# AMH an FSH - can anyone shed some light



## JoyfulBaby (Jan 6, 2010)

Hi all

I am just approaching 42, and have been trying to conceive for 3 years.  Does anyone know what is good or bad in results for FSH; AMH and Oestradoil.  From what I understand a FSH of 8 is not bad, the AMH on the other hand is not so good, and Oestradoil I have no idea what that is.

I visited the clinic twice to try and get some explanation on what the test results mean, but I didn't have any joy.  On both visits I was asked what treatment I wanted and even given forms to fill in regarding my chosen treatment options.  I will definitely not be using this clinic it was quite upsetting as they rushed me and out due a backlog of appointments.  It felt like they were only interested in you if you "signed up"!!

I have just had my test results back and my FSH is 8.7 and my Anti Mullerian Hormone level is <0.7 and OEstradiol is 79.

I have 4 follicles that are working from what they can see.

I am told by the clinic that IFV would be 5-10% OR 50-55% DE.

From what I they have said my best option is to go for DE.  Does anyone have any experience of this?

It's been a tough decision to make as to what to do and seeing a specialist hasn't really helped.

Any help would be really appreciated.

K


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## Violet66 (Dec 28, 2007)

Hi Joyful 

what day of your cycle did you have your hormone levels checked? 

Your FSH is pretty good but the AMH is not so great. Your estrogen levels also seem a little low. 

I'm afraid it is true that chances of success with own egg IVF after 42 are pretty slim. clinics like you to have an FSH of under 12 - which you have, but I'm not sure if your other results would be taken into consideration. 

It took me a long time to make my peace with using donor eggs - so I know that it's not easy. 

The stats you've been quoted sound about right to me. 

Good luck making your decision -


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## Rose39 (Dec 9, 2007)

Joyful - just adding to Violet's helpful advice, the key consideration in your forties is egg quality, as once you get to 40,  typically only 1 in 6 eggs is chromosomally normal, which is why it takes so much longer for a woman in her 40s to get pregnant, and why the risks of miscarriage and abnormalities of the baby are significantly higher. If you look at my profile you'll see that very sadly my fertility journey is typical of this. Some ladies in their 40s who respond really well to the IVF drugs and get lots of eggs have CGH testing, chromosomal testing that screens out the chromosomally normal embryos and only those are put back, which increases the chance of success but also costs about £2500 on top of an IVF cycle, but to do this you'd need to get good numbers of eggs and good quality embryos (which is much more difficult in your forties).  

The FSH and AMH results give a clinic an indicator of how well you would respond to IVF in terms of the number of eggs that you'd get as a result of taking the stimulation drugs. Your FSH is very good for almost 42, however your AMH (this tests ovarian reserve) is either low or extremely low depending on the scale that is used for your results (there are 2 scales). Plus your antral follcle scan shows 4 follicles which is also not so good (clinics are looking for a good number of antral follicles that would be there at the start of stimulation that the drugs would work on - on my last own egg IVF cycle which had to be abandoned due to poor response I had 6 antral follicles at the beginning of the cycle). Clinics often look at FSH and Estradiol result together - sometimes in older ladies the FSH is low, but that's not a true picture of their fertility, as the estradiol result comes back disproportionately high and the estradiol is masking the FSH level.

The FSH and AMH tests only indicate how well you'd respond to the IVF drugs, they don't give any indication of your egg quality. As Violet says, the chances of success with own egg IVF in your forties are pretty slim - the best chance of pregnancy in your forties is from donor eggs, as a much higher proportion of eggs from a young donor are normal and so you'd be much more likely to get a positive result in 2-3 cycles of treatment, whereas with your own eggs the chances of success are much lower, and it would be also more likely that your cycle would be abandoned due to not having enough eggs to collect (which happened to me in my final cycle of own egg IVF).

You can get higher stats from the ones that your clinic has given you with donor eggs - is your clinic a UK clinic as these stats would be from egg share where you would receive half of the donor's eggs, whereas in overseas clinics you'd get all the donor's eggs so the chances of success are typically  higher - the clinic I am using gets 60-70% success rate (though sadly it hasn't worked for me yet, but I am hoping next time!). There are things to think through with donor eggs about identity release donors (as in the UK if you are an egg share recipient) or anonymous donors if you go abroad. 

It is a complex decision and not one to take without careful consideration - does your clinic have a counsellor that you could talk things through with? Some ladies/ couples find this helpful. There is also the Donor Conception Network which has very useful info for people considering having donor treatment. If you do make the decision, then things do get easier as you have much more confidence of getting a positive result sooner and ultimately a healthy baby.

Good luck in your thinking.

Rose xx


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## JoyfulBaby (Jan 6, 2010)

Hi guys

Thank you very much for you posts, its made me understand it all a lot more now.  I wish they focused on this in sex education at school instead of prevention. I never realised that the older you get the quality of your eggs goes down.  DOH!!

I don't feel so lonely now thanks to you, its been a frustrating journey and due to family issues I have not been able to give having a family and getting pregnant my undivided attention although I have been doing so much healthy eating, drinking very very rarely, giving up smoking and does all get to you after a while.  For the first time in 2 years this month I decided I would stop peeing a stick every morning and taking temps. I feel so much better now.  My life has been on hold for 3 years and I just want an end to it, hence we decided this weekend to use DE.

Someone I know used this clinic and 2nd attempt proved to be successful. So we will give it a go and see what happens. My thoughts and prayers that your journey will prove to be successful are with you both.  

Thank you taking the time to post.

K


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## Violet66 (Dec 28, 2007)

Good luck with your cycle Joyful  - hope it's the one for you. 

You're definitely right to relax a little and not become obsessed. 

I'm due to have my embryo transfer in two weeks time and I'm typing this with a large glass of merlot beside me


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## JoyfulBaby (Jan 6, 2010)

Good for you gal!!

Let me know what happens - all the best K


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