"Eggs aren't born bad...they are made that way." He explained what he meant by this at length...
He said that the eggs generally start out fine...but, as they grow the environment can cause the chromosomes to get messed up which is called aneuploidy. Dr. Sher told me that I am the same age as his daughter (35) and that most women my age have 65-75% of their embryos be aneuploid (wrong number of chromosomes)...that's just nature and perfectly normal. But, with PCOS, I would have an even higher percentage of eggs/embryos that are aneuploid because they are subjected to wrong hormone levels which cause bad eggs. If my eggs are subjected to the wrong protocol while they are growing, then that will cause even more to be abnormal. I could easily be approaching 100% abnormal eggs/embies when I am stimming with the wrong injectables.
Dr. Sher explained that in women with PCOS they have higher testosterone levels. I said, "Well, all of my bloodwork has been normal. I don't have elevated testosterone." He told me something I hadn't ever heard before. He said that the ovaries contain a lot of connective tissue where testosterone is produced. He said that in women with PCOS, they produce WAY more testosterone in their ovaries than "normal" women. He said the testosterone at the ovary site may be 8 times higher than normal. But, even though the testosterone is higher in and around the ovary, it doesn't necessarily get into the bloodstream so that your b/w may be normal but you still have high testosterone at the ovary. Imagine how high the testosterone must be at the ovary site for women who have bloodwork that shows high testosterone!
Anyway, he said that the high testosterone is what causes the eggs to go "bad" and get the wrong number of chromosomes. That is one of the main reasons that women with PCOS suffer from infertility. They have a hard time ovulating in the first place, but even if they release an egg it has a very good chance of being aneuploid...which will result in either not conceiving, miscarriage or a baby with birth defects.
Dr. Sher said that the eggs are like a tree...it needs both sunlight and water to grow. You can't just keep a tree in the dark and give it water...it needs both to grow properly.
Dr. Sher said that he does not think my age is a big factor here. He said that the protocol I have been using has been wrong. He said that women with PCOS have too much LH...an inverted LH to FSH ratio...and the elevated LH levels (from the pituitary) causes the testosterone in the ovary to go up which leads to bad eggs.
You don't want to give a woman with too much LH MORE LH! That adds fuel to the fire. He said that "women with PCOS are very vulnerable" and they must be stimulated carefully. He said that they should not use stims that contain LH or HCG.
So we will be using only Follistim for the upcoming IVF #2 cycle.
Here's the pen which is sooo much more easier and comfortable to use
I cant say thank you enough to a dear friend who donated this to me. I still have some left over from our last cycle.
Protocol:
Cycle day 2: Ultrasound to make sure I have no cysts and to see how many antral follies I have. If all is ok, then I'll start the Follistim that night.
Cycle day 3-7: I'll use the last of the Follistim on cd7 and start the Antagon {to prevent me from ovulating early} that night as well.
Cycle day 7-9: Antagon. Last dose on cd9. Trigger with Hcg at 10pm.
Cycle day 11: Retrival day and start Progesterone
Cycle day 13: Embryo Transfer
2 weeks later, go for Beta and pray that its a positive
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