Anyone over 45 TTc ?buddies needed <3

[Delphine11]

Good morning ladies.
I hope everyone is doing well.

I have a couple of quick questions...

1~Testing-Last Monday morning I went to my Ob/gyn for a full blood workup testing my AMH, FSH, thyroid and several other things that I can't recall today. A year ago my AMH was at .99, three months ago it had dropped to .18, but my FSH was all in the normal range. I'm scared to death that my AMH has gotten even lower.

Does anyone know how long it generally takes these test results to come back? In the past, I thought it was only a couple of days, but now it's been a week. And is there anything known that will help raise a low AMH?

2~The last time I was at my general practitioner's office, I was talking to the nurse about TTC and she told me about a local chiropractor's office that had had a little baby boom in the last few years due to adjustments done there. I called to ask about making an appointment and told them I was interested for fertility reasons. I don't know if this was just to get me to make an appointment or not, but she then told me that they'd had 12 women that had previously thought they were infertile get pregnant or give birth in the last year alone.
Has anyone heard of getting chiropractic adjustments to aid with fertiliy? Does anyone have experience with a chiropractor?

Hi I'm in the UK but my AMH test is taking longer than the others - maybe twice as long. The Dr told me it had to be sent off somewhere so maybe it's a more complicated test.

No, I don't think you can improve your AMH, but I have read lots of stories of women getting pregnant with a low AMH. One lady was told hers was "undetectible" and she had a chance in a million to have a baby - she got pregnant some months after that! I'd also say that the AMH test isn't perfect. My Dr said it "gives an idea" of the ovarian reserve. It's normal for it to decline over the years, so don't give up hope. It only takes one good egg.

As for the chiropractor - I've never been, but a friend of my mum's went years ago after trying for a baby for 7 years. He told her something in her pelvis was out of place, then did an adjustment. She got pregnant a few months later. She believes that it must have helped simply because she'd had no success at all prior to that. It can't do any harm, can it? Every little thing helps.

Good luck to you with your AMH results.

 

[Delphine11]

BBbliss - good luck for tomorrow! I'll be thinking about you. I'm sure it'll be fine. It's an exciting step further along the road.

I spoke to my Dr today. The AMH test still isn't back, but all the other tests she did came back normal (oestrogen, testosterone, thyroid, etc) The only one that wasn't what she expected was the progesterone, but, as I told her, I ovulated late this month (CD 18) and she said that might explain it because it may not have had a chance to build up. So I have to have that test repeated next cycle. I really wish I could just have some Clomid now! Seriously, I hate everything taking so long when each month feels crucial.

Now I have to wait till next month to be referred to a specialist. She said they'd want all the test results before they saw me. Typical that this was a month that I ovulated late and so the CD21 test didn't work *sigh*

 

[BabyGriffin14]

BabyG, i thank most testa only take a couple of days but amh takes a little longer but not more then a week. Unfortunately I don't think AMH is something anyone can change no matter what you do but I have heard of women getting pregnant with a low number.

I did hear about adjustments and fertility but decided it wasn't for me, I'm more comfortable with Acupunture. For some reason I didn't believe in it for myself but if you do anything that will make you feel better and healthier I say do it!

Good luck with your results

I wanted to do acupuncture too, but there isn't anyone near my town that does it and by the time I get off work, it's too late to drive to Atlanta. I'm really hoping this helps.
Good luck with your acupuncture!

 

[BabyGriffin14]

Hi I'm in the UK but my AMH test is taking longer than the others - maybe twice as long. The Dr told me it had to be sent off somewhere so maybe it's a more complicated test.

No, I don't think you can improve your AMH, but I have read lots of stories of women getting pregnant with a low AMH. One lady was told hers was "undetectible" and she had a chance in a million to have a baby - she got pregnant some months after that! I'd also say that the AMH test isn't perfect. My Dr said it "gives an idea" of the ovarian reserve. It's normal for it to decline over the years, so don't give up hope. It only takes one good egg.

As for the chiropractor - I've never been, but a friend of my mum's went years ago after trying for a baby for 7 years. He told her something in her pelvis was out of place, then did an adjustment. She got pregnant a few months later. She believes that it must have helped simply because she'd had no success at all prior to that. It can't do any harm, can it? Every little thing helps.

Good luck to you with your AMH results.

Thanks. That makes me feel a lot better. My back is really out of whack, so I am hoping this helps me.

Good luck on your results. I hope you get good news.

 

[BBbliss]

Delphine, how frustrating, I know exactly how you feel, I used to have the same feeling every month, always feeling I was running out of time. I really hope you are a good candidate for clomid All they need is that AMH result. I wish I could have just taken clomid but with DF's poor sperm it would never make a difference. It's great news all tests came back normal, I never did get my progesterone checked for some reason it's never been asked but there are so many alternatives to balancing progesterone that I'm not worried and I'm sure you are not either, it will all work out fine. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you.

All of you ladies!

 

[BBbliss]

So it all went well with IVF clinic and I start injections at the end of the month with AF. My AFC today was at 12, it's still a good number and we should be able to get good results from there. Egg collection will be mid march and they will freeze for later transfers possible second wk of May.

 

[BabyGriffin14]

So it all went well with IVF clinic and I start injections at the end of the month with AF. My AFC today was at 12, it's still a good number and we should be able to get good results from there. Egg collection will be mid march and they will freeze for later transfers possible second wk of May.

That is so exciting! I hope everything goes great!

 

[Delphine11]

So it all went well with IVF clinic and I start injections at the end of the month with AF. My AFC today was at 12, it's still a good number and we should be able to get good results from there. Egg collection will be mid march and they will freeze for later transfers possible second wk of May.

I'm so pleased it went well That sounds like a great AFC to me. I was reading about IVF and many women had 6. I'm seriously excited for you!

I had a stressful morning with a call from a nurse telling me my AMH result was back but the doctor would tell me next week. Of course, this has now got me all paranoid and worried! I'm not expecting it to be good simply because of my age, but I can't help worrying now

BabyGriffin - you were asking about AMH the other day. Because of my worrying phonecall today, I did some research. It appears you may be able to improve your AMH by taking DHEA. I've just noticed a thread on that on here. I'd bookmarked some pages but I did it on my iPod and I'm too sleepy now to hunt that out and put them here, but I will do when I'm not so shattered.

 

[BBbliss]

Delphine, thank you! I'm trying to be excited too. I'm a little scared of all the shots and if they are going to make me even more emotional, I know it's silly... But let me tell you what happened to me today, I had to go get something at toysRus, the same one I used to go when I was pregnant and when the girls were still little. I found what I went there to get and started to remember going there all the time and by the time I payed and was on my way out I saw the rides they had by the door, the ones you feed quarters in for the little ones to ride and I had a complete flash back, like time travel flash back and saw my DD riding the toys. I started to cry so much by the time I got to my car I was sobbin, I missed my babies so much it hurt, it was as if they had vanished. It was so sad, I had to pull myself together and tell myself they are still here and are doing just fine...

Delphine, when you get that result, please remember no matter what the number is what really matters is the quality of that egg, and the quality can be improved greatly by taking dhea and coq10. My IVF clinic put me 40-80 dhea per day and 600coq10 plus a baby aspirin and prenatals. I have read of women getting pregnAnt with almost undetectable numbers. It's ALL quality not quantity. Please stay hopeful it don't like to hear you feel shattered. Wait until you see your doctor it may not be as bad as you think and the weekend is almost here, you should do something nice for yourself and your partner. Just enjoy each other for now and then come up with a plan once you have all the facts.

Btw, babyG, like I said work on improving the quality and don't think about the number so much. You .CAN improve it, even if its your last one it can still be the golden one.

 

[SaintlySue]

You do have to be careful with DHEA. It increases testerone levels. If you have PCOS you may want to check with your RE and see if DHEA is ok for you. I have PCOS and cannot take DHEA. Depending on what is causing your egg quality issues DHEA may not be recommended.

 

[BBbliss]

You do have to be careful with DHEA. It increases testerone levels. If you have PCOS you may want to check with your RE and see if DHEA is ok for you. I have PCOS and cannot take DHEA. Depending on what is causing your egg quality issues DHEA may not be recommended.

Saitlysue, I have a question for you, btw on this thread the egg quality issue is only advanced age, so here the question, last year in April I had a scan and the lab suspected I had PCOS just from the amount of follicles I had. I went home and tried to read everything I found on PCOS, well a blood analysis later I was cleared from having PCOS. But what I didn't find was info on what happens to PCOS on your mid or late 40's what happens to your AMH and follicles near menopause ? Our discussion here is from having severely diminished AMH and low follicle count so I can be most certain we don't have to worry about PCOS

 

[Delphine11]

Delphine, thank you! I'm trying to be excited too. I'm a little scared of all the shots and if they are going to make me even more emotional, I know it's silly... But let me tell you what happened to me today, I had to go get something at toysRus, the same one I used to go when I was pregnant and when the girls were still little. I found what I went there to get and started to remember going there all the time and by the time I payed and was on my way out I saw the rides they had by the door, the ones you feed quarters in for the little ones to ride and I had a complete flash back, like time travel flash back and saw my DD riding the toys. I started to cry so much by the time I got to my car I was sobbin, I missed my babies so much it hurt, it was as if they had vanished. It was so sad, I had to pull myself together and tell myself they are still here and are doing just fine...

Delphine, when you get that result, please remember no matter what the number is what really matters is the quality of that egg, and the quality can be improved greatly by taking dhea and coq10. My IVF clinic put me 40-80 dhea per day and 600coq10 plus a baby aspirin and prenatals. I have read of women getting pregnAnt with almost undetectable numbers. It's ALL quality not quantity. Please stay hopeful it don't like to hear you feel shattered. Wait until you see your doctor it may not be as bad as you think and the weekend is almost here, you should do something nice for yourself and your partner. Just enjoy each other for now and then come up with a plan once you have all the facts.

Btw, babyG, like I said work on improving the quality and don't think about the number so much. You .CAN improve it, even if its your last one it can still be the golden one.

Thank you so much for that, BBbliss That made me feel SO much better to read what you wrote I do plan to relax tomorrow - my partner's cooking a nice meal for us.

I think part of my stress is that everything's taking so long and seems so difficult (and expensive). Every little thing seems fraught with difficulty, even the simplest blood tests. It drives me mad having to wait for the doctor to refer me to a specialist. I just want to be able to see one NOW not have to wait while she fiddles about and acts like I have years to conceive. She wants to wait to refer me but I don't see the point of that at all. The lack of urgency stresses me.

I'm really interested to hear that your IVF clinic put you on DHEA. I read a lot about it and it sounds very intriguing. I take CoQ10 myself. I take 200mg of Ubiquinol, which is equivalent to 600mg of 'ordinary' CoQ10. I also take lots of other vitamins too - I'll be rattling soon

Thank you again XX

 

[SaintlySue]

BBbliss, I was not dx with PCOS until after I got PG with my son at 45. I was dx with borderline insulin resistance by symptoms not labs the month I conceived my son. At an ultrasound appt by the perinatal he said these are the ovaries of PCOS. Once I started reading about PCOS I then saw I had symptoms since I was a teen. Some women are more sensitive to the hormone fluctuations and their bodies work very hard to keep their hormones in check. My blood sugars are always normal. For me my insulin level has to be checked which is not standard blood work. Since college I have probably had 4 different incidences of ovarian cyst rupture the doctors just blamed it on oral contraceptives and changed them. Starting at 39 my FSH, LH, estradiol all pretty good levels. Last checked in November I think my FSH was 6.2, estradiol 55(age 48). Pretty much in ten years those numbers remain unchanged. I cannot remember what my AMH was the last time I had it done was right before I conceived our son. There is a varied degree of how women respond to hormone imbalance/PCOS and so there is also a difference in how PCOS will effect the ovaries and egg quality. Recently I read that endocrinologist want to change the name of PCOS because they feel that PCOS is just a symptom of a bigger condition and that labs change each month and ovaries change every month so some women will not get diagnosed as appropriate. I have a friend with PCOS who is over 10 years younger than I, her FSH and LH are flipped. She easily gets pg with metformin but her RE told her she did not have much time with hormone levels like that and her egg quality would diminish very quickly. She does not have any physical symptoms. I hope that helps.

 

[Delphine11]

Hello, ladies

Just the promised AMH links I found. Apologies if I post them wrongly - it's the first time I've posted links here.

There's a lot online and these are a couple of the pages I found. My GP told me that age is as relevant as AMH because AMH might indicate quantity but age can impact on egg quality.

https://naturalmedicinejournal.com/article_content.asp?edition=1&section=2&article=332

I liked this one too as it gave both scales for AMH (the one they use for you will depend what country you're in):

https://www.babyhopeful.com/anti-mullerian-hormones/

 

[BBbliss]

Delphine, how are you? Thank you for the link. I looked at both, I had my amh done last year and it was really high 5.4ng/ml I converted it to uk scale and it's just over 38. But yes we have to count for age and that's why I asked saintly sue the question.

SaintlySue, thank you so much for going into detail, so when I went for my very first scan they also said at the time I had what it looked like PCOS but I didn't have ant symptoms and my blood level were normal too. I know I don't have PCOS on my last scan a couple of weeks ago I only had 12follicles and that sounds like a good number but it tells me my numbers have greatly dropped from only six months ago. It is still incredible your stats are so good. It makes me happy to see you still have good eggs so when they try to tell us we don't have anymore good eggs because of our age I'll know it's not entirely true. I did read somewhere that PCOS may allow women to stay fertile longer. I guess you proved it and I hope you do it again.

 

[Delphine11]

Hi BBbliss

Your AMH is a "Wow!" Thank you for converting it for me. I wish you could make your super-ovaries send good vibes this way! Mine need a little wake up call, I think!

I finally got all my results back - and insisted on copies so I could check through them myself I don't like just being told they're 'normal' or 'fine'. Everything looks OK but the AMH is average for my age - crap! It says below 3 is very low. Mine was 2 Could be worse, I suppose, but I do wish it had just been even a tiny bit higher.

Saintlysue, I checked the testosterone because I was thinking of DHEA. There are 3 different results:

Serum sex hormone binding globulin - 117.6 nmol/L
Free androgen index - 1.6
Serum testosterone - 1.9nmol/L

If you or anyone else has any comment on those in relation to possibly trying DHEA, I'd be very grateful.

My dr wouldn't prescribe anything for me, although she agreed I might need Clomid or progesterone. She said I'd have to have that from a specialist. More waiting around! It drives me mad! I have no idea why she can't prescribe the progesterone. She said it looked like my levels were low (which might explain a weird long cycle I had last year).

I don't know much about PCOS but I had read that it could cause imbalances - that is, levels going up and down from month to month. A friend has it, and she said that sometimes her cycle did one thing and another time it seemed to do the complete opposite.

Not really related, but I was doing some reading last night and it said that no matter what your problem or numbers, most women over 37 had hormone imbalances of some kind and it was best to try to sort those as much as possible to improve one's chances of conceiving because even the tiniest thing out of synch could be enough to affect conception chances.

 

[SaintlySue]

You can get a DHEA-S level, one thing that will show you is if your DHEA level is low. Then they can look at the combination of hormone levels and see if there is any room to move. I will see if I can find my testerone levels. And then there are different measurements of testerone, sorry I cannot remember all of this. I know my DHEA was a little over 100 and I think with the norm you can go to mid 400s. My DHEA was what I would call the low end of normal but with my testerone especially because I have physical symptoms too dangerous for me.

 

[Delphine11]

You can get a DHEA-S level, one thing that will show you is if your DHEA level is low. Then they can look at the combination of hormone levels and see if there is any room to move. I will see if I can find my testerone levels. And then there are different measurements of testerone, sorry I cannot remember all of this. I know my DHEA was a little over 100 and I think with the norm you can go to mid 400s. My DHEA was what I would call the low end of normal but with my testerone especially because I have physical symptoms too dangerous for me.

Thank you very much for that, SaintlySue. My doctor is driving me mad with her slowness. She still hasn't referred me to a specialist yet (I phoned today to check). I'll chase her up about that and then see if she could do a DHEA-S level test. Every piece of information helps

 

[SaintlySue]

Ladies, Also check out info on inositol. I started taking it for PCOS but I have read where it is suppose to help egg quality. CCRM in Colorado recommends it to their patients for egg quality. If you are thin or average weight you can get by with taking the capsules and can take the form in myositol. I think myositol is a bit pricer but if you do not need much it is suppose to be the better form. Check it out. I had heard about it for a while and finally decided to give it a try when I saw CCRM REs recommending it. I have been taking it I think for about 4 mths now.

 

[BBbliss]

Delphine,you are exactly like me! I was a hard copy so I study it! I feel your frustrations, I also feel time is of the essence and every cycle counts, we have no time to loose, and thank you but that AMH WAS back in June last year. My ovaries were full then and it proved a large ovarian reserve, but that's why they took a look at my hormones because it looked as if i had polycystic ovaries (PCOS) but I had no symptoms ( high testosterone, insulting ressistance, no ovulation) I was ovulating normally, having AF every month, etc. also my hormones showed no imbalance, so they cleared me from having it. Now you can understand my frustration when I went to see that RE about IVF and he said he would only do it if I used donor eggs, I said " my ovaries are full of eggs!" and he said " but they are old and not good anymore, you have less then one% chance" just repeating the story makes me angry again. Well, fast forward to now, on my last scan I only had six follicles on each side and this makes me feel I'm running out of time. I can't believe how fast things can change in less then a year.

What scale is that AMH you just got? If its US it sounds great!!! Oh and taking about clomid, we just got a new SA and DF 's sperm is ALL normal now after four months on supplements, I mean, cured! From 0% morphology to 6% and up to 25 mil from the previous 4. So if this IVf doesn't work I think I'll try clomid. I know it sounds backwards but what pushed us to IVF was the male factor and now that he's cured, the clomid could work. But we are all set to start IVF and we didn't want to push pour luck so fingers crossed.

Saintlysue, I'll be checking out those supplements too. After what we were able to achieve for DF on vitamins and supplements I fully believe in them more then ever now.