Hellobee Boards

@PurplePumps: I was on 225iu all the way through both times. The first cycle I did antagonist (BCP first, Gonal-F and adding in Ganirelix part way through). I had 16 eggs but they were poor quality (low E2... it only got up to 700 something before ER). I had three early blastocysts on day 5 and none made it to freeze. The second time I did agonist (Lupron, plus Gonal-F and Menopur) and my E2 was higher, almost 4000 before ER, and I got 19 eggs. I stimmed for the same length of time both times (or within a day, I can't remember off the top of my head). Those eggs were better, in that I had 2 expanded blastocysts and a few early blasts on day 5, but I wasn't successful and had none left to freeze, so I don't know if I still had an egg quality issue or not. In my limited, non-MD research, I saw that some doctors will start with antagonist if they don't think you have DOR, because agonist (Lupron) can make you overstim if you have PCOS, for example. I'm borderline on some markers for PCOS (30 AFC, 3.0 AMH) so I think that's why they started me with the antagonist protocol. I feel like a lot of clinics will try one protocol, and then the other, if the first doesn't give you good results. Antagonist is the newer of the two, but agonist (Lupron) is the more tried and true, sort of.

@PurplePumps: I would definitely ask about having your AMH level checked and getting an AFC as it can indicate DOR which is sometimes associated with poor egg quality. On the IVF thread I linked some information on a priming cycle. If you read that link you will see that they talk about how doing that prevents follicles from being recruited too early (during the LP of the previous cycle). By preventing that the stims are more effective and the quality of the eggs is better.

I used Gonal F at 300iu per day and I stimmed for 9 days total and got 17 eggs at retrieval but I have borderline DOR and they started me on a higher than normal dose.

I'm not sure if this information is helpful because my protocol seems very different from everyone else that has shared. But, for my IUI my Gonal-F dosage began at 37.5iu I did that for 3 days, and then for 6 days I did 75iu. My E2 level has slowly gone up and on CD10 it was at 270. I don't know my E2 level yet for today, but I have three good sized follicles so I hope that the E2 level has gone up a bit, but not too much. My doctor takes the approach of trying to have 4 good follicles all around 18+ before trigger and the goal is always a singleton.

I think my protocol shows you that starting at a lower dosage does mean that less follicles grow to maturity. The last count I had was 34 total follicles, but I've only ever had maybe 3-4 that have grown for potential to have the egg. I'd definitely ask why you couldn't start on a lower dosage of the Gonal-F.

My first IVF cycle I started out on 150iu (I was also on Menopur). On day 7 of stims my E2 was 259.75 and my dose was increased to 300iu per day (150iu in morning and 150iu in the evening). On day 8 of stims E2 was 1388.75, day 9: 1967.96, day 10: 2567.20. I triggered on Day 11.

I don't have all my numbers from this cycle yet, but I know I shot up quickly. I started at 300iu per day this time instead of the lower dose, because the goal was to keep me on an even med dose for the whole cycle. I ended up shooting up pretty high because my E2 was 4000 on day 9 of stims and they were concerned about OHSS (knock on wood I have been fine). I had 26 eggs collected this cycle, and 16 the last cycle (when I started at a lower dose).

I started with 175 iu of Follistim every AM. I could have gotten Gonal-F. Then 2 bottles of menipur powder in 1 ml every PM.

I triggered on day 10 and got 12 eggs. 10 were mature and 7 made it to the freezer (no fresh transfer per my protocol).