EPP and suppression

[Anonymous]

Has anyone had the experience of the estrogen priming protocol suppressing them too much? My understanding is that the EPP, estrogen patches in the luteal phase of the prior cycle, is used for women who have diminished ovarian reserve and will not overstimulate, and so birth control pills in the luteal phase would be too suppressive. But can the estrogen patches also quiet the ovaries down too much? I understand that you want to knock out any dominant follicle prior to stims, and that you want to "clear out" all the FSH receptors so you are as sensitive as possible to the stims. The patches accomplish both of those things. But can they, too, be oversuppressive? For me, I have diminished ovarian reserve, but my basal Day 2 FSH is around 7 or 8, not so high. So... do I need the patches? I'm frustrated that I seem to have more follicles there during natural cycles than during IVF cycles! Is it the patches, or simply cycling the "wrong" month?

[Anonymous]

OP, I have had the same experience. My poorest response was my EPP cycle. Trying to figure out if it was the protocol or just my body that cycle.

Wish I had some advice, but wanted you to know that there are others out there sharing your experience.

[Anonymous]

I've done the EPP twice once with Dr. Saks at CFA and once at SG. Sacks uses oral estrogen and Widra(SG) uses the patches and the exact protocol from Cornell. (Dr. Davis, the guy who developed this protocol) I never got pregnant but I had my best response with Widra and the patches. I also did two rounds of microflare which were a disaster, but not for suppression.

[Anonymous]

Had my best cycle so far with EPP at SG, but it still didn't work.

What do you mean by having more follicles out there during natural cycles than with stims? My experience is that I never get as many follicles/eggs as my AFC because not all of the follicles get activated by the meds.

[Anonymous]

I'm AMA, high FSH, and DOR that has failed two cycles with EPP, my cycles are still regular so I want to try natural cycle IVF since it seems that I have more follicles at baseline without the EPP.