Stimming question

[Anonymous]

I started stimming for my 1st IVF cycle on Saturday. I went in for monitoring today and was told I have 5 small follies on each side. Is that normal or below average? I was told it was a moderate response to my meds. Does anyone know what that means?

[Anonymous]

It sounds moderate to me -but it depends on certain variables such as your age and the cause of your infertility, as well as the protocol you are on.

I was a poor responder at age 31 (due to severe endometriosis). On a micro-dose lupron protocol (designed for poor responders) with stim meds maxed out, I had my best response: 6 follies, 6 eggs, 5 were mature at retrieval, 3 made it to a 3 day transfer, we put back two, one took, and our baby is due in a few weeks.

Also, sometimes follies crop up at the last minute: Until retrieval, they only saw 5. There was a magic number 6 the morning of!

So, don't despair -to this poor responder, 10 sounds great!!

I will keep my fingers crossed for your success.

[Anonymous]

To be honest, I think that's perfect! There are women who get 20-30 eggs, but many times, there are quality issues. So I think you'll get higher quality eggs. Let us know what happens.

[Anonymous]

I agree that it sounds perfect! Most REs aim to get around 12 eggs.
Women who have 20 eggs retrieved often have quality issues and end up with the same number going to blast as someone who only had 10 eggs retrieved. Women who have PCOS and get crazy numbers of eggs (30+) often only end up with a handful of good embryos.

Remember, the name of the game is quality, not quantity

[Anonymous]

OP here. I've heard and read so many women with 20-30 follies also and it just made me feel like I was underachieving. I am really excited and at the same time really nervous that the cycle could get cancelled or that it just plain won't work. Thanks for your support and input ladies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I've heard and read so many women with 20-30 follies also and it just made me feel like I was underachieving. I am really excited and at the same time really nervous that the cycle could get cancelled or that it just plain won't work. Thanks for your support and input ladies.

9:01 here, and I was in your shoes, once, too. I kept reading about women with these massive responses, and I was so down. When I burst in to tears in front of my RE, he emphasized over and over that they are going for quality more than anything (just as some of the PPs have emphasized). We will just keep our fingers crossed for those 10. Truly, it sounds like a great number to me.

[Anonymous]

I have had 2 successful IVFs, each time with 10-12 follicles & 10 eggs. And both times just one of those eggs was the one. To me, it sounds like you are on a good start.

[Anonymous]

OP here....my nurse called and said I need to up my dosages of Follistim and Menopur and stop taking my Lupron. I was on 150 unit of Follistim which is being increased to 225 units. And 75 units of Menopur which is now being increased to 150. I was on 5 units of Lupron which will be eliminated all together.

Can anyone explain why they may have adjusted my protocol as such? She said I was starting off slow. Today is only my 4th day on stims...

[Anonymous]

Was your estrogen level under 100? They generally up stims in response to a low estrogen level.

I wouldn't worry. Adjusting stims is the entire point of why they do monitoring. I'm another poster with 2 successful cycles and I had adjustments (upwards) several times made in both of my cycles.