Can Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI) Be Reversed?

Why Conventional Medicine Stops at the Numbers

Conventional medicine often stops at the numbers: low AMH, high FSH, or a diagnosis of Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI). Too often, the next words you hear are “donor eggs” or “IVF.”

However, through a functional fertility lens, we can uncover hidden factors such as inflammation, nutrient deficiencies, gut health, and hormone imbalances that may support ovarian function and enhance pregnancy success.

What the Research Says About AMH and Fertility

A 2022 study published in Fertility and Sterility followed women between the ages of 30 and 44 for three years. It found that women with low AMH or high FSH were just as likely to have a baby as women with normal ovarian reserve, once age and other factors were taken into account.

This means that while AMH shows how many eggs you may have, it’s not the strongest predictor of pregnancy success. Age and embryo quality play a bigger role, so a low AMH result doesn’t automatically mean you can’t get pregnant with your own eggs.

Functional Fertility Strategies for POI and Low AMH

Functional medicine and nutrition look beyond lab numbers to address underlying imbalances that affect egg quality and ovarian health. By focusing on inflammation, nutrient status, and hormone balance, you can create a stronger foundation for conception.

In this episode of Get Pregnant Naturally, Fab Fertile founder Sarah Clark explains how functional fertility strategies can help reverse POI and improve your chances of conceiving with your own eggs.

Amanda’s Story: From AMH 0.08 to a Natural Pregnancy

You’ll also hear Amanda’s story: she was told she’d never conceive naturally with an AMH of 0.08 ng/mL, yet went on to have her daughter. Stories like hers remind us that lab numbers aren’t the whole picture.

Every fertility journey is unique. This story is shared for educational purposes only and does not guarantee similar results. Always consult with your healthcare provider about your individual situation. If you’d like to explore how a functional approach could fit your case, book a call here.

Is This Episode Right for You?

This episode is especially for you if:

• You’ve been told your only option with POI, low AMH, or high FSH is donor eggs

• You’ve experienced recurrent miscarriage or failed IVF cycles

• You want evidence-based strategies to improve egg quality and fertility outcomes naturally

Key Takeaways

We’ll cover the difference between genetic and idiopathic POI, why functional fertility shines in unexplained cases, and the top mistakes people make with a POI diagnosis. You’ll leave with practical steps you can take right now to support ovarian function.

Next Steps in Your Fertility Journey

Subscribe to Get Pregnant Naturally for evidence-based guidance on functional fertility, and share this episode with anyone on their fertility journey.

Not sure where to start? Download our most popular guide:  Ultimate Guide to Getting Pregnant This Year If You Have Low AMH/High FSH it breaks everything down step by step to help you understand your options and take action

For personalized support to improve pregnancy success, book a call here.

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TIMESTAMPS

[00:00:00] Donor Eggs Only? Understanding POI, Low AMH, and High FSH
Q: Does a diagnosis of POI, low AMH, or high FSH always mean donor eggs or IVF? → Learn why many women are told this and how functional fertility looks deeper than the numbers.

[01:00:00] How Functional Fertility Improves Egg Quality and Ovarian Function
Q: Can functional fertility improve egg quality and ovarian reserve? → Discover practical steps to reduce inflammation, balance hormones, and boost fertility naturally.

[05:00:00] Idiopathic vs Genetic POI - What You Can Influence Naturally
Q: What’s the difference between genetic POI and unexplained (idiopathic) POI? → Understand which factors you can influence with nutrition, lifestyle, and targeted support.

[08:00:00] Nutrition, Gut Health, and Lifestyle Factors for Low AMH and Poor Egg Quality
Q: Can diet and gut health actually improve low AMH or poor egg quality? → See how vitamin D, iron, gut microbiome balance, and lifestyle changes impact ovarian reserve.

[12:00:00] Real Client Success: Pregnancy After POI and Low AMH Diagnosis
Q: Has anyone with POI or very low AMH conceived naturally? → Hear client stories of women who improved AMH, lowered FSH, and had successful pregnancies.

[13:00:00] AMH, Egg Quality, and Gut Health Connection
Q: Why doesn’t AMH always predict fertility outcomes? → Learn how gut health, nutrient absorption, and inflammation play a bigger role in egg quality.

[15:30:00] Gluten Sensitivity and Fertility: Impact on Egg Quality and Hormones
Q: Can gluten sensitivity affect fertility even if I don’t have celiac disease? → Explore the link between gluten, hormone balance, and ovarian function.

[18:00:00] Key Nutrients to Improve Egg Quality and Support IVF Success
Q: Which supplements and nutrients are proven to improve egg quality? → Find out why vitamin D, B vitamins, iron, CoQ10, and protein are essential for egg health.

[20:45:00] Gut Infections, Inflammation, and Fertility Challenges
Q: Can gut infections or microbiome imbalances cause fertility issues? → Learn how chronic gut infections and inflammation disrupt hormones and egg development.

[23:30:00] Stress, Nervous System Regulation, and Fertility Outcomes
Q: Can stress lower AMH or cause IVF failure? → Understand how nervous system dysregulation impacts ovarian reserve, miscarriage risk, and pregnancy success.

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TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] your doctor told you that donor eggs are your only option because you have premature ovarian insufficiency? Low AMH and high FSH. Conventional medicine often looks just at the numbers, but in a functional fertility lens, we're looking at inflammation, nutrient deficiencies, hormone imbalances that can actually improve ovarian function and improve pregnancy success.

Today I'm going to share some functional strategies that differ from conventional approach. Plus we're going to talk about Amanda's story where she was told that she would never conceive naturally with POI, with an AMH of 0.08, but went on to have her daughter. So if you've ever been told there's nothing you can do, this episode is for you to show you how to improve the chances of pregnancy success.

If you have premature ovarian insufficiency. Let's go.

Welcome back. I'm Sarah Clark, founder of Fab Fertile. For over a decade, my team and I have helped hundreds of couples improve their chances of pregnancy success, whether naturally or through IVF. We specialize in supporting those with low AMH, high FSH diminished ovarian reserve, premature ovarian insufficiency, and recurrent pregnancy loss [00:01:00] through functional lab testing and personalized fertility strategies.

Today we're diving into premature ovarian sufficiency and what you can do to improve your chances of pregnancy success with your own eggs. This episode is for you is if you've been told your only option with a POI, low AMH or high FSH is donor eggs. You feel dismissed by conventional medicine and you want to explore a functional approach and you're looking for practical steps that can improve ovarian function, egg health, and pregnancy success. Thanks so much for listening.

I'm so thankful that you hear. Make sure you hit subscribe or follow, and if you know someone else who's on the fertility journey, please share this podcast with them.

We're talking all about the strategies we can do to reverse premature ovarian insufficiency. POI. So as you may know, I was diagnosed with POI at 28 and went on to have both my kids with donor eggs. This is over 25 years ago. My daughter's 23, my son just turned 21.

And really it's the same recommendations 25 years later, you've got POI, they tell you donor eggs, [00:02:00] IVF. There's nothing you can do and really go on HRT to protect your bones. And your heart. You obviously want to look at that piece. We are working with people that have been told in their twenties and their thirties that there's nothing they can do.

And so today's episode we're going to talk about some strategies. POI is the loss of function of the ovaries before the age of 40. It can be confused with menopause, but unlike menopause. POI may still allow for the occasional ovulation and pregnancy, which we see with our clients.

From a conventional definition, so it's irregular absent period. So like myself, I had a irregular periods, they were heavy periods to the point where I was fainting. They were so heavy. And then they came a couple times a year in my twenties. I thought that was good because I didn't have to deal with them because they were so heavy and horrible.

And then I was put on the pill and that was a bandaid approach. It didn't address what was going on in my body. And irregular, absent [00:03:00] periods, low estrogen. I was having, I remember joking in my early twenties, i'm having menopausal hot flashes.

Yes, something was definitely off with my hormones, but no one understood what was happening. And no one dug deeper, including me want to I didn't really understand what was going on. It can be low estrogen high FSH. And also sometimes low AMH. 25 years ago, they weren't measuring AMH.

And so now we've got the AMH which can be devastating, right? A high FSH and a low AMH, the donor eggs are your only option and there's nothing you can do, but no one digs deeper and

looking at your health. From a conventional standpoint, they're going to focus on hormone replacement therapy, which they did for me to manage symptoms. They're going to emphasize donor eggs, which was told for me, remember my OB, GYN, reaching up on the shelf and giving me the brochure to go to the clinic and use donor eggs.

I did not get a second opinion. I didn't dig deeper. I had no idea there's things I could do with my health. I was just like, oh, I've got a plan. I'm using donor eggs [00:04:00] and because I'm a type A planner that fit into my narrative of how I do things. And I thought everyone else had it harder than I did because they had to try with their own eggs.

And I had this, solution. Luckily enough, it did work for me. We see a lot of people that select donor eggs and it doesn't work because they haven't addressed their health. So for me, luckily enough it did work. And but then my health came crashing down years later, and I had to address that with chronic sinusitis, chronic UTIs, chronic yeast infections.

All of this really tipped over due to chronic stress, which at the time I didn't even think I was stressed. So definitely I've done a whole episode on my story with POI. I'll link it in here and you can check that out. So there's very limited options for those wanting to use their own eggs.

They tell you that IVF can't help. But from a functional fertility perspective instead of just managing symptoms, we're going to investigate why has ovarian function been compromised. So is there [00:05:00] immune dysfunction, nutrient deficiencies, gut health, environmental toxins exposure, and hormone disrupting chemicals?

POI, the genetic side of things versus the idiopathic side of things. With genetics. It's important to get tested for Turner Syndrome or Fragile X. So if there is a genetic side of things, functional medicine can't reverse genetic issues, it can still help with reducing inflammation and balancing hormones and supporting your body.

So you're feeling better mood, energy. Overall wellbeing. So it can help, but from a genetic side of things that can be more difficult to achieve pregnancy. Now we're typically working with people that have the idiopathic POI and that's the majority of POI cases are idiopathic.

So conventional medicine can't identify a clear cause and they're just told it's happened and there's nothing you can do. Which is completely disempowering. We haven't dug deeper. So your REI, they're looking at your AMH, your FSH, your [00:06:00] estrodial, and your follicle count and saying, wait a minute, there's very few follicles here.

The AMH is undetectable. The FSH is too high, and IVF is not an option for you. And so in their toolkit. All they have for you is donor eggs. And they are trained to do surgeries. They are trained to give hormones or medication or drugs. And so looking at things on the underlying causes is just not in their toolkit.

So we don't want to exclude the REI, but just putting all our eggs in one basket, pun intended is not going to serve you. And they're not going to dig deeper as to why that's happening. So some of the themes that we're seeing with POI, if there's no genetic, cause of this is we're seeing that non celiac gluten sensitivity, and I've talked a lot about this before. This is something that I have. I don't have celiac disease, but I definitely have non celiac gluten sensitivity. When I have gluten my joints are inflamed, my digestion system, acne all this piece, it just really causes an autoimmune response in [00:07:00] me.

This can lead to systemic inflammation and that can impact the health of the ovaries. Studies that are talking about that unexplained infertility, which is a lazy diagnosis, right? If you've been told unexplained, don't accept that at all. You've gotta dig deeper.

There is a reason. We have someone right now with unexplained infertility in air quotes, and she's pregnant with twins. Naturally when she was told, I don't know why, and we found a whole host of reasons why when we looked at her biomarkers and looked at her testing and we were able to help her restore that.

And then seven or eight months she got pregnant naturally with twins. So studies showed that women with unexplained infertility have a higher prevalence of gluten sensitivity and some regain ovarian function just by going gluten free. And I've had many people contact me saying, I've gone gluten free and I got pregnant.

Typically with POI, it is multifactorial. It's not just one thing, it's a number of different things that we start to optimize, reduce inflammation, do this in a targeted manner, and then you can make determination if you need to go to IVF if you need to go the [00:08:00] PRP. And so we've created this really strong foundation of health.

And then sometimes you do need to go to donor eggs. It's basically having an open mind as to what's going to happen of really knowing that your child is waiting for you. However that may be, and I've done many episodes on the perfectionist and the controlling side of things and the planner type A.

So this is investigating, looking at your health and building a strong foundation and digging deeper. We also see that low vitamin D. Studies talking about low vitamin D and low AMH can be correlated. So vitamin D plays a critical role in follicle development, ovarian reserve.

Implantation and deficiency has been linked to diminished ovarian reserve and lower AMH and poor IIVF outcomes. And so we can optimize our vitamin D by taking some vitamin D supplements, but then also seeing why is it low to begin with? Which a lot of times it can be because

there's a issue with your gut microbiome. Next we have is methylation and B vitamins. So folate and [00:09:00] B12 and B6 are essential for the DNA methylation, egg quality, hormone regulation. Literally, when we do our genetic testing, different from the karyotyping, they're going to do at the fertility clinic, looking for those genetic predispositions.

If you have POI, this is for idiopathic, POI. We see across the board, like a high percentage of people having a hard time being able to process their B vitamins and absorb them. So a lot of times all the nutrients are low. So you may have that MTHFR gene variation and so impairs folate metabolism and it increases the risk of poor egg quality, recurrent pregnancy loss and hormone imbalances.

We see people with one SNP or two SNPs. We see a lot of people needing support with their methylation pathways. And when we have methylfolate, this can improve ovarian and reproductive outcomes. You need to do this in a very targeted manner, not just throwing spaghetti at the wall, taking one B vitamin.

We use the genetic [00:10:00] testing so then we can really personalize this. And this is definitely a theme that we see. And for myself as well, MTHFR. Definitely have it. And I know with B Vitamins, I am not as anxious. I can hopefully speak better. For years, it was like I couldn't even get words out for some reason.

But as I started to work on my gut health and reduce inflammation and bring in some B vitamins that helped even things out. A lot of these can be depleted. Another one we see is anemia and low iron.

Over and over again, I speak to women that have low AMH or high FSH, POI, and they tell me they're anemic. So iron is required for oxygen transport and energy production at the cellular level. Low iron or ferritin can compromise blood flow and oxygen delivery to the ovaries.

impairing follicle development. Correcting iron deficiency often restores regular cycles and supports better ovarian response. So we like the ferritin between 80 to a 100 before you go to IVF. We see it so low. So doing iron transfusions and iron [00:11:00] supplementation can be good, but why is it low?

Is there things happening in the gut microbiome? So we can supplement, but we always want to back it up. Why is it low? So to me, that's good news, right? There's something you can do. Once we start to address those nutrient deficiencies. Look at the immune system, boost everything up reduce gut related inflammation.

If you've got infections happening in there, maybe you've got a parasite or a bacterial infection or a fungal infection. That could be why your AMH is low and your FSH is high. Functional fertility side of things with that idiopathic, POI with no genetic piece, even with the genetic piece, but we primarily work with people with the idiopathic.

So no fragile X no turner syndrome, no genetic pieces. This can really help to improve ovarian function. Thinking of Stefanie, where her FSH was in the sixties and seventies and she had barely any follicles and she made the changes and did our testing.

She was [00:12:00] told donor eggs were her only option and she went on to get pregnant. She did actually use IVF. She went to see her, REI and the REI said. Wow. I see that your FSH is down to a 7 now. I can actually see some follicles. I think you've got a chance here. And she went on to have her son and then she came back to us, worked again and had her daughter.

This was after she had three failed IVFs. A doctor reached across the table and said, I pinky swear, I'll get you pregnant. Nothing worked until she took her health into her own hands. Which to me is empowering. We don't need to wait for someone else. We can bring the REI bring in conventional medicine.

When we see fit, a lot of times we get this diagnosis. We think that's our only option. We just wait for them and sit back and think there's nothing we can do. And it's devastating. It's emotionally taxing, it's financially draining. And then we haven't backed it up to see exactly what's happening with our health.

Some of the mistakes that we see with the POI diagnosis. So believing that donor eggs are the only option over focusing on the [00:13:00] AMH as a fixed number. We see it go up all the time. I've done many podcasts on this, AMH is a poor predictor of live birth outcomes.

There's many studies on this. Harris from 2022 study talks about AMH and FSH are poor predictors of live birth outcomes. AMH does not predict your ability to get pregnant naturally. It does not test your egg quality. It does not look at your uterine receptivity. It is used to see how well you'll do with IVF, and that's why they see it's low and they say they can't help you.

With POI, people ignore lifestyle, nutrition and environmental factors. I grew up in a cedar house, in a forest that we regularly sprayed for carpenter ants. Did I inhale all those environmental toxins early on? Is that why my dog died of cancer at 10? I have no idea. But maybe that was a factor the environmental toxins that we're exposed to.

I remember talking to a guy that was a exterminator. Pest control and his semen was horrible. I know you're wearing, the suit [00:14:00] and the mask, but maybe the fact that you're around these chemicals all day long that's impacting your semen.

We're in the middle of a huge toxic experiment being sprayed with glyphosate and chemicals and genetically modified. Yes, that's impacting our fertility. I see people just jump into IVF too quickly without optimizing their body first.

And then I also have to see people, they get the diagnosis of POI and the low AMH, high FSH, and they waste a lot of time running around with the fertility clinic. Trying to potentially think if they can do IVF or maybe using a bunch of medication instead of wait a minute, looking at their health with nutrient deficiencies, gluten sensitivity, an iron issue, their thyroid, blood sugar, vitamin D.

The B vitamins, all of these pieces, instead of looking at their health. They just waste time and come back years later, and then they're in a bad position because they've had so much stress trying to figure this whole thing out. So if you've just been [00:15:00] diagnosed, now is the time to really take action with your health.

We've had people, I remember this couple came in. People get skeptical of this because your conventional doctor is saying there's nothing you can do. We just asked the wrong person. I remember this couple coming in. Her partner had Crohn’s disease and he'd found functional medicine and he had made the changes.

So he knew the power of being able to reverse his autoimmune disease. So she then had POI, and she was a little bit, oh, I don't know, it's, I think it's donor eggs. Anyway, she came to see us and her, AMH was at a 0.04. She was young 27. After four months she went to see her REI and he's I think you've got a chance to do IVF here.

We're seeing improvements in your follicles. Your follicle count. Let's go ahead. And she's wait. I'm just going to keep trying naturally. And she had done all the changes with us, done the testing, looked the underlying imbalances. Now our average success is 12 to 18 months.

Hers is early. And then she got pregnant naturally with POI after five months working with us. But I never want to sugarcoat this . it's multifactorial, it can be, difficult to [00:16:00] pinpoint the exact thing. It's a cascade of a number of different things to be able to look at and look at your biomarkers, looking at the testing.

Then typically the elephant in the room is the nervous system is dysregulated. This is what caused all the biomarkers to go out of balance. And once we start to work on the nervous system and the body's feeling safe to procreate, that's when things can optimize. We work with a lot of type A, get it done ready to do it all kinda women which is your superpower.

But if nervous system is feeling on high alert, wants to help you survive, not procreate. So we need to be able to look at that. So those are some of the mistakes we see. People just don't believe there's anything that they can do. They go off on a journey of medication and hormones and being forced HRT. Can be part of it.

Hormone replacement therapy. They typically are given synthetic hormone replacement therapy. We want bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. There can be side effects with the synthetic side of things but always with the bioidentical HRT, we need to then make the [00:17:00] targeted diet and lifestyle changes along with it. Otherwise

it's just a bandaid. Some functional strategies for POI, that anti-inflammatory diet. Do the elimination diet. Send me a message at hello@fabfertile.ca. Subject line 10 DAY and I will send you that elimination diet. Tells you how to take out the top allergens systematically reintroduce them.

We have you take out gluten and dairy, typically for 60 to 90 days. If you want to fast track this. We do food sensitivity testing to be able to pinpoint exactly what you're intolerant to. I've got people that have been intolerant to lettuce, and it's not about, you're never going to eat lettuce again.

As you heal the gut you can bring most of these foods back in. You want to make sure you have a lot of protein. I can't tell you the number of people that have POI. There is a theme here, and they're vegan, so I get it. My parents have been vegan for 35 years, are never going to, push meat down your throat here.

And obviously if there's for religious reasons, but we need to make sure you get enough protein. If you're not getting enough protein, your B vitamins are low. That might be why the hormones are off. So we need to be very careful, but be [00:18:00] married to any specific diet. We want the diet that's right for you.

Have an open mind. Again, we're not going to force you to eat meat if it doesn't feel right for you, but we need to look at your protein and see where we can actually add this in. It's not about you pounding down a bunch of lentils and beans when you've got digestive issues and maybe that's causing absorption issues and you've got loose stools and you're taking all these beans and cruciferous vegetables that are impacting your thyroid and that are giving you IBS. And so we have many people that have ulcerative colitis or Crohn's. So we need to be very careful if there's any known digestive issues. And a lot of times we work with people that have loose stools or constipation.

We see constipation correlated with thyroid issues. We see, gas, bloating, burping, all that stuff is common. It is not normal. That's a huge clue. If you got bloating going on, it looks like you're already three to four months pregnant. What is happening with your body? Food sensitivities, gut infections.

So we need to be able to look at that. Looking at the iron rich foods, healthy fats to support hormone production. Talked a lot on the podcast, all about gut health. So if you've [00:19:00] got infections like H pylori, you're not absorbing all your nutrients. It's not actually high stomach acid. It's low stomach acid.

You've got yeast, you've got infections that are driving inflammation. We have got to address those. It's not just like whoop to do, I'm going to do a parasite cleanse. No, we need to actually see what it. And be able to do this in a targeted manner. Otherwise, you're just taking a bunch of herbs and supplements have expensive pee. You circle this thing around and you never know what's happening. Then also working with any kind of.

Functional doc, even though functional medicine practitioners are better than conventional medicine practitioners, you need to be very mindful about just going with a general functional medicine doctor that doesn't specialize in fertility. You can spend a lot of money and then a lot of these themes can be missed.

You need to work with someone. If you decide not to work with us, but work with someone that specializes in a functional approach with fertility. Otherwise, you could just be spending a lot of money and wasting time. Looking at those nutrient deficiencies. So optimizing the vitamin D. So supplementing, but why is it low?

Looking at the B vitamins, adding some [00:20:00] omegas. Making sure it's methylated. B vitamins, if you've got the MTHFR gene variant. And you need more support with that. And that's a theme that we see. Hormone balance supporting the adrenals and the thyroid. Our whole thesis on this POI, low AMH, high FSH, is it actually early menopause?

Or is it your adrenals that impact your thyroid? That impacts the AMH, the FSH, and the follicle count. Is it the chronic stress that tip things all the wrong way. And now you start chasing this thing around a circle. And as we start to regulate your nervous system, and we have a whole mindset checklist here based on your biomarkers.

And if you've got a food sensitivity test that's there's more than 10 foods that you're intolerant to. That was me. The whole thing came back lit up, avocados, blueberries all these fertility super foods. I was intolerant to all of them because of all the stress that's impacted my gut. Gave me leaky gut intestinal permeability.

And then I became intolerant to my favorite foods. As we the gut work on the stress, be able to bring back [00:21:00] most of those foods. I was not able to bring back in gluten or dairy. I can do dairy, a little bit of dairy now, for the first time in 14 years, I'm able to have some grass fed butter, which I am so happy to have, I can't tell you.

But be very careful to bring that back in. We have people take it out for 60 to 90 days, and then corn. Corn is a huge cross reactor. With gluten, the body can identify it as gluten. For me, it just gives me blinding headaches. In Canada and in the states, corn. Not good for me. It's sprayed with glyphosate.

It destroys the intestines of the bug. Explodes their little bellies to kill them. And then in, in Europe, so many chemicals there are banned.

I can go and have corn in Italy and feel totally fine. Not that I'm eating corn chips, but I don't need to say, oh my goodness, check the food, make sure there's no corn starch or like a corn additive. I can have it there. Not that I go and eat a corn tortilla or something like that, but I'm fine in Europe. Whereas in North America[00:22:00]

they're doing something to our food supply, so watch out. And it's impacting our reproductive health. So you want to reduce toxins, minimize our endocrine disrupting exposure. So plastics, a lot of this stuff we know, like we, we got to throw out the plastics use glass storage containers. Pesticides.

You want to be able eliminate your exposure to those making sure you're using non-toxic skincare. Nervous system regulation. So mind body practices to reduce chronic stress, which can directly impact ovarian reserve. If we are stressed out of our mind.

I've talked about this a lot too. I see people working more than 50 hours a week. On the fertility journey, doing IVFs. And then now seems to be the time that we're going to do our masters. We're going to do some graduate studies. We're going to actually do school IVF and work. I'll be like what master's program are you taking? Oh, I'm taking electrical engineering. I'm taking biochemical. The most intense graduate degrees I've ever heard [00:23:00] of. And then they're wondering why they've got low AMH and high FSH. And so sometimes we keep pushing ourselves to do all this and it is impacting our health.

When I talk to couples where is expanding your family on the priority list? They tell me it is number one, but then sometimes we don't quite see what it is we're doing that's impacting our goals. And just because you're a get it done kind of person, how is that impacting your health in this case with POI?

So another story we have here is Amanda. She had POI, her AMH is 0.08. And she was told donor eggs were her only path. She worked with us. She shifted her diet and eliminated gluten. She actually was vegan when she came in. And she was very open-minded and started adding in meat. We rebalanced her gut health.

She had low vitamin D and low iron. And we saw some huge shifts. So her energy levels returned, her body felt more balanced, her cycles became more predictable, and [00:24:00] she got pregnant naturally and had her daughter after she was told nothing would work. People with POI can get pregnant.

I don't want to sugarcoat anything. It's a tough diagnosis, right? So we need to dig in, it's multifactorial and be able to look at the themes and peek around the corners here, because maybe it's just going gluten free. Maybe it's a vitamin D issue, maybe it's a thyroid issue. Maybe it's your iron. Maybe you have a gut infection.

Maybe it's nutrient deficiencies. Maybe it's all the chemicals you've been exposed to. Maybe it was just the stress. Of how you're wired to go. Maybe you just focus too long. You sit the laptop for hours. It's your superpower. But all of that is just draining your vital reserves.

So natural pregnancy is possible, like we talked about non celiac gluten sensitivity, we do see that as a link. We see the vitamin D. There's studies talking about low vitamin D and poor IVF response. Non celiac gluten sensitivity can be linked with ovarian dysfunction.

Methylation and B [00:25:00] vitamins are linked with recurrent pregnancy loss and egg quality issues. Iron deficiency. So anemia is linked with poor follicular development and ovulatory dysfunction. It's really important to be able to empower yourself, understand your health, work with someone that's not just oh wait, that's all in your head.

The fact that maybe you have, digestive issues, joint pain, acne, dermatitis. You're bloated, you've got constipation, your mood's all over the place. You want to tear out your husband's eyeballs because your hormones are so dysregulated. You've got vaginal dryness, you've got hot flashes, insomnia.

So those are clues and then there's things we can do about it. And so to me there's hope someone else has been able to do it. There's something that you can do as well. If you want to get my eyes on your specific situation send me a message at hello@fabfertile.ca, subject line FERTILE and we'll talk about some options to help. Take care.

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How to Get Started With Functional Fertility Support

Book your call here to get your personalized plan and options to help improve pregnancy success either naturally or with IVF treatment. 

Check out our Fab Fertile functional fertility program here and learn how to improve AMH levels naturally.  We work with couples that have low AMH, high FSH, diminished ovarian reserve, premature ovarian insufficiency, and recurrent pregnancy loss.

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FAQ - How To Get Pregnant With Premature Ovarian Insufficiency/Failure

Q. Can you get pregnant naturally with POI or low AMH?

Yes. Studies show that spontaneous pregnancies still occur even in women with POI or very low AMH levels. Functional strategies to support egg quality and hormone balance can improve these odds.

Q. Is AMH the final word on my fertility?

No. AMH is a measure of ovarian reserve, not egg quality. It predicts IVF response but does not determine whether you can conceive naturally.

Q. What’s the difference between genetic and idiopathic POI?

• Genetic POI is caused by chromosomal abnormalities (e.g., Turner syndrome or Fragile X).

• Idiopathic POI means the cause is unknown, and this is where functional fertility can make a significant difference.

Q. What role does inflammation play in POI and low AMH?

Inflammation can damage eggs, impair implantation, and disrupt hormone signaling. Testing markers like hsCRP can reveal hidden inflammation that impacts fertility.

Q. Which nutrients are most important for egg quality?

Research highlights vitamin D, CoQ10, B vitamins, zinc, magnesium, iron, and omega-3s. Even mild deficiencies can reduce ovarian function.

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RESOURCES

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