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205230 tn?1237405193

High FSH Level

Hello,
I just found out to my surprise that I have a FSH level of 26!  I am very upset as you can imagine.  I am 36 years old.  I was about to endure my second IVF cycle.  My first time around began last June of 07.  My FSH level was 7. something and my estrogen level was around 200 something.  Now my estrogen level was 11.  What happened???   Why in only 7 months has my levels tripled???  Now they say I should use a donor egg but I am not wanting to take that route.  I want to try again using my own.  Is this silly??  HAS anyone out there gotten pregnant with a high FSH level????  I am really needing your supportive words but most importantly your realistic  thoughts.  Thanks.
15 Responses
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Avatar universal
I think my FSH is sadly off the charts at 100.  I am waiting to see a specialist and very sad and anxious.  I am 37 in one month - My FSH is 100 :(   I see you are all extremely worried if your reading is 30.  I am devastated as i have no children.  My Lutropin (LH) is 53.4.   Normal LH range is 1-16 i think... and my estrogen is 200.    Can anyone comment or shed any light.  I'm a strong girl so comment away... i may go crazy before my first gyno appt.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I'm 36, fsh in the 30s. I too was told to use a donor egg. Just found out I'm pregnant(8weeks). There's always hope. Relax, don't stress and keep at it!
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Avatar universal
Hi all.  I'm new to this board.  I am 38 years old, have been on fertility drugs for 4 months.  In those 4 months my FSH started at a 6.  My doctor told me age has not taken over my ovaries yet, that I had the ovaries of a 30 year old.  All good news.  Yesterday I got a phone call, after 4 months of fertililty, that my FSH is a 26 and I have no chances of ever conceiving a child and I should just move on with my life.  He told me i am now perimenapausal!  How did I go from ovaries of a 30 year old to perimenapausal in 4 months, under his care, on his drugs????  I am not giving up hope.  I think he screwed up somewhere along the way...at least that's what I hope.  I have been reading a lot about lowering FSH and I am going to start taking DHEA and wheatgrass to see if that helps.  Has anyone else experienced this, lowered your FSH and then gotten pregnant?  This is beyond devastating news.  I got married just last summer and had to come home to tell my husband this awful news.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I am 38, FSH 17, AMH 0.21 then 2 weeks later (different lab) 0.16
I became devastated. Doctors mentioned donor eggs... but I dont want to consider that. I have never tried to get pregnant, and I want to try natural way first.  I am being told my chances are slim, but I let those words bounced back off me. Dr agreed to try some natural suplements and acupuncture, so I am taking DHEA 50 mg twice at day, L-arginine, folate and coenzima Cq10. We wil try for a baby for the first time during my next ovulation. Problem is that husband and I are living in different continents and we need to travel to see each other , timing it with my ovulations.
I hear a voice inside my chest that tells me not to give up without trying first. I do have faith I will get pregnant.
I have read the book a Fertile female and Inconciveable and many women with worse lab values than mine were able to conceive...

I had a miscarriage 2.5 years ago, noral xy embrio, unknow reason for miscarraige and I got pregnant by accident on day 9 of my cycle. But my hormones were never tested.

The miracle of life is more than just lab values. The power of the mind and hte body to work in harmony to get those hormones and those eggs to talk again, can only amazed us.. so why not to believe my body will open his mind to welcome a new life and let motherhood enter into the way i have seen the world so far.
If I have to take meds, I will, but I just only hope for that miracle of life,.. even if it means IUAI or IVF but using my own eggs.. I would prefer to get my body in harmony than trick it with external medications.
Please tell me a history or two of women who were able to conceive naturally with those lab values
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have been reading about elevated day 3 FSH levels and found that a high estradiol level can mask an elevated FSH since estrogen suppresses FSH release. That is the reason that the 2 hormones are measured together, and elevation of either one can be an indicator of ovarian reserve. In looking at your initial results, it appears that your FSH level may have been low because of the elevated estrogen. So, your body may not have changed as much as you think. As for getting pregnant with high FSH, I'm not sure. My initial level was 9.9, measured after we miscarried at 7 weeks. A year later, my day 3 FSH was 14, which was reduced to 11 after the Clomid challenge. We're waiting to talk to our RE, but I'm feeling a bit bummed. Hang in there...just know there are others out there in the same boat and that you are not alone.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi,
I am 43 and after doing the clomid challenge test with my first RE, my day 3 number was 25 and my day 5 number was 45!  He said I would never get pregnant with my own eggs and told us donor eggs or adoption were our only options. He wouldn't even do IVF on me with my own eggs. I did a lot of research and got a second opinion. I found an excellant RE, that is high-FSH-friendly. He doens't place that much importnace on FSH levels alone. They can change a lot month to month, and what's more influencial to him, is age. Anyway, while we were saving money for IVF, I got pregnant! On my own! Sadly, I lost that baby at 8 weeks, but I GOT PREGNANT! We just finished our first IVF, and I'm waiting to get the blood test this Friday. I don't know where you live, but my RE is in Scottsdale AZ, and he is excellant!  He spends a lot of time with you, and is realisitc, but gives you hope as well. That's what we needed. I wouldn't give up on your own eggs just  because of high FSH levels. Hang in there! I also did acupuncture and herbs before getting pregnant the first time, and I think that helped too. Good luck!
Helpful - 0
151928 tn?1275707337
Hi there,
I was going to use the SIRM institute in Vegas before we ended up getting pregnant on our own but Dr. Fisch there is amazing...He has great success with women in their late 30's so you should definitely go to a free consult with him..  Also, I was doing accupuncture and I heard that it can help reduce FSH levels.  Hope this helps.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I totally understand, and thank you for sharing your very personal and private opnions. I am alsways curious on other peoples take on subjets as sensitive as this.
I can only imagine what you are going thru, and I'm sure I would feel very much like you, and like you said it changes as well.
Keep us updated on the RE and what happens.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Had twins with a fsh of 13. The best bet is to find a fsh friendly doctor, and I have heard great thingsabout SHER in Vegas. You might also go to ivfconnections.com ans look at their high fsh boards. It helped make me feel better when I got my read of 13 at 32!
Helpful - 0
205230 tn?1237405193
My next (and most likely final) appointment is Monday with my RE.  I plan to discuss my chances using the best protocols they know.  I am also considering seeing another RE who has a better success rate with woman having higher FSH levels. I will travel!  A friend talked me into doing so and looking into a RE who is more advanced with current methodologies and science trials/ tests that many REs who are set in their ways do not use.  I have some hope.  Have you heard of the SHER institute in Vegas? I plan on contacting them for a consult.  Thanks for your supportive words and feedback, Ladies!

StillTrying101: I appreciate your response.  To answer your question about why I am apprehensive to try donor eggs...  That's a question that my answer changes as much as my mood.  Sometimes I am just bitter that I can not carry my own biological child and if I used a donor it would be like carrying someone else's child (even though it would be my DHs).  I would rather adopt than change my lifestyle for 9+ months and go through the physical changes and hardship of pregnancy. I know... selfish, but my god I have been through the washer multiple times trying to get pregnant already on my own! I am exhausted!    I think if it were my own (you know what I mean by that) then I would not mind so much.  I would be a bit more excited.  That is only my opinion.  AND it changes.  At other times I feel that since it is my blood the baby would be using and I would be taking care of it in my body it would be mine even though it would not carry my genetic factors, I would not mind to carry it, but I would still be sad.  A donor at this time is a reminder that I couldn't produce on my own.  I, in a sense, feel like a failure.
Perhaps it is something I will eventually get over if I want to be a mother.  However, I am not ready to throw in the towel on my own eggs.  
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I don't think you are a downer. You are in a tough spot, I do not know what I would do if I was in your situation. It's like once you hit a certain age the clock just doesn't stop and you blink and you are old or older. You don't feel that old, but you are, and these are the risks we take for not having  all of our kids at 20!
Can I ask, why are you hesitant to use donor eggs?
I guess, and this is just my personal opnion, if I cold afford t try IVF one more time using my own eggs I would an then if didn't work go onto using donor eggs.
If it's like a one shot deal, then I would probably try donor eggs right away and not chance it.
Def, retest and get a second opnion first and fomost
Helpful - 0
205230 tn?1237405193
My DH and I decided to take a break (stupid!) since our last failed IVF and therefore I have not been on any fertility drugs at all.  I was giving my body a break and instead my body broke!  I plan on buying that book by Randine Lewis TOMORROW (thanks Baby Alive).  We are going to see our RE on Monday to discuss it once more.  I have not stopped crying in what seems to be 6 and a half hours.  I am devastated.  More so than when we heard IVF #1 failed.  At least I had #2 to look forward to.  I am glad to hear that there are woman who have conceived with a FSH of 30 out there!  It gives me a little incling of hope.  I am so angry.  I am sure this is normal but I feel like I need to blame someone... my DH for making me wait so long to TTC or b/c it took him so long to want to get married.  My RE for not telling me to get my FSH tested a month or so after the 1st try to be sure my levels weren't increasing (like they did) knowing we would try again.  We never would have waited this long if we knew there was a chance of this increase.  I blame myself as well for waiting as long as I did to try again.  I was thinking of the convenience of it all trying to correlate the ER and Transfer with my vacation time.

I hope no one else out there is doing that.  Just do it and don't wait and waste time.  I am 36 but my eggs are 42+  I guess you never know and we only have so much medical control.

I am still debating gambling another 11,000 away TTC on what seems to be a very slim chance of success.  SORRY to be such a downer but I am so damn depressed.

Helpful - 0
380530 tn?1239162538
I would defintely retest.  But, FSH levels do jump around from month to month.  AND you estradiol, or estrogen can offset the FSH if they are off.  My FSH in Jan. 07 was 3, then in Dec. 07 - it jumped to 25!   My RE told me I had taken my  Clomid on the wrong days which off-set the FSH level later.  I took the Clomid on cd 3 - 7 instead of 5 - 9.  It seems if you want to get an accurate reading the Clomid needs to be taken on certain days.  I'm currently ttc with an FSH of 15.  26 is high.  I don't want to mislead you.  But, woman have and do get pregnant with high FSH. I recently heard of a woman with and FSH of 30 who conceived.  If you are able to pick up the book The Fertility Cure by Randine Lewis it has some helpful info. on lowering FSH.  Accupuncture helps.  Overall, I would say talk with your RE, get a 2nd opinion, and do some research.  I know of one forum dedicated solely to women with high FSH and ttc.  I'll find the link and get it to you.

Remember, all is not lost!  If you are truly commited to having a baby, it'll happen.  Even if you have to move to donor eggs, you will get your baby!  You can carry a baby into your 50's!  

Good luck!!  
Helpful - 0
294043 tn?1354207946
I think you should re-test.  Babyalive tested twice with very different FSH levels and her RE told her that fertility meds were causing the high number or something like that and that in fact your FSH was not that high.  You should write her a PM since she knows more about that.  In any case, you should definitely re-test and get a second opinion.
Helpful - 0
318181 tn?1336443496
Wow! That sounds strange! Such a big difference from just a few months ago! Were you on any fertility meds or anything? Could that have given you a false high number?

Unfortunately, I don't know much about this...but I think it was babyalive that had a higher number after a clomid challenge test. I could be wrong, though...


Helpful - 0
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