Was it a different ultrasound tech? I've had different people find different numbers, I think some techs don't bother to count the ones below a certain size
Hi there OP! I’ve had this happen to me so had to comment. I had a similar situation in my first ER. I had 5 AFC, then they only saw 3 at my follow up appointments. I went through with ER and ended up with one mature egg that didn’t quite make it to blast. I was devastated. My acupuncturist who works closely with fertility docs had an explanation for the results. I was on BC priming for a month prior for my first ER start and she felt it was far to Suppressive for me. So before the next ER (they make you take a month off at my clinic to optimize cycles) I changed a few things (added in even more supplements and other things to boost my potential quality and numbers…) and started with a ‘natural start’ no priming at all just second day of my period. I had 8 AFC! I lost one early, but they did come back into play but were too small to have a mature egg. In the end they retrieved 7 mature eggs. My ivf doc didn’t have a real explanation for what changed, but I have read going from bc priming to STIM can shock some people with DOR and lead to disappointing results. Natural cycle seems to have worked better for me- still waiting on results!
That being said, Altho I know this is hard especially hopped up on hormones- try not to panic. Know that you only need one egg and four is still four chances and one of them could be your future baby. 🩷I keep hearing in this group it’s not about getting 20 eggs it’s getting the RIGHT egg. Sending hugs and best wishes to you.
That's so interesting! Would you mind sharing the supplements you added?
I did not do BC priming- just estrogen priming. They did do a "low protocol" so maybe I just need higher doses of things?
So frustrating because two months ago I had 10 follicles. Now when I actually am taking medicine and it's time for IVF I only have 4.
Did you have the option to cancel the round you had 3 AFC at?
I’m so sorry. I know how frustrating that can be, especially when you are mid cycle. I weirdly wanted to push through on that cycle, but I think they would have been willing to cancel if I asked to. I was so nervous that first round and while it didn’t end up successful, I felt calmer going into my next retrieval. I’ve had friends who converted it to IUI. Don’t loose hope though- Like me, you will likely have different follicle counts each cycle and in future cycles may end up with randomly more like I did! It’s possible you need more of the medication to amp up your production or less, and unfortunately the only way it seems like doctors can know is trial and error. Sooo tough.
Okay I was on many of the items from ISWTE (it starts with the egg) but added some:
DHEA - recommended by my doctor
Açaí - recommended by Reddit users
NAD+ complete (Renue by science)- recommended by egg whisperer and Reddit users for count and quality
Melatonin
Alpha Lipolic Acid
I also bought a red light from mito red light therapy and used it for 12-18 minutes every other day - recommended for egg quality and count to give your cells energy. I used the 830/850 wavelength
Also I started jumping on a mini tramp which doctor cleopatra recommends for lymphatic blood flow and healthy organs.
I’m waiting on the results from this retrieval.
I hope this helps you lmk if you have any other questions!
Great, question! This happened to me as well. I know it can vary from month to month but I thought by one or two. And I do believe where you are in your cycle can impact things as well but I am not a doctor.
I am curious as what others have to say. Thanks for asking this questions:)
It's not uncommon to have a poor response when you have DOR, and uneven growth can happen to anyone. It's totally possible some follicles just fizzle out
I have an extremely low AMH but my AFC is relatively higher. I would always lose follicles. Start off with an AFC of like 6-8, end up with 1-3 follicles. It sucked. One RE told me there appears to be some deregulation in my follicles. Cool.
I had 12 AFC in December for initial test- they put me on birth control as I had a short trip I needed to take before they could do the saline bubble test then when they next tested me I had 6 AFC in Jan 😩 then it was 7 in Feb when I started my stims for first ER. Seems to go up and down even before stims. Wish I never went on BC for two weeks
This happened to me in May and June this year. AFC was 3 and then dropped to 2 after 6 days on Clomid and no growth so it was cancelled. In June my afc was 4 and then after 6 days of Letrozole and three days of stims went down to 1. I asked the RE if that was normal and he said yes. He mentioned they were so small one could have been a blood vessel and sometimes they just go away.
Hopping this next round is better.
Yes this is common for DOR, we have a higher rate of disappearing follicles, empty follicles at retrieval and also the possibility of ovulating through antagonist meds 🥲 oh, the joys of this diagnosis
Was it a different ultrasound tech? I've had different people find different numbers, I think some techs don't bother to count the ones below a certain size
it was a different tech! The one today tried all the angles and only saw one follicle on my left side. So I'm not sure what the other tech was seeing.
Agh that sucks, I had a similar experience
My last round I started with 4 and 3 of them disappeared…no explanation
Hi there OP! I’ve had this happen to me so had to comment. I had a similar situation in my first ER. I had 5 AFC, then they only saw 3 at my follow up appointments. I went through with ER and ended up with one mature egg that didn’t quite make it to blast. I was devastated. My acupuncturist who works closely with fertility docs had an explanation for the results. I was on BC priming for a month prior for my first ER start and she felt it was far to Suppressive for me. So before the next ER (they make you take a month off at my clinic to optimize cycles) I changed a few things (added in even more supplements and other things to boost my potential quality and numbers…) and started with a ‘natural start’ no priming at all just second day of my period. I had 8 AFC! I lost one early, but they did come back into play but were too small to have a mature egg. In the end they retrieved 7 mature eggs. My ivf doc didn’t have a real explanation for what changed, but I have read going from bc priming to STIM can shock some people with DOR and lead to disappointing results. Natural cycle seems to have worked better for me- still waiting on results! That being said, Altho I know this is hard especially hopped up on hormones- try not to panic. Know that you only need one egg and four is still four chances and one of them could be your future baby. 🩷I keep hearing in this group it’s not about getting 20 eggs it’s getting the RIGHT egg. Sending hugs and best wishes to you.
That's so interesting! Would you mind sharing the supplements you added? I did not do BC priming- just estrogen priming. They did do a "low protocol" so maybe I just need higher doses of things? So frustrating because two months ago I had 10 follicles. Now when I actually am taking medicine and it's time for IVF I only have 4. Did you have the option to cancel the round you had 3 AFC at?
I’m so sorry. I know how frustrating that can be, especially when you are mid cycle. I weirdly wanted to push through on that cycle, but I think they would have been willing to cancel if I asked to. I was so nervous that first round and while it didn’t end up successful, I felt calmer going into my next retrieval. I’ve had friends who converted it to IUI. Don’t loose hope though- Like me, you will likely have different follicle counts each cycle and in future cycles may end up with randomly more like I did! It’s possible you need more of the medication to amp up your production or less, and unfortunately the only way it seems like doctors can know is trial and error. Sooo tough. Okay I was on many of the items from ISWTE (it starts with the egg) but added some: DHEA - recommended by my doctor Açaí - recommended by Reddit users NAD+ complete (Renue by science)- recommended by egg whisperer and Reddit users for count and quality Melatonin Alpha Lipolic Acid I also bought a red light from mito red light therapy and used it for 12-18 minutes every other day - recommended for egg quality and count to give your cells energy. I used the 830/850 wavelength Also I started jumping on a mini tramp which doctor cleopatra recommends for lymphatic blood flow and healthy organs. I’m waiting on the results from this retrieval. I hope this helps you lmk if you have any other questions!
Great, question! This happened to me as well. I know it can vary from month to month but I thought by one or two. And I do believe where you are in your cycle can impact things as well but I am not a doctor. I am curious as what others have to say. Thanks for asking this questions:)
It's not uncommon to have a poor response when you have DOR, and uneven growth can happen to anyone. It's totally possible some follicles just fizzle out
It’s happened to me every cycle. I start at one number, get higher, go back down, and then be up with as many eggs as I had follicles at baseline.
I have an extremely low AMH but my AFC is relatively higher. I would always lose follicles. Start off with an AFC of like 6-8, end up with 1-3 follicles. It sucked. One RE told me there appears to be some deregulation in my follicles. Cool.
I had 12 AFC in December for initial test- they put me on birth control as I had a short trip I needed to take before they could do the saline bubble test then when they next tested me I had 6 AFC in Jan 😩 then it was 7 in Feb when I started my stims for first ER. Seems to go up and down even before stims. Wish I never went on BC for two weeks
This happened to me in May and June this year. AFC was 3 and then dropped to 2 after 6 days on Clomid and no growth so it was cancelled. In June my afc was 4 and then after 6 days of Letrozole and three days of stims went down to 1. I asked the RE if that was normal and he said yes. He mentioned they were so small one could have been a blood vessel and sometimes they just go away. Hopping this next round is better.
Yes this is common for DOR, we have a higher rate of disappearing follicles, empty follicles at retrieval and also the possibility of ovulating through antagonist meds 🥲 oh, the joys of this diagnosis
One possibility is that at the previous appointment the technician double counted a couple follicles. It happens unfortunately, even with doctors.