[destiny31]

Hi everyone,
I am a new member and this being my first post. However my husband and I have been trying to conceive for about 3 years now.
I have had 4 ivf attempts. I am a poor responder.
my first ivf attempt was cancelled due to only a few follicles.
my second attempt i only had 7 follicles , when when i went into egg collection they said all follicles were empty. we were devastated.
my third attempt was the same, went in for egg collection - follicles again were all empty.
my fourth attempt and 3rd egg collection - the same, this time i had about 10 follicles but ALL EMPTY once again.
This time the doctor had changed the protocol, put me on a different trigger, i took the synarel nasal spray instead of the ovidrial, but it didnt help.

Has anybody ever experienced empty follicles, especially more than once? I guess im a really rare case, not even my doctor knows what to do next.

Any advise/help is appreciated.

This post has been edited by destiny31: 21/11/2012, 02:15 PM

[kez71]

I'm so sorry. You must be devastated. From my own reading in various IVF forums and blogs it appears that empty follicles are not truely empty, just the eggs are not mature enough to release. This can be changed by varying protocols and triggering with different drugs and timings.
My advice to you would be to google Empty Follicle and see if anything rings true for you. You may need to change doctor, especially if he feels at a loss what to try next. Don't give up yet! Good luck

[babycuddler]

Oh you poor thing! I really hope your specialist can change your medication and you can get some eggs happening! They should also be able to recommend some supplements for you to take and give you a rest before trying again! Also I recommend thinking about a 'plan B' even though it is early days. In my case (I'm not a great responder) my sister has offered her eggs, but it takes time for me and particularly my husband to get his head around the idea. There will be some ladies on here with some great advice I'm sure! Good luck with it all

[ivfmiracles]

I'm pretty sure I read a post about this years ago. I'll see if I can find it for you.

I'm pretty sure Derek Lok from Genea (then Sydney IVF) has written a paper about it.

From memory, a lucrin trigger was required.

I'll keep hunting.

Good luck.

This post has been edited by ivfmiracles: 21/11/2012, 04:17 PM

[ivfmiracles]

Found It!!!

http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/forums/ind...c=665199&hl

Hi ladies

I happen to be a bit of an expert in this area. I have had a similiar situation and was lucky enough to change doctor's - my third cycle I saw Dr Lok at SIVF. He has wriiten a research paper on this topic. It has to do with your own LH surge being immune to the trigger shots. If you are lucky it can just be changing the trigger to pregnyl and upping the dose.

From Dr Lok's research he found its best to do an antagonist cycle and then use lucrin to trigger your own LH surge. Which for me worked cannot even explain how much of a releif it was to find Dr Lok who said it has nothing to do with my ovarian reserve or fertility it is just a reaction to the trigger shot.

PM me if you need more info but I would highly recommend contacting Dr Lok at SIVF, my previous cycles were with Dr Bowman (who is the director of SIVF and he had NO idea what was happening - so I think most doctors are not familiar with this problem)....

good luck

[domestically~cha...]

Although empty follice syndrome is rare it must be hard when it keeps happening and you clinic doesn't know what to do next after already changing protocol

If it were me I would look at changing clinics for a second opinion before looking into donor eggs.

Good luck with everything

[babycuddler]

Well done ivfmiracles!!

[handsfull]

Awesome post ivfmiracles. Very interesting reading.

Things have so changed since I did my IVF.

This post has been edited by handsfull: 22/11/2012, 12:54 PM

[embracingIVF]

hi destiny

i am the one who went with dr lok for baby number 1 and had had two ivf attempts where all eggs were immature. PM me for more info as i then had the same problem again when we went for baby number 2. so i am a bit of an old hand at this very stressful problem.

x

[destiny31]

thanks everyone for your replies and comments.
hearing the news from the doctor again saying all empty, no eggs is the worst news ever. unfortunately ive experienced it 3 times, what is more frustrating is that the doctors have no answers, no idea, no direction. it has happened with 2 different doctors now. i will keep researching and hopefully one day have a successful cycle.