AMH and Fertility: The Pro’s and Con’s of Low AMH and IVF

This post is also available in: Español

A decade ago, the research into AMH and Fertility was completely different from what it is today. IVF clinics refused to let women with low AMH levels use their eggs because success rates were that low. Donor eggs were the only option. A recent study on success rates of women with low AMH levels using their eggs is between 2% – 8% per cycle. Women with AMH levels below 1.06 ng/ml or 7.5 pmol/l fall into this category.

AMH and Fertility: The Pro's and Con's of Low AMH and IVF

Success rates aren’t any better today, but most IVF clinics will allow women with low AMH levels to use their eggs now. Why is that?

It is good business for IVF clinics. Also, the medical profession believes that IVF clinics are the only ones that offer any hope for Low AMH and fertility success . Many women don’t want a donor egg and are happy to accept the low success rates.

Are there ways to improve success rates for women with low AMH using their eggs during an IVF cycle?

It is an accepted fact that science and modern medicine has no treatment to improve egg quality for women with low AMH. There is no patented drug on the market offered by the pharmaceutical companies or the medical profession.

You may have heard of treatments offered to help improve egg quality. Has your gynecologist or IVF doctor recommended any of them? Likely not. Why?

There is no lack of science on many supplements to improve egg quality.

The reason why your doctors are unlikely to recommend them is straightforward.

Pharmaceutical companies have not been able to patent any research or science on these products. Research has not been able to improve pregnancy outcomes for women with low AMH levels.

Medical doctors (MD’s) are not permitted to recommend treatments outside of their field. The pharmaceutical companies control these recommendations under the rule of evidence-based practice. If science proves it is true, then it must be true. Medicine follows these rules as best they can.

Supplements are not considered medicine.

Doctors suggest these options on a personal, not medical, recommendation. It is the way the system operates.

Research proves that DHEA and Ovance improve pregnancy outcomes and raises AMH levels.

DHEA has unwanted side-effects, Ovance does not.

Products that contain or combine these ingredients are not supported by science. Research shows no statistical difference in pregnancy rates for women who have used them and those who have not. Opinions in social media can differ from the science that investigated them.

These include:

CoQ10

Myo-Inositol

L-Arginine

Melatonin

Vitamin D3

EPA/DHA Omega 3

Check on the product links above to know the research and science of their effectiveness.

Let’s focus on what the best options are.

It is what you do outside of the IVF clinic that improves your chances of success, not what happens in it. Using proven treatments to increase your AMH levels and enhance the quality of the egg is a smart idea. Using procedures with proven pregnancy outcomes in women with low AMH are the best.

These include only two treatments so far.

DHEA

Ovance

What are wasteful options?

If you have low AMH levels and want to undergo a “stimulated IVF cycle” you are more likely to fail than any other group. Women with low AMH are the most valuable clients of IVF. Women with low AMH have the lowest success rates but are likely to pay the most amount of money.

Natural IVF cycles offer more hope for women with low AMH. Science has shown (2) that IVF drugs decrease egg quality. This study in 2013 proved that stimulated IVF cycles lowered AMH levels. This study tested only on women with perfect AMH levels, not low AMH levels. If GnRH and FSH drugs lower AMH levels in healthy women, what does it do to women with low AMH levels?

Reports (need reference) show that repeated stimulated IVF cycles on women with low AMH yield fewer eggs every time.

What is the reason why?

The answer is simple. Your body wants balance 100% of the time. Homeostasis is the term. Know it as the equilibrium of your body. You cannot add hormones to your body without an opposite reaction from your body. Your body will reduce its hormone production when you add them artificially. Add hormones to grow more eggs than it should this cycle, and it will grow less egg next cycle without the drugs. Repeated stimulated cycles with IVF drugs down-regulate your egg producing hormones more and more.

Imagine if your work asked you to be four times more productive without any extra time or any extra pay. IVF stimulating drugs do the same thing. Why should your body produce 5 – 12 great eggs on drugs, when it cannot provide one good one in the first place?

It is the natural process of homeostasis that creates hormone down-regulation. Improving your natural cycles of hormone production is not done by adding artificial hormones.

Natural IVF. Is it a better option for women with poor egg quality?

Science proves that regular stimulated IVF cycles decrease AMH levels and therefore egg quality. Why would any woman struggling with low AMH and fertility success, use this method for pregnancy? Because sometimes it works. Over 90% of the time it does not.

Improving your egg quality before seeking IVF is the smartest thing to do. It will save you money and improve your chances. Most IVF doctors believe that their treatment is your only hope.

2% – 8% is still the success rate after eight years of technology and development.

Your options are straight-forward.

Believe your IVF doctor and bet on 2% – 8% per cycle with ever decreasing egg recruitment.

Try natural IVF cycles with no GnRH or FSH drugs to not disturb your AMH levels.

Use products proved to increase you AMH levels to improve egg quality. Do this before you try natural or stimulated IVF treatments.

Make sure you have investigated your supplements before you spend your money.

Don’t bank on supplements that only work on mice, but are not proven to help women.

These can be a waste of money and hope.

https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0015028210007053

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4379743/

https://www.advancedfertilitysolutions.com/amh-what-is-it

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4470079/

Comments (6)

Cheistine Bienkowski

Hello should I take OVANCE & RPM or IVF SUPPORT prior to an ivf cycle?
also can these be taken in conjunction with DHEA

The success of IVF depends on your AMH levels. If they are low then IVF won’t work and leave you with lower AMH levels afterward.
DHEA only helps to raise Low AMH levels when they are above 1.1 ng/ml. You can use it in conjunction with the formulas we offer.

I encourage every single client to raise their AMH levels to reference range before attempting IVF. It is an expensive procedure with the lowest chance of success of any client they treat. Please read this three-part guide I wrote on IVF and Low AMH. You will not get this information from your ObGyn or IVF doctor.

https://www.advancedfertilitysolutions.com/low-amh-ivf-your-essential-guide-pt-1/

Use Ovance & RPM to raise your AMH levels, then do IVF.

Hello Christine. The formulas you take prior to IVF should depend on why you are using IVF in the first place. If you have low AMH levels, then you should have them fixed BEFORE using IVF, as IVF is most likely to fail under these circumstances. Please read the “Essential Guide to Low AMH and IVF” here to understand this issue https://www.advancedfertilitysolutions.com/low-amh-ivf-your-essential-guide-pt-1/
IVF Support combination is an excellent way to improve your overall fertility going into an IVF cycle but it does not focus on improving egg health as Ovance and RPM does.

My wife has AMH levels of 0.001, we are very worried and confused as to what to do. What do you suggest ?

Hello Yousaf, thank you for your inquiry. There are many factors that need to be considered when trying to raise AMH levels.
Most importantly is age, if a woman is 45 years old with AMH levels of 0.01 then it unlikely any medication can help her. The younger a woman is away from the end of her natural fertility life, the more possible recovery is.
Secondly FSH levels. If FSH levels are above 45 IU/L it is unlikely any medication will work. A woman’s FSH levels between 2 and 30 IU/L is a positive sign that recovery is possible.

Combining age and FSH levels can provide a good prediction of formulas required, dosages and expectations.

I recommend you visit this page, that has our research results . on it, and compare your wife’s AMH and FSH levels (on the third chart on the page) and see what her chances of recovery are https://www.advancedfertilitysolutions.com/see-the-results/

Please feel free to email me if you have more questions.
Kindest regards

Hi Dr. Scott Martin,

I am so happy to read your article as my AMH is now very low, 0.847 (ng/mL). I have got advices from many hospitals. The majority of them advised me to do IVF but one of doctor asked me to not waste money on IVF because the successful rate very low. In addition, this doctor give me some suppliments to improve quality of my ovalution before trying nature IUI (without drug). I am not sure what is different between nature IUI and nature IVF.

Could you please look a little details of my case as below and advise what the best for my next treatment.

Currently,
1. I have a little pituitary tumor (6mm). my prolactin is from 774 – 973 (uU/ml). I am taking dostinext 1 little tablet per week and my prolactin level reduce to standard or even lower than standard (i am not sure this harmful if lower than standard or not)
2. TSH: 2.760 (uU/ml)
3. FSH: 6,4 mIU/ml

Historical treatment.
First time I did IUI in early 2019 and it was sucessful but then I couldn’t keep it. The second time doctor advise me to try IVF. I tried but not succeed. The third time I tried IUI in Dec 2019 and not succeed again.

I would love to get your advice about my case.
Thank you very much!
Hoa

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.