A friend of mine (35, Hashimoto’s) wants to freeze her eggs for later pregnancies. After stimulation, she had only 3 follicles, which where large enough for becoming eggs.
Her general reserve is minimal to begin with. Additionally, freezing, unfreezing, fertilizing and implanting causes loss.
Do you have any suggestions?
It’s a friend and I don’t want to suggest anything, that could harm her. On the other hand, my best guess would be one or two of the list: Rapamycin, Metformin, Ca-AKG, Inositol.
Couple suggestions that are mainstream include the supplement plans from “it starts with the egg” 3rd edition and the book suggestions for low amh, age, and autoimmune factors. The supplement plan includes inositol (I assume she is not PCOS if her AFC is 3 after stims)
With hashimotos many women choose to give LDN a shot based on inflammation affecting follicle recruitment (especially if also trying naturally/IUI) and apparent reduced implantation failure. If she isn’t on an anti-inflammatory diet already that’s another reasonable suggestion along with reducing toxin exposure.
There are some fertility clinics that use a “kitchen sink” approach with autoimmune/implantation factors recommend strict keto or carnivore diet. At 35, if it were me, I would to try and reduce inflammation and increase egg quality without getting too far outside of what has been reasonably researched in humans with a low risk of adverse effect.
She is still young so has time to bank eggs - egg quality over quantity. It only takes one quality egg.
Interesting news… I’ve reported in the past that I fed my chickens rapamycin for several years and it seemed to maintain their egg laying ability at youthful levels. Rapamycin is in many ways considered to mimic the effects of caloric restriction… so this would seem to make sense.
Prolonged severe caloric restriction in hens restores their egg-laying capacity, slows aging and increases survival.
That is awesome. It’s actually what I am hoping for. Would you mind telling us what you were taking?
During pregnancy I would advise adding additional B vitamins, Iron, and Multi mineral (calcium, magnesium and zinc). I took all of those during my last full term successful pregnancy.
Thank you for this information. I was taking it 2-3 mg a day for 2-3 days at the beginning of my cycle. I may have to try that method to see if I get any results. I hadn’t taken it for a few months because I was running out and getting mouth sores.
I was just listening to this interview with Longevity researcher Colleen Murphy at Princeton U., and she mentions some research she’s done on mitochondrial health as it relates to egg (oocyte) and fertility health. They’ve found (as have other labs) that the supplement Urolithin A seems to really help with egg quality, by boosting the mitochondrial health in the eggs.
If you’re interested in this topic, I recommend you listen to the podcast - queued up for this specific part of the discussion. Research below on this topic also (below the video):
Research on Urolithin A and oocyte Health
The research that Colleen Murphy’s lab did on this topic:
Hi all, new here and just read through this entire thread. Apologies if some of these questions have been discussed before.
I’m 33F and have recently found out that my fertility markers (AMH = 0.24ng/mL, AFC = 4) indicate diminished ovarian reserve. I’m now researching options to preserve what remaining fertility I do have.
It seems that mice model studies show that Rapa preserves ovarian reserve + improves egg quality. Amazing. I plan to start taking it now until I’m ready to TTC in a few years time.
However, I’m also considering pursuing egg freezing first, and wondering if I should wait to start Rapa until completing the egg retrieval cycles. The mouse studies showed that Rapa could impede follicular growth in the short term, but a human study showed women with endometriosis treated with Rapa for 3 months before undergoing IVF resulted in more eggs retrieved vs control.
Anyone have opinions or suggestions on how they might use (or not use) Rapa if they were pursuing egg retrieval?
Just a side-note to be aware of. Egg freezing is definitely an option, but some people think its a guaranteed pregnancy later, but the success goes down relatively quickly it seems:
Elective oocyte cryopreservation involves controlled ovarian stimulation with injection medication and ultrasound-guided egg retrieval. The retrieved eggs are then stored in the fertility clinic. The procedure is expensive, as total costs range from $9000 to $17,000 per cycle with an additional $300 to $500 annual storage fee.
However, freezing eggs does not guarantee future live birth. Research suggests that women under 35 with normal ovarian reserve have the highest chance of giving birth using frozen eggs.
An earlier study of 645 women who chose elective oocyte cryopreservation found that only 54 (8.4%) used their frozen eggs during the 18 years period. Among women who did, 17 (31.5%) achieved at least one live birth. The birth rates were the highest among women aged 35 and younger (63.6%), compared to those 36–39 years (42.3%) and women 40 years and older (17.6%).
Thanks for the reply - I’m definitely aware of the low incidences of live births from frozen eggs. It’s a tricky decision because if you choose not to, and later face infertility, you’re always going to wonder if you should have pursued it. It’s an industry built on fear. But most women that do freeze eggs never use them because they end up conceiving naturally when they’re ready.
It does seem like Rapa is a promising alternative.
Using this medicine while you are pregnant can harm your unborn baby. Use an effective form of birth control to keep from getting pregnant, and keep using it for at least 12 weeks after you stop taking sirolimus. (source).
This survey does not provide any warning signal that pregnancies fathered by male patients exposed to immunosuppressive agents, notably the debated MMF/MPA, have more complications than pregnancies in the general population. (Source)
And, a recent video from the researcher focused on this area:
Yousin Suh, who researches reproduction and genetics at Columbia University, describes research showing that the organ transplants and anticancer medication rapamycin may also be able to extend lifespan. Su and her team have commenced a clinical trial called VIBRANT, for Validating Benefits of Rapamycin for Reproductive Aging Treatment, to study whether rapamycin can slow the aging of human ovaries and delay the onset of menopause.
Thank you! Any thoughts on Methylene Blue in regards to conception/pregnancy - how far in advance to stop? Can’t find much info beyond that it’s shown to have a half-life of 5-6 hours (max 24 hrs)… BTW, back to fertility on Rapa, my N-of-1 definitely shows great improvements towards youthful cycles after year+ of 6mg/wk.
Thank you, all’s well so far, I was nervous re: abnormalities given mg crazy stack at the time but all looks good so far! Now I’m taking choline, fish oil, hyaluronic acid, prebiotics, and occasionally collagen powder on top of my prenatals.
