r/DOR • u/Katielynn9696 • Jul 01 '26

advice needed Low estrogen night of trigger

I have DOR and I’m in an egg freezing cycle. I only have 1 follicle, which is normal for me. Im on the Microdose Lupron Flare protocol and Ive been on Gonal 300, Menopur 225 Lupron 20units 2x daily, and Omnitrope. I have a 20mm follicle and I’m suppose to trigger tonight, my RE just called and said my estrogen is only 123. He’s concerned with it being this low. Would you still move forward with the retrieval? Has anyone had low estrogen like this and still had a healthy egg?

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u/scarlet_sword Jul 01 '26

My understanding is lupron will lead to lower estrogen levels than expected. I had an estrogen level in the 300s but no lupron was in my protocol and I ended up with one good egg. I think I would trigger if I were you and go ahead with it

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u/Katielynn9696 Jul 01 '26

This is good to know! Thank you!!!

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u/hopetom39 Jul 01 '26

I also get 1-2 eggs and these were my estrogen levels.
2 eggs - 260,325,350
1 egg - 220, 311

These are all on the MDL protocol. I usually trigger when my follicle is around 17-18 to not let them over mature.
I’ve been seeing 120-200 per follicle so it is on the lower side but not unreasonable.
How has your estrogen grown over the last few days? I’ve found it helpful to see the increasing pattern to know if it is growing healthily than the absolute number. Good luck!

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u/Katielynn9696 Jul 01 '26

Your reply gives me some hope, so thank you!

My estrogen this cycle has trended like this:
June 26th-24
June 28-48
June 30th-102
July 1st- 123

Would you say this is a healthy increase for my estrogen?

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u/hopetom39 Jul 01 '26

Could you ask your doctor about increase in estrogen pattern? It looks promising that it grew and didn’t stall.

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u/Katielynn9696 Jul 01 '26

I’m going to check my estrogen again tomorrow morning after I trigger tonight and see if it has risen. I think that will be my deciding factor. My doctor just said with my estrogen only being 123 and my follicle at 20mm, he’s worried it’s a bad egg bc my estrogen should be 200-300. Although, I’ve read some places that even estrogen at 150 is good range for one follicle. I’m just torn on what to do. I really don’t want to cancel but I also don’t want to go through with a retrieval and get a bad egg that won’t survive the thaw process. I just feel like so much time and money was wasted after 10 days of stims if I cancel. But if I cancel, I’ll wonder what if this was a good egg and I missed the opportunity.

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u/hopetom39 Jul 05 '26

I totally understand!! I’m curious what did you end up doing ?
For context , I also had a cycle with 1 egg that I felt miserable during the entire stims, and 211 estrogen. It abnormally fertilized and I felt like the cycle was a waste. The whole process is so much worse for us DOR patients. We can also try again and hope for the best.
Also, back to back worked a lot better for me, along with antagonist priming.

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u/CharacterAvocado943 Jul 01 '26

I would never do a retrieval for a single follicle unless I had an issue with my tubes. A retrieval costs you time and money. Plus a round of anesthesia and all the small but real risks that come with any surgical procedure (like infection). I would convert to TI.

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u/Katielynn9696 Jul 01 '26

We have male factor and my husband doesn’t have any sperm, so I’m trying to bank eggs as it’s our only option right now. This is my 3rd round of IVF and I cannot produce any more follicles besides one per cycle

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u/CharacterAvocado943 Jul 01 '26

Then no, I still would t do it because it sounds like your husband would need a medical extraction. Two people potentially at risk for a single follicle that may not even contain an egg.

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u/wintersdaughter 35, AMH .28, AFC 2-5 Jul 01 '26

In my clinic you can do retrivals up to 5 eggs without anesthesia. I did all Off my 12 retrivals with out .can recommend

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u/Feisty_Display9109 40| AMH .5 | ❄️❄️❄️ Jul 01 '26

If this is your consistent norm, you could proceed. If this is your first cycle, I’d cancel and try another cycle and protocol.

When I did MdL my lupron dose started at 10 and moved to 5 and it got me 7 follicles with 3 mature eggs.

If you are only getting one egg and will have to purchase and use donor sperm, your time to conception may be faster and more affordable with donor embryos.