Ask Our Doctors – Archive
Our Medical Directors are outstanding physicians that you will find to be very personable and compassionate, who take care to ensure that you have the most cutting-edge fertility treatments at your disposal. This is your outlet to ask your questions to the doctors.
Hi Doctor
Which method of ovulation will you recommend for me..I will be 31 next year April and I have normal BMI, my ovarian reserve too is okay and the only reason I am going for IVF is because of my tubes…which method of stimulation will you advice that I go for long protocol or antagonist?
Here is the protocol I advise for women, <40Y who have adequate ovarian reserve.
My advice is to use a long pituitary down regulation protocol starting on a BCP, and overlapping it with Lupron 10U daily for three (3) days and then stopping the BCP but continuing on Lupron 10u daily (in my opinion 20U daily is too much) and await a period (which should ensue within 5-7 days of stopping the BCP). At that point an US examination is done along with a baseline measurement of blood estradiol to exclude a functional ovarian cyst and simultaneously, the Lupron dosage is reduced to 5U daily to be continued until the hCG (10,000u) trigger. An FSH-dominant gonadotropin such as Follistim, Puregon or Gonal-f daily is started with the period for 2 days and then the gonadotropin dosage is reduced and a small amount of menotropin (Menopur---no more than 75U daily) is added. This is continued until US and blood estradiol levels indicate that the hCG trigger be given, whereupon an ER is done 36h later. I personally would advise against using Lupron in “flare protocol” arrangement (where the Lupron commences with the onset of gonadotropin administration.
I strongly recommend that you visit https://www.drgeoffreysherivf.com. Then go to my Blog and access the “search bar”. Type in the titles of any/all of the articles listed below, one by one. “Click” and you will immediately be taken to those you select. Please also take the time to post any questions or comments with the full expectation that I will (as always) respond promptly.
• The IVF Journey: The importance of “Planning the Trip” Before Taking the Ride”
• Controlled Ovarian Stimulation (COS) for IVF: Selecting the ideal protocol
• IVF: Factors Affecting Egg/Embryo “competency” during Controlled Ovarian Stimulation (COS)
• The Fundamental Requirements For Achieving Optimal IVF Success
• Use of GnRH Antagonists (Ganirelix/Cetrotide/Orgalutron) in IVF-Ovarian Stimulation Protocols.
• Anti Mullerian Hormone (AMH) Measurement to Assess Ovarian Reserve and Design the Optimal Protocol for Controlled Ovarian Stimulation (COS) in IVF.
• Treating Out-of-State and Out-of-Country Patients at Sher-IVF in Las Vegas
• Should IVF Treatment Cycles be provided uninterrupted or be Conducted in 7-12 Pre-scheduled “Batches” per Year
• A personalized, stepwise approach to IVF
• “Triggering” Egg Maturation in IVF: Comparing urine-derived hCG, Recombinant DNA-hCG and GnRH-agonist:
If you are interested in seeking my advice or services, I urge you to contact my concierge, Julie Dahan ASAP to set up a Skype or an in-person consultation with me. You can also contact Julie by phone or via email at 702-533-2691/ Julied@sherivf.com You can also apply online at http://www.SherIVF.com .
*FYI
The 4th edition of my newest book ,”In Vitro Fertilization, the ART of Making Babies” is available as a down-load through http://www.Amazon.com or from most bookstores and public libraries.
Geoffrey Sher
Hi Dr. Sher.
I am scheduled to have a double embryo day 2 transfer tomorrow. I had Chicago tests done in 2015 that showed I had a partial dq alpha match with my husband and nk cells. I have explained to the doctors my concern over putting two back. Will putting two back double the chances of a match and therefore double the chances my body will attack it or will having two put bank give me my best chance? I had two intralipids and am on 5mg prednisolone.
I’m really confused and greatly appreciate your opinion!
Thank you.
DQa matching is ONLY relevant, requiring treatment, if in addition you have natural killer cell activation. And if (as is mostly the case) this is a partial DQa match (with NKa+) then in my opinion, only 1 embryo should be transferred per cycle, under IL/steroid cover. Also, I believe it to be less than ideal to transfer cleaved embryos. My preference is to transfer only blastocysts.
Embryo transfer (ET) is undoubtedly a rate limiting factor when it comes to IVF outcome. In fact, in my opinion, it is the single most important procedural step in IVF. Optimal performance of ET takes practice, confidence, dexterity, timing, gentility and skill. Of all the hands-on procedures involved in the IVF process, embryo transfer is by far the most difficult to teach. In fact, any women fail to conceive simply because the practicing physician did (could) not perform this procedure optimally.
The issue of whether it is better to transfer early (day 2-3,post fertilization) cleaved embryos rather than (day 5-6) blastocysts continues to rage. Here I wish to focus on the reasons why I favor transferring blastocysts.
Not too long ago, it was believed that the sooner an embryo was transferred into the “natural environment” of the uterus, the greater would be the chance of it implanting and propagating a viable pregnancy. Thus most IVF physicians advocated day 2 or day 3 embryo transfers preferentially. About 20 years ago, we began to realize that there was no validity to the belief that an embryo would develop better and have a greater chance of propagating a baby by being inside the uterus earlier than it would by being allowed to first develop into a blastocyst in an incubator. About a decade later, it was realized that cleaved embryos that fail to develop into blastocysts are with few exceptions numerically chromosomally “incompetent” (aneuploid) such that had they been transferred earlier, they almost certainly would not have developed into blastocysts and would not have propagated a pregnancy anyway. Now most of us practicing in this field believe it to be preferential to selectively transfer blastocysts rather than earlier cleaved embryos. Don’t get me wrong! I am not saying that there is never a place for doing earlier pre-blastocyst transfers. Patients that only have one or two cleaved embryos available might as well transfer them early.
The recent popularization of full preimplantation genetic sampling (PGS) using methods such as comparative genomic hybridization (CGH), next generation gene sequencing (NGS) and SNP array, now allow us to identify those blastocysts that are the most “competent”. Selective transfer of such embryos improves the implantation rate per embryo by a factor of 2-3.
It is important to bear in mind that morphologically good looking day 3 embryos/blastocysts that are determined microscopically to be of a “high grade” , are by no means always numerically chromosomally “competent” euploid , and the likelihood of such embryos being “competent” diminishes progressively with advancing age of the woman. Only through the performance of full PGS can his age-related discrepancy be reduced.
While it would be acceptable to me to transfer 2 PGS-untested blastocysts to women under 39 years, and to transfer 3 to older women, I would not recommend transferring more than 2 PGS-normal embryos at any age.
The following are arguments in favor of performing blastocysts transfers:
•By waiting to day 5-6 many unworthy, many aneuploid and “incompetent” embryos can be culled out, thereby allowing for the transfer of fewer embryos and minimizing the risk of high order multiple pregnancies.
•Diagnostic Advantages:
o Failure of the expected number of cleaved embryos to advance to the blastocyst stage of development in culture, raises the suspicion of underlying inherent embryo “incompetence”, which is usually (but not exclusively) egg-related rather than due to a sperm factor. While age of the woman is the most important factor involved, it can also be due to the wrong protocol of ovarian stimulation being used).
oIt facilitates the performance of PGS to identify and then selectively transfer only most “competent” (euploid) blastocysts. In such cases, provided there is no underlying uterine implantation dysfunction implantation and pregnancy rate is enhanced significantly.
Of course, for the treating physician it is far less stressful not have to have to confront a patient with her having no surviving embryos to transfer. The avoidance of this has in my opinion, in the past, been one of the main reasons why IVF practitioners have elected to transfer cleaved embryos rather than blastocysts. But such a policy is usually not in the in the patients’ best interest. In my opinion, it is far better to advise the patient to do a blastocyst transfer since that is almost always in their best interest.
Geoff Sher
Hi Dr Sher, how are you?
Today is cycle day 17 on a natural cycle. I had an LH surge on CD13 and EWCM between CD12-CD15. Today my internal scan showed a follicle that was 26mm in size. My blood test showed estrogen at 59 pg/ml, progesterone at 0.3 ng/ml and LH at 3.3. There was no sign of the corpus luteum. I have been told I did not ovulate this month. The sonographer didn’t think the follicle was a cyst, it was black and the color doppler suggested so. What do you think it is from your experience? In your opinion, does it sound to you like a simple cyst or a non-functional cyst? if the latter, are they bad? No one seems concerned except me, simply because no one can give me an answer.
It sounds like a cystic follicle to me.
Geoff Sher
Hi Dr Sher,
You had asked me to keep you posted on othe outcome of my abnormal embryo transfer. Today was my six week apt and we saw two sacks and two heat beats. I live hour by hour in fear of a miscarriage. I’ve had healthy pregnancies before and just curious with your experience how many miscarriages vs. live births you’ve seen with abnormal transfers once a heat beat was seen.
I can find any information on this anywhere you you are the person I know has the most up to date knowledge.
This could be good news. I would however recommend prenatal genetic screening (chorionic villus sampling or amnio.
Good luck and thank you for keeping me updated…Much appreciated!
Geoff Sher
Hi Anne, I, too, am following your story as I, too, have some abnormal embryos I want to transfer, but mine are monosomy and i have been told monosomy embryos do not make it to implantation. Please continue to keep us apprised of developments.
I’m almost 38, and at 35 I underwent two back-to-back freeze-all IVF cycles. They resulted in four embryos. One became my son (now 23 months old). Two resulted in miscarriage (one was trisomy 15 and the other a biochemical pregnancy) and the last did not survive the thaw. I just had my day 3 labs done, and my AMH is the same as it was three years ago: About .6. My FSH is 8.5 (it was 4.5 three years ago, though I just had the biochemical pregnancy this past cycle, so that could be one factor). My E2 was 6. Given these results, my age, and the fact that three years ago I only produced one viable embryo from two IVF cycles, I am tempted to move on to donor eggs. What would you do in my situation?
Undoubtedly you have significantly reduced ovarian reserve. However it is not critically low. Sure…egg donation would yield many more eggs and give ypou a better chance of success but you could still try with own eggs. However that should involve a robust and strategically chosen protocol for ovarian stimulation.
In my opinion, the protocol used for ovarian stimulation, against the backdrop of age, and ovarian reserve are the drivers of egg quality and egg quality is the most important factor affecting embryo “competency”.
Women who (regardless of age) have DOR have a reduced potential for IVF success. Much of this is due to the fact that such women tend to have increased production of LH biological activity which can result in excessive LH-induced ovarian male hormone (predominantly testosterone) production which in turn can have a deleterious effect on egg/embryo “competency”.
While it is presently not possible by any means, to reverse the effect of DOR, certain ovarian stimulation regimes, by promoting excessive LH production (e.g. short agonist/Lupron- “flare” protocols, clomiphene and Letrozole), can in my opinion, make matters worse. Similarly, the amount/dosage of certain fertility drugs that contain LH/hCG (e.g. Menopur) can have a negative effect on the development of the eggs of older women and those who have DOR and should be limited.I try to avoid using such protocols/regimes (especially) in women with DOR, favoring instead the use of the agonist/antagonist conversion protocol (A/ACP), a modified, long pituitary down-regulation regime, augmented by adding supplementary human growth hormone (HGH). I further recommend that such women be offered access to embryo banking of PGS (next generation gene sequencing/NGS)-selected normal blastocysts, the subsequent selective transfer of which by allowing them to capitalize on whatever residual ovarian reserve and egg quality might still exist and thereby “make hay while the sun still shines” could significantly enhance the opportunity to achieve a viable pregnancy
Please visit my new Blog on this very site, https://www.drgeoffreysherivf.com, find the “search bar” and type in the titles of any/all of the articles listed below, one by one. “Click” and you will immediately be taken to those you select. Please also take the time to post any questions or comments with the full expectation that I will (as always) respond promptly.
• Controlled Ovarian Stimulation (COS) for IVF: Selecting the ideal protocol
• IVF: Factors Affecting Egg/Embryo “competency” during Controlled Ovarian Stimulation(COS)
• The Fundamental Requirements For Achieving Optimal IVF Success
• Ovarian Stimulation for IVF using GnRH Antagonists: Comparing the Agonist/Antagonist Conversion Protocol.(A/ACP) With the “Conventional” Antagonist Approach
• Anti Mullerian Hormone (AMH) Measurement to Assess Ovarian Reserve and Design the Optimal Protocol for Controlled Ovarian Stimulation (COS) in IVF.
• The “Biological Clock” and how it should Influence the Selection and Design of Ovarian Stimulation Protocols for IVF.
• A Rational Basis for selecting Controlled Ovarian Stimulation (COS) protocols in women with Diminished Ovarian Reserve (DOR)
• Diagnosing and Treating Infertility due to Diminished Ovarian Reserve (DOR)
• Controlled Ovarian Stimulation (COS) in Older women and Women who have Diminished Ovarian Reserve (DOR): A Rational Basis for Selecting a Stimulation Protocol
• Human Growth Hormone Administration in IVF: Does it Enhances Egg/Embryo Quality and Outcome?
• The BCP: Does Launching a Cycle of Controlled Ovarian Stimulation (COS). Coming off the BCP Compromise Response?
• Blastocyst Embryo Transfers should be the Standard of Care in IVF
• Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET) versus “Fresh” ET: How to Make the Decision
• Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET): A Rational Approach to Hormonal Preparation and How new Methodology is Impacting IVF.
• Staggered IVF: An Excellent Option When. Advancing Age and Diminished Ovarian Reserve (DOR) Reduces IVF Success Rate
• Embryo Banking/Stockpiling: Slows the “Biological Clock” and offers a Selective Alternative to IVF-Egg Donation.
• Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGS) in IVF: It should be Used Selectively and NOT be Routine.
• Preimplantation Genetic Sampling (PGS) Using: Next Generation Gene Sequencing (NGS): Method of Choice.
• PGS in IVF: Are Some Chromosomally Abnormal Embryos Capable of Resulting in Normal Babies and Being Wrongly Discarded?
• PGS and Assessment of Egg/Embryo “competency”: How Method, Timing and Methodology Could Affect Reliability
• Treating Out-of-State and Out-of-Country Patients at Sher-IVF in Las Vegas:
• Traveling for IVF from Out of State/Country–
• A personalized, stepwise approach to IVF
• How Many Embryos should be transferred: A Critical Decision in IVF.
• The Role of Nutritional Supplements in Preparing for IVF
• Premature Luteinization (“the premature LH surge): Why it happens and how it can be prevented.
• IVF Egg Donation: A Comprehensive Overview
If you are interested in seeking my advice or services, I urge you to contact my concierge, Julie Dahan ASAP to set up a Skype or an in-person consultation with me. You can also contact Julie by phone or via email at 702-533-2691/ Julied@sherivf.com You can also apply online at http://www.SherIVF.com .
*FYI
The 4th edition of my newest book ,”In Vitro Fertilization, the ART of Making Babies” is available as a down-load through http://www.Amazon.com or from most bookstores and public libraries.
Geoffrey Sher MD