Low AMH ladies please come in

[cinc1em]

A friend of mine who has been unsuccessful Tfas, recently got bloodwork done before trying Clomid for the first time. Her AMH came back "very low." It was mentioned that she seems to be below their threshold for IVF. Needless to say, she was pretty shocked. She's 35.

I feel like I recall some of you (Katy) using DHEA to help with this issue and maybe even @ibackbevo (if she's on here) having success with Clomid IUI?

Any advice you have would be appreciated. She's got an appt to review results with an RE, but right now she's fearing the worst, that there are no real options.

[cinc1em]

kaf7, do you have some insights? Her level was .3.
Thanks!

[stl34]

My level has been down to .4 and is currently around .6. I didn't do anything different for this change. It still isn't much. I tested .6 and then .4 both while I was 31. My low AMH has never been an issue except that it indicates that I am a poor responder to stims. I am a poor responder to stims. She may want to look into other RE options. Some REs are not friendly toward DOR and POF patients because we are harder to stim and thus often harder to get pregnant (lowering their stats) or they just do not know what protocols might work.

Good luck to your friend!

[amandaleigh]

I did not have low AMH at 37, but I do now at 40. (I think it is around 0.4) Even with my low AMH, I still responded to Clomid via Clomid Citrate Challenge Test, so low AMH is not the end of the world. I mean I hope I don't have to do another fresh IVF cycle now that I am 41, but if I do, they should be able to get some eggs out of me, I think.

[cinc1em]

Thank you for your responses amandaleigh and stl34 I'll pass it along. Hearing that you might not be eligible for IVF when you haven't even seen an RE is so scary.

[those3words]

My AMH was 0.39 at 33 years old (18 months ago) - before my IVF cycles. My understanding is that AMH can be an indicator of the number of eggs you are likely to retrieve but they don't know enough about it yet to definitively exclude people from IVF because of it. I think that may be a little different after 37 - I think that is when the stats start to run against you.

My RE didn't even bother running my AMH this time around - just my Day 3 labs. My RE keeps telling me that age trumps almost everything else as far as outcome (meaning, take home baby, not referring to a freezer full of frosties). I thought she was going to give me the donor speech now that I'm over 35. But she was still emphasizing that despite my previous blood work, 35 is still not bad as far as outcomes for IVF.

I assume this was the OB telling your friend this? She needs to see what the RE says...and if the RE won't cycle her, she should get a second opinion, IMO.

I know there were people on the IF board with 0.16 or undetectable who were able to get pregnant. I think IBackBevo from the other site got pregnant with a really low AMH as well.

ETA - we only tried IVF because of severe MFI.

[bellalou]

I had success when mine was .52. My RE told me not to focus so much solely on that # but combined with FSH. That was 3 hrs ago. Mine, now, is 1.06. So it can definitely fluctuate.

[cinc1em]

Thanks bellalou and those3words !

[vballbaby]

**Lurking from PAIF** Just thought I'd chime in with my experience as I have low AMH (.43) I know my RE started me on the mac daddy dose (see siggy). My AFC was 8 but only 2 were measurable (lead follies through the stimming process). They told me that they would probably only get 1-2 eggs out and suggested converting to IUI. Well, we decided to go through anyway and they were able to retrieve 4 and only 1 fertilized and I'm 6 weeks now. We tried a clomid IUI first which didn't work. I stimmed the same though, I had about 7 follies and only 2 were measurable. The problem with clomid, for me, was that my lining never got over 6.7 and I think clomid could be a problem for some people for that reason. Maybe she could read It Starts With the Egg - I haven't read it but they discuss taking DHEA, CoQ10 and other methods of improving egg quality etc. It may benefit her to start a routine for 3 months before IVF to see if she can improve her numbers. I did take CoQ10 but only started about a month before IVF. I never wanted to take DHEA because my DHEAS levels came back normal from my RE testing. DHEA increases testosterone and if you're normal, it's not good to do this. Best of luck to your friend.