# TTC #2 and been told I have DOR



## tortoise30 (Aug 4, 2015)

Hi all,

I am new to FF, so apologies if I'm posting in the wrong place.

I am 33 years old and my husband is 34. We have been TTC our second baby since May last year. I had a miscarriage last August. 

I was referred to a fertility clinic and yesterday I was told I have decreased ovarian reserve (after having AMH blood test). My husband and I have decided to go down the IVF route as my egg reserve is so low, we really don't want to waste any time.

As we were fortunate enough to conceive my son (3.5 yo) naturally, we will have to pay for our IVF.

I have so many questions!! Feel totally overwhelmed by it all. Is anyone else in a similar situation?

We have an info session with a nurse on the 24th, and then I'm guessing we'll start treatment (?) but I really am pretty clueless!!

Look forward to some advice.

Many thanks in advance


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## gruffan (Nov 3, 2014)

Welcome Tortoise!  I had the same nasty surprise last year when I went for testing. I don't know what I expected, as clearly something was wrong, but DOR really wan't it.  I was also 33 years old at the time of diagnosis, and my initial AMH was 8.4, but it had dropped to 4.2 before I started the IVF round six months later.  

I went the IVF route and don't regret it.  I was lucky enough that it did result in a pregnancy (only 17 weeks now, so a ways to go before I can say it was a success), but I'm happy I did it.  If we spent another year trying without treatment, and then had no success, I would always wonder whether it would be successful if I hadn't waited.  

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.  We went with the Lister in London because they treat a lot of patients with DOR.  I had a really poor response to treatment, but with DOR you just have to keep reminding yourself that it only takes one.  Good luck!


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## tortoise30 (Aug 4, 2015)

Thanks so much for responding 

I have sent you a PM x


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## rubyTTC2 (Aug 4, 2015)

Hi tortoise30, 

I don't have DOR, but haven't managed to get pregnant on my own second time round. We have been trying for 3 and a half years naturally, using acupuncture, using clomid and ovulation induction injections and I have only now come to the point where I accept we need more assistance than that. In hindsight I wish I had been ready earlier, but I wasn't so here we are! We are private too, and once we had our first appt things got moving pretty quickly.im just starting my first IVF with ICSI cycle, and am excited that this could finally be our answer. Fingers crossed. 

Good luck with getting things underway. I Hope all goes smoothly for you!


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## tortoise30 (Aug 4, 2015)

Hi Ruby,

Thanks for responding  

How old is your little one?

We were told Tuesday, we basically had 2 options: try clomid for 6 months, or start IVF. My AMH levels are so low we decided trying clomid for 6 months would be too big a gamble.

How soon after your info session did you start? What clinic are you at? Feel free to PM me 

Good luck with it all x


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## Ashi1000 (Aug 31, 2015)

Hi I am 27 I have 2 kids and we have been trying for our 3rd for 2 years, we fell pregnant 2 months ago and unfortunately it was a missed misscarriage so we have decided to have ivf in Cyprus with team miracle Dr firdevs. There are a lot of good reviews about it. My egg count is low for my age and my partner is older than me (45) his sperm count is low so we think it's best to have Ivf. My pre medication will start on the 12th and I'm really excited and counting each day. When are you having your ivf treatment? Xxx good luck with it all xx


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## Inneedofsupport (Aug 31, 2014)

I have dor. I wasn't expecting this as previous results showed a problem with oh. Just starting an IVF cycle. I had two miscarriages in the last year. Was about to get the test done when I fell pregnant with the first mc. Had that not happened we would have done this then. Sometimes life really does conspire against you.
Good luck and I still feel clueless but at least someone is doing something for us


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## Fox Gloves (Sep 17, 2015)

Hi Tortoise, sorry to read your story  sadly mine is very similar. I had my dd naturally and very easily and she is now 3. We started ttc no 2 2 years ago and I got pregnant easily again but had a mmc at 12 weeks. After that I failed to get pregnant and in January this year I found out I had a low ovarian reserve. My amh was 3 at the time, what is yours? 

I had ivf straight away and got 6 eggs but only 2 fertilised and only 1 made it to day 2 transfer. It was a bfn. Went to the lister for my second ivf since as gruffan said they have good success rates and treat a lot of people with dor. Sadly I wasn't well that cycle and I didn't respond. We converted to iui but it was a bfn.

For me, I am now desperate for a sibling for my dd and we have pretty much run out of money. I can't face spending another few months and another few thousand pounds for a small chance of success and so we have decided to use donor eggs on our next cycle which hugely increases our chance of success. 

I wish you lots of luck with your ivf and I hope you get your bfp. So many ladies with low amh do so don't feel down, you only need 1 good egg and you've every chance of getting a good quality one. But if you do find yourself in a place where ivf is not working for you, there is a big donor egg community here so you will find a lot of information and support. 

Shout if you have any questions x


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## Sky_blue_purple (Jan 2, 2015)

Similar story to me I have a naturally conceived 3 year old then tried to conceive #2 for 2.5 years including a mmc. Was diagnosed with POF and told to go straight to donor eggs. Had a failed donor egg cycle and randomly got pregnant naturally while waiting for another donor. I think hypnotherapy helped me chill out a bit but my clinic have no idea why it happened as they gave me stats of less than 1% chance of conceiving naturally and less than 5% with IVF with own eggs.  Glad we kept trying anyway even though I never thought it would work. Feeling very blessed and 23 weeks pregnant now. 

On the donor egg thread there are many many happy families as the  IVF % chances of working go up drastically so also worth considering if other options are looking bleak.


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## Beamom2 (Mar 7, 2015)

Hi ladies, I'm in a similar situation and posted a separate topic here yesterday.  We have tried one round of IVF but had BFN.  I'm so confused, I have DOR too but have conceived naturally in the past.  Maybe I'm in denial, but I want to try something else before I do another round.  I found it very hard.
Tortoise when you tried Clomid, was it your GP that advised this?  My GP is pretty useless and everything we have done so far is privately through IVF clinic.  
Sky-Blue-Purple you think the hypnotherapy worked?  I'm willing to try anything.  Did you do anything else like nutrition, acupuncture?
I've booked an appointment with Create for next week to discuss regular scans and blood tests.  What else have you ladies tried.  I feel we are rushing at IVF.  Any advise appreciated.


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## gruffan (Nov 3, 2014)

Beamom-Sorry you are going through this. DOR/low AMH really bites.

I do think that it is worth being aggressive about treatment with low AMH. One thing that is commonly suggested is to take supplement CoQ10 and DHEA to improve egg quality. I believe the recommendation is to take it for three months before IVF to improve egg quality. If possible, it is best to have your DHEA levels monitored if you take the supplements, because you can take too much of it. I went to Lister in London, and they had some good info on what can be done about it. They are also real about odds:

http://www.ivf.org.uk/media/54653/Low-Reserve-or-poor-response-what-can-we-do.pdf
They also have a bit more information here:

http://www.ivf.org.uk/treatments/all-treatments/low-ovarian-reserve/

There's a book that a lot of people recommend that's called "it all starts with the egg." I haven't read it personally, but I do know that the basic concept behind it was reiterated to me by our fertility doctor--AMH is a definite strong indicator of how well you are going to respond to stimulation and how many eggs you are going to get, but it doesn't indicate quality, and it only takes one. If you are hesitant about jumping right into another round of IVF, I would suggest looking into the DHEA and reading some of the research out there and see if you can't improve egg quality a bit.


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## Beamom2 (Mar 7, 2015)

Thanks Gruffan.  I have actually ordered the book and awaiting delivery now.  I didn't know about DHEA and CoQ10.  I've read the link to Lister information and it looks good.  I can't do another round until after xmas anyway, and think I may look at the Lister then.  Went to Guys last time and just didn't fill me with hope.  Have a follow up apt Nov 30th so will see what they say then.  Thanks for your reply and advice.  All the best with your twins... how lucky are you!!! x


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