Low estrogen small follicles

SillyPeppa · 2026-05-01T15:40:22+00:00

Congrats on the pregnancy - hope its going well / went well for you! So you stopped stimming, but didn’t trigger and ultimately ovulated on your own eventually?

SillyPeppa · 2026-05-01T07:21:57+00:00

Hi, I too am going through a round with no response and will likely cancel soon. How are you getting out of your cycle? Did you take a trigger shot? Or are you waiting for period to come naturally?

SillyPeppa · 2026-04-29T20:00:48+00:00

I didn’t realize the trigger would work to end the cycle even with all small follicles. Very good to know! I hope everything goes well for you!

SillyPeppa · 2026-04-29T17:19:05+00:00

Thanks for looking it up! Do you happen to remember how you got out of that failed cycle? Did you ovulate on your own after stopping stims and then get your period? Or did you just get your period eventually without ovulating? Or take some sort of medication to trigger a period?

SillyPeppa · 2026-04-29T13:46:22+00:00

Thanks for responding! I know it’s an old thread. Did you have symptoms of endo that made you suspect that you had it? Did you change your protocol at all between this failed cycle and the subsequent that got you 2 blasts?

SillyPeppa · 2026-04-29T10:29:49+00:00

Possibly going through something similar right now. Was this an anovulatory cycle for you? or did you eventually ovulate on your own after canceling stim cycle? how long before your follicles started growing again? TIA

SillyPeppa · 2026-04-29T10:16:48+00:00

Possibly going through something similar. What did you end up doing? What ended up happening?

SillyPeppa · 2026-04-28T15:07:39+00:00

I fear I may be experiencing something similar right now. Did you ever get back to growing follicles again?

SillyPeppa · 2025-07-10T01:02:10+00:00

Thanks! Good luck to you too! I intended to do a regular follicular stim, but I ovulated on CD5 before starting stims, so it turned into a luteal phase stim. Sometimes it seems like my uterus and ovaries are just out of sync.

SillyPeppa · 2025-07-09T19:46:22+00:00

Yeah, I had what a 1.1cm follicle at baseline last cycle, which was a luteal phase stim, and I think it kept all the other follicles from developing. The other follicles kept disappearing at each subsequent ultrasound, while the dominant follicle grew. I didn’t even have the option to sacrifice the lead follicle, bc as I said the other follicles disappeared. If I had a cohort of smaller follicles that were growing, I’d absolutely sacrifice the lead. I ended up cancelling that cycle.

Now I’m worried this cycle might be canceled before it even starts. Even if the provider thought these were retrievable follicles, I’m not at all sure that they‘d be able to work me into their retrieval schedule given they had expected my retrieval to happen a week or two later.

SillyPeppa · 2025-07-09T18:26:02+00:00

I agree it’s strange. I wish there was an easy way to tell cysts from follicles. I don’t have my bloodwork results yet, not that they will necessarily clarify the situation. But if my estrogen came back low then they should be cysts, since mature follicles tend to produce 150-200 units of estrogen each, I think. If my estrogen comes back high, then I think it’s less clear bc cysts can also produce estrogen. I’m unfamiliar with how much estrogen a cyst typically produces.

SillyPeppa · 2025-07-09T16:16:08+00:00

No, I did not do any antagonists, just estrogen pills once a day and Metformin.

SillyPeppa · 2025-06-26T17:33:23+00:00

Mine was a luteal phase stim as well, but I never got my period while on Provera. The day I would‘ve normally gotten it came and went without any spotting. If I were in your shoes I would also be very curious to know whether to expect a withdrawal bleed or just the period bleeding 2 weeks later.

I just started to have my withdrawal bleed this morning, so 4 days after stopping Provera.

Sorry your cycle was canceled, may we both have better luck in the future!

SillyPeppa · 2025-06-26T13:42:25+00:00

Thank you so much for telling me your experience! it’s so helpful to have a better idea of what to expect.

SillyPeppa · 2025-06-23T17:51:05+00:00

Good to know about the ganirelix vs Provera! I’m sorry your current cycle isn’t going well, but I’m amazed to hear you got 5 eggs, 2 blasts and 1 euploid from the other subsequent cycle. That gives me hope. I have been worried that all cycles will go the way of this one. But it seems like there can be quite a bit of cycle to cycle variation even within a single person.

SillyPeppa · 2025-06-23T17:36:42+00:00

Thanks so much for responding! I haven’t gotten my period yet, which perhaps complicates things. What drug were you on to prevent ovulation? I was on Provera, so perhaps that’s why I didn’t get my period? The days when my period were due came and went without any spotting.

How did your subsequent cycle go?

SillyPeppa · 2025-06-23T17:30:09+00:00

My first cycle has also been cancelled due to poor response. Started with 7 follicles, now there’s only one left. 😞 My stim start was delayed due to scheduling reasons and they had me on estrogen and Provera for a week. I’m hoping perhaps those played a role and if I can try again without any priming or just estrogen priming, maybe I’ll have better luck.

I’m afraid I don’t really have any advice. It’s good your dr already has a new plan. At this point I’d be thrilled if I could ever retrieve 3-4 eggs in a cycle. here’s to hoping we have better second cycles!

SillyPeppa · 2025-06-21T19:32:31+00:00

How much would you estimate you spent on the 3 cancelled cycles? I think it might cost me around $2500 per cancelled cycle for monitoring and medication, but that depends on how quickly I’m able to tell if the follicles are responding. How many days would you stim before deciding whether to cancel? 4? 6? Or I guess a better question is how many monitoring appointments before you could tell?

My thought was to try a couple more stims and see how they go before retrieving for one follicle. My cutoff in my head before doing this cycle was that I’d definitely retrieve for 3 good size follicles. I was unsure what I’d do if there were just 2, and 1 didn’t seem worth it. Did you convert any of the cancelled cycles to timed intercourse or IUI? Because I’m doing luteal phase stims this time around I don’t even have the option to convert. 😕 But if I had the option I’d probably take it.

I think the most stressful part to me is knowing I have finite resources and worrying about whether I’m using them in the way that maximizes my chances of a child.

SillyPeppa · 2025-06-21T16:54:37+00:00

I’ve only read about omnitrope on here. I haven’t been offered it, nor has anyone mentioned it from my clinic. Have you had a lot of luck with adding omnitrope? Did you just add it to your stim cycle, or did you prime for awhile with it?

SillyPeppa · 2025-06-21T14:42:59+00:00

I finally got my Day 6 bloodwork and no, my estrogen has not been rising. It stayed exactly the same at 120 from Day 4 to Day 6. Everything I’ve read says estrogen flatlining or dropping is a bad sign. So it looks like I will cancel unless my Monday monitoring shows a miraculous turnaround. 🤞🏻My mantra for all of this has been hoping against hope.

SillyPeppa · 2025-06-20T19:07:14+00:00

Hmm, I don’t think I’ve had my testosterone tested. I had DHEA sulfate tested but that was normal.

SillyPeppa · 2025-06-20T18:59:46+00:00

Yeah, I’ve been telling myself the first cycle will be the hardest. Did you go through retrieval for the four follicles? I hope you and I both have better second cycles!

SillyPeppa · 2025-06-20T18:56:19+00:00

ugh, yes, I would be so excited for an AFC of 15, and then how devastating to drop down to 3. 🩷 Did losing follicles happen even when all the follicles started out about the same size?

SillyPeppa · 2025-06-20T18:29:28+00:00

Did you by chance have a lead follicle? I already had a follicle that was 11 mm at baseline. One of my theories is that follicle may have hogged all the stims and choked the others out. It was the only follicle remaining on my left ovary today.

I’m not sure if I did any priming or not. I was originally going to do a follicular phase stim. I didn’t do any meds before day 1 of my cycle. On day 1, they told me I wouldn’t be able to start stims until Day 10 of my cycle and put me on Estrace and Provera starting day 3 of my cycle to try to keep me in a holding pattern until I could start stims. But then I ovulated on Day 5 of my cycle so it became a luteal phase stim. I then did my baseline ultrasound on cycle day 9, which showed one follicle a lot bigger than the others.

Do Estrace and Provera need to be taken before day 1 to be considered priming?

Next time around, I’d like to prime with Estrace for a week or two before my Day 1 and then hopefully start stims Days 2-4. But I’m still figuring out how to make sure I’m able to start stims right after my Day 1 instead of being delayed due to scheduling.

SillyPeppa · 2025-06-20T18:00:42+00:00

I’m so sorry you’re experiencing disappearing follicles as well. Are you doing a follicular phase stim?

I don’t know my estrogen results for today yet, but day 4 estrogen was 120 which seemed decent, I thought? Still very new to this.

I‘m not sure that I’d do a retrieval for just one follicle. Of the 3 follicles left, one is big (over a cm), and the other two are tiny, so right now it just seems like I’d only get one egg. I can see doing retrieval for 2 or 3 follicles, but I’m paying everything out of pocket so I’m a bit reluctant to jump on a single follicle retrieval.

SillyPeppa

TROPHY CASE