successes with ovulation induction or (non-DE) pregnancy with FSH>40

[maybe11]

Hello!

I thought I'd start a thread for success stories with FSH>40, where a success story is either pregnancy or successful ovulation induction if one was not ovulating at all before. Hoping that with time we will have some, and that they might give us hope & ideas . Also if you know of any research papers on POFers that had some (non-DE) success they would be great, I will add the ones I know of too.

It would be great to include information about the hows which might be useful to know for the rest of us, such as any of the following if one feels comfortable with mentioning them:


Success: In ovulation induction or pregnancy?
Your highest FSH
Time since diagnosis with FSH>40
Max months amenorrea?
Any known related to POF condition, especially autoimmunity, antibodies etc?
FSH at the start of the successful cycle
Age at the successful cycle
Protocol/supplements/HRT etc you were on, if any

Good luck to all of us

[maybe11]

Here is a research study that sounds pretty exciting. It is not too large though, included only about 50 patients total.


Success in ovulation induction or pregnancy? Both: in the treatment group the ovulation rate was 32% (8 out of 25), & the pregnancy rate 16% (50% of ovulating women) - compared to the control group (without treatment): 0% ovulation (and 0% pregnancy). Repeating the protocol on the control group yielded similar rate of ovulation, but no pregnancies.
This all is per 1 cycle of treatment.
Your highest FSH: not known, but 68.24 ± 20.03 at the treatment start
Time past since diagnosis with FSH>40: not known
Max months amenorrea /anovulation? max not known, but >6 months (16.9 ± 9.05) at the time of the treatment start
Any known related to POF condition, especially autoimmunity, antibodies etc? yes, some but not all of the study participants
FSH on the successful cycle: 68.24 ± 20.03 at the treatment start
Age at the successful cycle: 32.9 ± 3.9
Protocol/supplements/HRT etc you were on, if any: EPP with ethynyl estradiol 3x0.05mg/day plus Follistim 200-300IU/day later, see the paper and abstract below for the details. [Btw the abstract does not mention it but the full paper does that most of the ladies in the control group later did the protocol and they had similar results as the study group then]


Fertil Steril. 2007 Apr;87(4):858-61. Epub 2007 Jan 29. Effects of pretreatment with estrogens on ovarian stimulation with gonadotropins in women with premature ovarian failure: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.
Tartagni M, Cicinelli E, De Pergola G, De Salvia MA, Lavopa C, Loverro G
Effects of pretreatment with estrogens on ovarian ... [Fertil Steril. 2007] - PubMed result

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the hypothesis that pretreatment with estrogens in women affected by premature ovarian failure (POF) may improve the results of ovarian stimulation. DESIGN: Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. SETTING: Outpatient department in an academic research environment. PATIENT(S): Fifty women with POF seeking pregnancy. INTERVENTION(S): Before starting ovarian stimulation, group 1 received 0.05 mg ethinyl-E(2) (EE) three times a day for 2 weeks, while group 2 received placebo. Ovarian stimulation was carried out with recombinant FSH (r-betaFSH), 200 IU/day/SC. Both EE and placebo were administered during ovarian stimulation. Human chorionic gonadotropin (10,000 IU/IM) was added when the follicle exceeded a mean diameter of 18 mm. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Rate of ovulation in women with POF. RESULT(S): Levels of FSH before stimulation were significantly lower in group 1 than in group 2. The rate of ovulation in group 1 (8/25; 32%) was significantly higher than in group 2 (0/25; 0%). Notably, induction of ovulation was successful only in patients whose FSH levels after EE treatment were < or =15 mIU/mL. CONCLUSION(S): Our data suggest that pretreatment with EE improves the success of rate of ovulation induction with exogenous gonadotropins in patients with POF. A threshold of FSH < or =15 mIU/mL should be achieved before starting ovarian stimulation.