Does low AMH / low ovarian reserve mean BAD eggs? Or just fewer?

Does low AMH / low ovarian reserve mean BAD eggs? Or just fewer?

Transcription :

Oh, AMH. Our beloved AMH. It has such a bad reputation or so many of us actually fear even being told what our AMH levels are because we’re so fearful that our AMH levels are going to be so low that it’s going to dramatically change our fertility journey. Well, I know that many of you have been told that AMH levels cannot be changed, but I have to tell you, AMH has the worst reputation. We’re all so scared of what that number is going to be. Even before we get our results, we get anxious. Is it going to be low? Is it going to be high? Did it improve? Did it not? We’re so nervous that the levels that we get back when we see our AMH numbers are going to dictate the rest of our fertility journey. Well, I know many of you have been told that you can’t change these levels, but let’s see if that’s really true.

So there’s a woman in my Hope Fertility Coaching Program, that when she started with me, her AMH levels were 0.03. That’s extremely, extremely low. Now yes, she’s 40 years old, but even at 40 years old, those numbers should be at least closer to 0.8 or one than 0.03. And in six months of joining the program and starting to make changes, her levels went up to 0.17. Now I understand that’s not 0.8 or one, but it is an improvement. It is moving in the right direction. And so I want you all to recognize that it can improve and can change. And that’s what we’re going to dive into in this video. So stay tuned and keep watching.

My name is Dr. Marc Sklar, also known as the fertility expert and welcome to Fertility TV, your YouTube channel dedicated to helping you get pregnant. I’ve been working with couples for over 18 years through my online coaching programs and right here in San Diego at both of my clinics. And one of the biggest concerns that always comes up is AMH. So today we’re going to dive a little bit deeper into what AMH is and if you can improve it. But before I do that, I want to let you all know that there are a few spots open in my Hope Fertility Coaching Program. So if you want the support and guidance by me and my team, then I want to invite you to apply to join my Hope Fertility Coaching Program by using the link in the description below to apply. So what is AMH? AMH stands for anti-Müllerian hormone, easier to say AMH. And AMH is the hormone produced by the granulosa cells surrounding your follicles.

So the theory is, is that the higher amount of AMH that you have, the more follicles or eggs you have waiting. So then what’s the best way to test AMH? Well, do we have to take the fluid out of the granulosa cell? No, although that is a good idea. But no, this is a blood marker that we’re going to check. And I do recommend for all of you to have it checked. Now right now, if you go to your OBGYN or REI reproductive endocrinologist, otherwise known as your fertility doctor or IVF doctor, then odds are this is the first and main hormone that they’re actually going to be testing. So if you’ve already started down that path, you may already have this information and know what your levels are. But if you’re just starting off on the fertility journey or you’ve been primarily working on your own for the last six to 12 months, then I would suggest you get this level tested. And I’m not asking you to get this tested to push you forward into IVF.

I’m asking you to get this tested so that you know what your levels are and that you know how to move forward based on that information. Because knowledge is power and we’d rather test than not guess. And so moving forward by testing, gaining the knowledge and understanding for what is going on with your body will allow you to make better choices moving forward on your fertility path. If you want to have your AMH levels tested, then I’m going to leave a link in the description below so that you can get that tested right from the comfort of your own home and make it really easy for you to get that information. So is that the only way to check how many eggs we have left, so to speak? Is that the only way to check our ovarian reserve? Essentially yes, but no. You can also do an ultrasound to see how many follicles you have. The best time to do that ultrasound is right when you’re starting to menstruate. So it’s called an antral follicle count.

They say they are checking to see how many eggs you have waiting to start to grow in this coming menstrual cycle. And what they’re checking is not really eggs. They’re checking follicles. Inside the follicles are the eggs usually. There are some times where we have an empty follicle or two which doesn’t have an egg inside, but in general, we are counting the number of follicles. Now, this is also not a perfect way to understand what’s going on. Doing this ultrasound to see how many follicles you have on any given cycle does not mean that that is the amount of follicles you’re going to have in the subsequent cycles in the future. It’s an estimate, but it doesn’t mean that that number can’t change. And that is also true by the way about AMH. It’s not an exact number. The test is not a perfect test.

And all too often, we do see that number either fluctuate or change. And so I’m going to dive into that in just a moment. What’s the other hormone that you can test to get more information about your eggs? Many of you listening right now will probably be saying FSH, follicle stimulating hormone. AMH and FSH often get mixed up or used interchangeably. And they are not the same thing. AMH is checking how many eggs theoretically you have left. So ovarian reserve and FSH is checking primarily for egg quality. How good are the eggs that you are producing? Those are two different things and I want you to understand that. But right now, when you go in to your fertility clinic, often they only test AMH and often they tell you that tells you how successful you are going to be on your IVF journey. That might be an indicator for the success rate of an IVF process, but it’s not an indicator for egg quality.

And I do want you guys to understand that and be clear about the differences between all of those. So those are the three main ways we can kind of look in or peek into our ovarian function, both for reserve, how many we have left and for quality, how good the eggs are going to be. So, one important thing that we need to talk about is chronological age. How many birthdays have you had essentially and biological age. The age of the cells that you’re producing. Now, those might be the same or they might be different. We cannot change how many times you have a birthday over your lifespan. That is always progressing in an upward trend. But we can change the biological age of your cells and that is what we want to focus on. So in turn, this also means that we can support egg quality and ovarian reserve theoretically.

Now, this is not going to be the case for all of us or if it is, then for many of you, this is not going to be an easy for process. That woman that I mentioned in the start of this video, she’s 40 and in six months she’s only increased. Although it is an increase, she’s only increased her levels from 0.03 to 0.17. Now that’s a huge increase moving in the right direction. So it shows all of you that these things can change and improve and that AMH is not a static number or a number that is only decreasing, but you could see it took six months for her to get there and she had to really commit. So where do you want to be in six months? What do you want your AMH levels to be like in six months? How much are you going to commit to the process?

She’s changed so many things and it was possible for her to get those results. I know those results are also possible for all of you, if we can commit in the same manner. So being more fertile in six months time is a possibility, but it does take a concerted effort. It does take patience and it takes an appropriate plan based on your specific needs. So egg quality versus egg count. They’re both absolutely important and essential to work on. One is not more important than the other in general, but we have to know what you specifically need. Do you need more of that support on the FSH side or do you need more of that support on the AMH side? Or maybe it’s both. That’s how we start to flesh out what you need to do and how you need to move forward with your plan.

Now, I have talked in previous videos about how I interpret and believe AMH and what I believe it’s actually telling us. And I’m going to dive into it just briefly here, but you can visit that other video as well to learn more because I dive of much deeper into it. Logically AMH should only decrease from what we’ve been taught. Our ovarian reserve is our ovarian reserve. It’s what we have and there’s nothing more to it. So that number should always decrease. So why does it go up and why do we have 28 year olds with an AMH of 0.03 or 0.3, when really at 28 we should have a much higher level? Well, our body, I believe, is trying to protect ourselves and it knows one of the essential pieces for us as a human race is reproduction. We have to reproduce and create more humans to evolve.

Well, if our bodies are not in a good health, if there are concerns, if we’re under a lot of stress or we’re sick, then our body’s going to conserve. It’s going to preserve those follicles, those eggs and hold onto them for when the time is right. Again, I’m not going to go into that whole description here, but I do believe that that is the case for many of us and I see that often. Is that the case for everybody? No. For some of you, for sure, as the number decreases, it does mean that our ovarian reserve is decreasing, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t do anything about it. So I want you all to just take that information that you’re receiving, that you’ve been told, with a grain of salt. Digest it. Don’t let it dictate every decision that you make on your fertility journey, but use that knowledge as power to start to make changes and start to work on improving those numbers.

So how do we actually improve our AMH levels and our ovarian reserve? Well, just like she said in her post in my Hope Fertility Coaching Program, she started with supplements, with diet, with consciousness, with time, these are all important things, but the most important about all of them is that these were all specifically created and customized for her needs. So yes, absolutely supplementation is essential. Yes. Has to happen, but it needs to be the right supplements. Diet, 100% important as part of this process. And I have many, many videos that talk about diet and egg quality and ovarian reserve and how you can improve that and what you need to do. So you can check out those videos after you’re done watching this one. Consciousness right here, it starts here. She has spent so much time and effort working on her thought process, her mindset and what she believes in.

And so I 100% believe that that is impactful as well as part of this process. We need that as part of it as well. And you need to start to work on your mindset and your consciousness to support the outcomes that you want to achieve. Time. Nothing is achievable without some time. You saw that it took her six months. It takes time. And I would add on to that, it actually takes patience as well, because you have to not want to change your process every month or every cycle. You have to stick to the course, stay with the plan, and give it the time and patience to see the results that you’re wanting to see and that you deserve to see. I’d also add on to those four things that she mentioned, lifestyle. Lifestyle is essential here. Lifestyle can mean all sorts of things from sleeping habits, to exercise habits, to meditation, which you can kind of say goes into consciousness to our work habits.

It’s everything that we do. So we need to work on our entire life, but it starts with one thing at a time. So my question for all of you is what’s going to be the first thing that you do? What’s going to be the first step or first thing that you’re going to change on your course forward to get the results that you want to see and to improve your AMH levels? I want to know. I want to hear from all of you. So comment below and let me know, what’s step number going to be for all of you? When should you seek out more help to improve your AMH? What levels would be concerning to actually prompt you to move forward? Well, there are ranges when we talk about AMH. In a perfect world, when we’re below 30 years of age, we’d love to see that somewhere between one and a half and three, maybe a little bit higher.

As we get between 30 and 35, then I do think that we’d like to see that number be high, but not as high in that range. So I think as long as it’s above one and hopefully between one and two, I think that would be also a safe range. And then as you get older, we want to make sure that stays there. So from 35 to 40, somewhere between one and a half and one, and then 40, if we can keep it as close to one as possible, what is considered normal around 42 is 0.8 or above. So that gives you a rough idea. So if you fall outside of those ranges, first and foremost, are you lower those ranges, then absolutely you should seek out some additional help and support to create a customized plan for what you need to do to get the results to improve those numbers. But there is also something to be concerned about if those numbers are too high.

And so if the AMH is really high, I do think you also need some guidance and support to address that because it can mean that you have PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome, and we want to support that and improve those numbers as well. If you’re trying to get pregnant and your AMH levels need to be improved, then we should talk. I want to invite you to apply for a discovery call to see if we can support you on your fertility journey to help you get pregnant and get the results that you deserve. If you want to apply, please use the link in the description below.

So how did you like this video? Leave a comment and let me know. I want to hear what you learned in this video about AMH that you didn’t know before. Again, let me know in the comment section. If you liked this video or found it interesting and valuable for you, please give me a thumbs up. If you’re not already a subscriber to my YouTube channel, hit that bell to subscribe and get notified when I put out a new video for all of you. And until next video, stay fertile.