HERE FOR INFO ON NEWBIE CHAT 

Wishing you lots of luck    and 
Keep in touch
Ceri xx

PS I have also sent you a pm (private message)


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## julesg39 (Jul 1, 2010)

Hi Julie

I know exactly how you feel, I went through exactly the same at EFREC, although I was self funded.  Firstly they called and told me my FSH was 10, which was borderline and then I got a letter saying my AMH was 2.0 and so IVf would probably not be successful.  The thing is it's not as if we don't know that we may never get pregnant, but we just want to try!

Eventually after them putting up lots of barriers (my history is in my profile) and upsetting my on various occasions,  I moved to GCRM - they have a satellite clinic in Edi and I am now underway on  something called a flare protocol.

moving may not be an option for you, but whatever, you have to try, so just tell them to shut up and that you want to go ahead and read all you can on here about low AMH, after all, all you need is one good one to stick.  One thing is for sure, you need to be strong to go through this because it's not like the old days, they don't hold back on the bad news!

Best of luck with your journey next year.

Jxx

p. s I found the nurses absolutely lovely at EFREC, so perhaps pick up the phone to them and ask any questions you have, they were great.


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## Frizzybee (Sep 7, 2010)

Thanks very much for the warm welcome Ceri.

Hi julesg39, we are also self funding, because we didn't think time was on our side!  Now we know it's definitely not on our side!  

Do you know if everyone automatically gets their FSH tested?  No one at the hospital has mentioned it, or maybe that's still to come? 

We did look into GCRM, however we decided we would give the NHS self funding a try.  Who knows what we will do if this doesn't work, as I'm not sure we could afford another go privately! 

I'm now dreading our next appointment on the 1st of November, in case they try and persuade us that we shouldn't go ahead!  

julie x


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## julesg39 (Jul 1, 2010)

Hi again

I think the FSH test has now been overtaken by the AMH test at EFREC and certainly GCRM tested my AMH, not my FSH.  But they were surprised when I told them my FSH was 10.  I suppose if you were really interested you could have it done privately (just the test), or your  GP might wrangle it if you speak nicely to him.her?

Just be prepared to say to them, you know your AMH is low, but you want to try anyway.  My friends about to start at EFREC and her AMH is lower than yours, so they will let you....just try and convince you not to the first time, it's all down side.  Oh and prepare yourself for a poorer response than others.  You see I've only got 4 eggs in my one ovary, but that's all I was hoping for so I am actually delighted.....;-)

Once you've had your meeting and know when you are starting join the right cycle buddies board, I've found it really useful and one girl on there is at exactly the same stage as me.  I'm on October/November Pumpkins, but maybe the one after that will work for you, just depends when you start.

Best of luck and here's some baby dust    Low AMH'ers have babies all the time on here!

Jx


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## H&amp;P (Feb 19, 2009)

Frizzybee - I think the clinics just try to manage our expectations but if you are paying and want to try they can't really say no. As long as you go in knowing that you will not get a huge number of follicles based on your AMH (and it really is quality not quantity in this game) then you will be fine. 

Just one word of advise on the cycle buddies boards, be prepared for all the ladies on there who think it is a poor response to get 10 - 15 eggs and it can get a bit hard sometimes when you are overjoyed with 2 or 3 and everyone else is getting loads of eggs (though it can turn around if you then get 100% fertilisation)

Good luck


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## kellieclarke (Sep 16, 2010)

Testing


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## blueBell2010 (Oct 2, 2010)

Hi Frizybee,

I just wanted to say Hi after reading your post, I also have low AMH   and blocked tubes   we are also receiving treatment in Edinburgh hoping to start IVF around Feb next year!  Wishing you lots of luck with your tx   

xx


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## nmck3891 (Oct 2, 2010)

Hi frizzy bee
I'm new on here so not undertsnading the lingo at all! but all I wanted to say is that I also have a low AMH and only one ovary- first cycle managed to retrieve 5 eggs-3 fertilised-2 were transferred. Resulted in a pregnancy but then miscarried at 6 weeks. Although my case isn't necessarily entirely a successful one, I still became pregnant with a low AMH. My next cycle of ICSI starts in 4 days. Good Luck!
Natalie


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## Frizzybee (Sep 7, 2010)

Hi all

Thanks for all your comments, which have helped a great deal!  Obviously I'm still concerned about what will happen, but I don't feel quite as down about it as I did when I heard the news.  Our next appointment is three weeks today, so hopefully we will be a wee bit clearer about what route i.e. short or long that we will need to follow. We are definitely going ahead with the IVF no matter what, as I think we would always be thinking to ourselves 'what if'.

Something I would like to ask the hospital at the next appointment however is why they don't include the AMH test as one of the initial tests.  All I was given was a HSG, and they told me that was fine, so I presumed everything was ok with me.  Maybe if we had known at an earlier stage that I had a low AMH, we would of pushed ahead with the IVF sooner. . . . .  

Good luck to you all , whatever stage you are at!  

Bluebell2010 - lets hope that the ERI can work some magic!  

Julie x


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