On the bench with high fsh ?

[bam0609]

I have a question for you ladies. I was benched this month for high fsh. I was benched a few months ago for high estradiol. My baseline this month was on CD3 which from what I read is the optimum time to test fsh levels. But most of my other cycles I had baseline at CD1 or CD2. I also had chemical pg last cycle. Can that affect fsh levels? I've been reading a lot about high fsh and getting paranoid that maybe this is something that is an ongoing thing with me, but since I've never had baseline on CD3 before that maybe it hasn't been caught. I'm afraid that I could have poor quality eggs. I guess my question is can you have high fsh one month and a totally normal level on other cycles? Should I be concerned that my egg quality is no good?

[BC-Sweedie]

Oh boy. I'm fairly well versed on high fsh. First off, what was your level?
I was shocked to hell with a high fsh leve in early 2003 when I moved from IUI to IVF.

The 1st issue I have with fsh testing is it's not done regularly. My level in 2001 was in the 6 range. In 2003 it was 17.6 IMHO, it needs to be done monthly when you are cycling.

You fsh varies month to month, the bad news being that everyone seems to agree that your highest level is the only one that matters. Also my RE told me high fsh is not an indication of quality, but quantity of eggs. Also, age plays into this and you are young. I was 36 when I got the 17.6.

I do have some good news too. You will have better follie production on months where your fsh is lower. When I consulted with my RE after my 17.6, he told me they prefer to stim when fsh is below 11. So he put me on BCP's for one month. BCP's are supposed to help lower the fsh level for the next cycle. It did get my fsh down to 11.4. My RE was willing to proceed with an IVF cycle.

I managed to produce 8 follies after being stimmed on the max dose (8 vials Gonal-f + 2 Repronex). Unfortunatly my IVF was a bust mainly because most of my eggs were immature at time of retrieval, which is an added complication I had.

High fsh is NOT a death sentence to your fertility. Just for the record, after that 1 IVF cycle I did end up getting pg naturally (a HUGE surprise) 2 months later and have a beautiful 7 month old baby girl to show for it. Not only that, an u/s after my ++ beta showed I ov'd an egg out of each ovary! See how high fsh isn't the end of your fertility?

Is it ok if I pm you with some other info?

[DrAussieMom]

Me too please!! I am getting my firfst FSH test, if this cycle is not positive, so would like to know what it measures, means, averages, etc. I am confused by this.

[bam0609]

Thank you so much for the info! I do feel better. I know it's good to be educated, but sometimes the internet can cause a little bit of paranoia. I'm almost positive my level was at 17. I guess I need to start writing these things down when they give me the results. So many #s, so many tests. LOL.

I would love any extra info you can give me. Thank you so much. My e-mail address is BAM0609@aol.com.

Thanks again!