IVF #1 Take 2

So, this cycle didn't start out much better.  Only 3 follicles seen on the initial u/s, but we charged ahead anyways. 

Not much has happened and the doc's wanted to cancel us yesterday.  Estrogen has not been rising as much as it should.  But, I feel why bother cancelling?  What's cancelling going to get me.  It's certainly not going to get me pregnant! 

So, there were 2 good follicles today and 3-4 little ones. I have good insurance and meds are only a $40 co pay. So, I talked the doc into continuing on at a lower dose to try to get those 2 to grow and either doing timed intercourse or an IUI. None of this makes any sense. We never had a problem getting pregnant. The longest amount of time to conceive was 4 months!

I'm trying to figure out what went so wrong and there were only 2 things that changed from testing to cycling. That was the addition of dexamethasone and the birth control pill. I'm starting to suspect the dex even though the doc says it can't be the problem. If DHEA is so important to older women (and lots of studies say it is), dex is the anti-DHEA. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9221990 Dexamethasone causes DHEA to fall. I asked the doc today about DHEA and he felt it doesn't really do anything, but if I want to try it go ahead. Well, I know the studies show it does do alot for women with DOR. Here's a list of the studies in case anybody's wondering: http://www.centerforhumanreprod.com/dhea.html So maybe after a few months and the dex gets out of my system... After looking that up, the half life of dex is only 36-54 hours, so it should be all out of my system. The more depressing theory is that since DHEA seems to work at improving the follicular environment, the dex may have damaged the follicular environment. Since folliculogenesis takes months it may be a long time before the follicular environment has recovered from the assault. I'll know I'm right if my AFC recovers over the next few months.

So, doc also ordered an AMH test. That's fine I've never had one. If the AMH comes back low, we'll know it's DOR. If it comes back ok, the doc's other theory is that some women's bodies just don't respond to exogenous FSH. So, all the Follistim in the world wouldn't have that much effect on me. In that case, the only other answer is to use my body's own hormones through a Lupron flare protocol or clomid.

So much to think about...