April 26- Second Opinion (...and Third and Fourth and...)

Now that I've had this crazy shift in my hormone levels I want to see if this changes anything as far as my prognosis is concerned. Before, when my numbers came back showing that I was post-menopausal, I was told there was nothing that could be done and given the dreaded Donor Egg speech. But with my numbers being in the normal range it would appear my only issue is the whole Diminished Ovarian Reserve thing, which while that is still an issue it is a lot more promising when it comes to getting pregnant. I have a friend who had the same AMH as me (0.16) - and I am actually still waiting to get my updated result back on that to see if there is any change - and she got pregnant with her first round of IVF. She's due in a month! Her doctor had the "all it takes is one good egg" philosophy, so I am determined to find a doctor like that for myself. The only issue that concerns me is I still haven't gotten my period, so I don't know if that still disqualifies me for any kind of treatment. According to my latest batch of test results, my FSH/LH/E2 all came back with numbers in the follicular level range, which would mean my body is in the follicular phase. Which would also mean I was totally off in thinking I had ovulated a few weeks ago. I'm baffled and apparently am even more clueless as to what my body is doing than I thought!

So of course I immediately began Googling the crap out of this, looking up anything I could find pertaining to the different phases of the menstrual cycle and particularly the follicular phase.
Basically everything I found pointed to women who aren't ovulating are stuck in the follicular phase (anovulatory cycle). You can actually menstruate in an anovulatory cycle, but it doesn't necessarily mean you ovulated. In my case I haven't been menstruating so it's considered amenorrhea. Also, having an elevated E2 can falsely drop your FSH, and the combo is indicative of DOR. Most of which I already knew.

So I'll be bringing my new numbers to different REs this week. One Monday and one on Tues. My hope is to find someone who is on board with incorporating Eastern Meds (the herbs and acupuncture I'm doing) and to see if anything has changed as far as there being options for me now that my numbers aren't post-menopausal.

I'll keep you posted...

9 comments:

  1. So smart to get a second opinion. I hope that you find a doctor who believes in you and your body. And more than anything, I hope that it won't be too long before you're holding your child in your arms. Best wishes for your journey.

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  2. Thank you! I am definitely determined to beat the odds!!

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  3. I have the same issue as you and basically did all the same things with varying degrees of success. I go to new hope fertility center in NYC and they have been a god send. I am single so I am doing natural cycle egg freezing. My highest Fsh was 118 and my lowest was 8. Over the past year and half I have been able to freeze 7 eggs. They check my labs and do an ultrasound monthly. If I'm growing even just one follicle they will follow it until it matures. I know 2 women personally that got pregnant this way. All it takes is one egg! Good luck

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  4. To clarify they retrieve the one egg and fertilize it and implant it. It's called natural cycle IVF.

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  5. Yes, I have heard of them! But in order to do any kind of IVF I'm told I have to be getting my cycle. That since I'm not, no fertility drugs will work on me so they have no way to retrieve the eggs. :-(

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  6. So happy to have come across your blog, I too have POF, and have been on HRT for two years now, with intermittent periods and lots of sad days. Although my FSH came down to 36 at my last appt. from 68. :) BUT please tell me what DOR stands for? I'm Canadian and don't recognize some of the terms!!
    Thank you so much for being brave enough to share all your trials, it is so helpful to know someone out there feels and thinks the same way I do!!

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    1. Hi there... thank you for writing! When I was first diagnosed and starting to read posts on different forums all the acronyms seemed like a foreign language to me. I used to look them up! (In fact, here is a site that gives a cheat sheet you can save for future reference! http://www.mymonthlycycles.com/fertility-abbreviations.jsp)

      DOR is Diminished Ovarian Reserve (not many eggs left). I was considering doing HRT when I was going through POF but my Chinese Medicine Dr advised against it. Since her goal was to try and get my body to produce its own hormones again, Eastern Medicine feels that by replacing hormones your body doesn't need to work on its own. My plan was to do all the natural stuff (chinese herbs, acupuncture, supplements and the other stuff I was doing) for 3 months and get my numbers rechecked. If no change I was going to do it a few more months and then if still no change my last resort before donor egg was going to be to try HRT. However, the natural stuff worked and my body started working on its own so it never had to come to that. Of course western medicine doctors won't suggest that, they only limited to their field of study. I am seeing a lot of women have success going the natural route, so if your numbers aren't dropping the way you'd like it might be something to consider. Of course it is completely your decision and something you have to be comfortable with. :-)

      Sending positive vibes your way!!!
      Cole

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    2. Thank you so much for your response!! I really appreciate it .... good luck with everything, wish you well, and I will definitely give some thought to going the natural route as well. My doctor and ObGyn are not very helpful, and egg donation has been the only option mentioned...I am still in the "scared" stage and just trying to figure it all out - still! Here in Canada egg donation is sort of frowned upon, as though it's illegal or something - that's another story!!
      Thank you so much again for your kind and helpful words they mean a lot!!
      Sincerely,
      Kelly

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