How Chronic Stress and the Hyper Achiever Mindset Sabotage Fertility: Support for Low AMH, DOR & Poor Egg Quality

If you’re struggling with low AMH, diminished ovarian reserve (DOR), premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), or poor egg quality and feel like you’re doing everything but still not seeing results, this episode is for you.

We explore how chronic stress, perfectionism, and the hyper-achiever mindset can silently disrupt your fertility. From a functional fertility lens, we unpack why pushing harder, though well-intentioned, can backfire by elevating stress hormones, disrupting your menstrual cycle, and damaging egg quality.

Why “Doing Everything” Can Backfire When You Have Low AMH or Diminished Ovarian Reserve

Do you relate to:

• Failed egg retrievals or IVF cycles despite doing every protocol?

• Long workweeks (50+ hours), little rest, and mounting fertility frustration?

• Feeling your worth is tied to your ability to conceive?

You’re not alone and this mindset may be contributing to hormonal imbalances and poor ovarian response.

Research: How Stress and Cortisol Impact Egg Quality, AMH, and IVF Outcomes

• A study in Human Reproduction found that women with higher perceived stress levels had lower pregnancy and live birth rates during IVF treatment.
  ➤ NIH: Psychological stress and IVF outcomes

• Research in Fertility and Sterility shows that elevated cortisol and adrenaline can disrupt the HPO (hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian) axis, which is key for ovulation and healthy follicle development.
  ➤ Stress and Reproduction

• A 2021 review in Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology reports that chronic stress may lower AMH levels and speed up ovarian aging, impacting egg quality and ovarian reserve.
  ➤ Stress and Ovarian Reserve

These findings show how stress can compromise egg quality, ovarian reserve, and fertility treatment outcomes especially in women already navigating DOR or POI.

Case Study: From Donor Egg Recommendation to Natural Pregnancy

Annie and Miles’ Fertility Breakthrough

Annie was told that donor eggs were her only option. Her AMH was 0.15, FSH was 33, and Miles had low sperm motility. Conventional doctors gave them little hope. They joined the Fab Fertile functional fertility program, where we used advanced lab testing and a personalized protocol to address both physical and emotional health.

Annie conceived naturally without IVF or donor eggs.

Watch their full story here

This case shows how addressing underlying stress, nutrient deficiencies, and lifestyle factors can make a huge difference even when the odds are against you.

Cortisol, Mitochondria, and Egg Quality

Chronic stress can:

• Elevate cortisol, disrupt progesterone, thyroid, and sex hormones

• Impair mitochondrial function, which powers egg maturation and embryo development

• Contribute to inflammation and autoimmune activity affecting implantation

Sleep, Blood Sugar, and Gut Health: The Hidden Fertility Factors

Often overlooked, these core pillars, deep sleep, stable glucose, and a diverse gut microbiome, have more impact than many supplements.

Learn how stabilizing these systems can raise your AMH and improve ovarian response.

Nervous System Reset & Fertility Mindset Support for IVF and Natural Conception

You’ll discover:

• Lab tests to assess adrenal depletion and nervous system dysregulation

• Tools to calm sympathetic dominance, reduce inflammation, and restore hormone balance

• Why doing less and feeling safe in your body create fertile conditions

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TIMESTAMPS

[00:00:00] Hyper Achiever Mindset & Fertility: Impact on Egg Quality & IVF Success

[00:02:00] Stress & Hormone Imbalance: Progesterone, Thyroid & Fertility Hormones

[00:05:00] Overwork, Cortisol & Inflammation: Effects on Low AMH and Egg Quality

[00:07:00] Chronic Stress Impact on Ovulation, Mitochondria & IVF Outcomes

[00:09:00] Autoimmune, Sleep Hygiene & Fertility: Stress Effects on AMH & Embryo Health

[00:11:00] Nervous System Reset: Stress Relief Techniques to Boost Fertility

[00:14:00] Nutrition & Supplements for Egg Quality: CoQ10, Magnesium & Detox

[00:16:00] Fertility Mindset & Connection: Rest, Self-Compassion & Pregnancy Success

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TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] This episode is for the go-getters, the ambitious all-in achievers who tackle their fertility journey with relentless determination. If you're the type who likes to dive deep, does the research take every supplement, pushes hard to get results. But sometimes that can be a double-edged sword. Today, we're exploring how the hyperachiever mindset might be silently impacting your fertility and egg quality, and what you can do to support yourself with more ease, balance, and some science-backed strategies.

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.

Through functional lab testing and personalized fertility strategies. Today we're diving deep into the hyper [00:01:00] achiever and how this superpower might actually be standing in your way of pregnancy success. This episode is for you if you experienced failed egg retrieval.

Embryo transfers and are trying all the protocols. Supplements are strategies you can find. You're working long hours, so 50 plus hours a week, struggling to balance your career demands with your fertility journey. You feel like your worth is tied to your fertility outcomes or the number of wins you achieve, making it harder for you to slow down and rest even when you feel exhausted.

Thanks so much for listening. I'm so thankful that you're here. 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.

So the hyper achiever, especially when you're going through the fertility journey, if you're all about productivity and accomplishments in the world of fertility, if you're navigating low AMH or high FSH, repeated IVF failure, poor egg quality this mindset can become exhausting and it can really erode the foundation [00:02:00] that your fertility depends on, which is your nervous system balancing your hormones, improving egg quality and overall resilience.

So a hyper achiever is someone who is driven by performance, external validation, the desire to be successful sometimes at all costs. And on a fertility journey is it might feel like I need to do more. I need to try harder, I need to push further. And we see so many of our clients, they're professional type A get it done, kind of women give me a plan, I'm going execute it, but at what cost to your body. We love a plan and making those changes, but each day we make small

steps that can over time amount to huge change. And so if you're feeling all this pressure , I need to do more, I need to try harder, I need to push further. And a failed cycle means I failed and resting feels lazy. You could be doing more to improve your chances. I know for [00:03:00] me , I've go to be more efficient.

I need to be more productive. I've go to do more. No, maybe sometimes taking a step back. Resting and fueling your body, that actually will allow you to do more in the long run. And that is doing more. We're not human doings. We're human beings. Being able to recognize this in you, and because some signs. It can override the sign of burnout.

I remember all this stuff was going on in my life and I'm like, I'm totally fine. People are looking at me. Really? You are? I'm like, I feel good. No, I was burnt out. My adrenals, like there was nothing left. I needed some adaptogens to be able to support myself. Then I also had to get sleep. Slow down.

Because a lot of times slowing down for us feels unsafe. And like we said, a lot of our clients are these type A people, and they love the plan. They're like I'm going do all the testing, get the blood chemistry, we're going address that parasite, and then, oh wait, we wanna also talk about our mindset and reset our nervous system.

No, I'm fine over there. [00:04:00] I don't actually need help. I hear that all the time. No, I just need the testing. Give me the plan. I already got that handled. When meanwhile, the mindset piece and the stress you put on yourself, that overachiever, that's what's tilted everything the wrong way. And so it is multifactorial.

We need to look at all this, not all at once, but each day making small changes and if you're feeling like you're jumping from protocol to protocol, oh, I did a SIBO protocol. Oh, I kicked out an infection. I already went gluten free. I took out all the plastics. I've gone toxin free. I'm taking a boatload of supplements.

I checked every freaking box. I read all the books. You've done all this. Then we haven't looked at the elephant in the room, is all this pressure that we've just put on ourselves for you to be productive and get it all done. And so it activates your sympathetic nervous system and impacts your hormones, especially the progesterone.

And your thyroid. Egg development, mitochondria health, so fuels the cells. Your gut health. Stress and gut health, not a good thing. All those infections come [00:05:00] in. Inflammation and detox pathways. And so even though it could be your superpower, because you are efficient, you are productive and you are a hyper achiever, you probably are quite successful.

But at what cost to you? And your partner too. And so we use this overwork as a badge of honor. Yeah. I'm doing 80 hours a week. Like we're saying, if you're doing more than 50 hours, we have got to seriously look at this. If you're not having lunch, if you're skipping your breaks, you go through the whole entire day and just have a coffee, then have all your food at the end of the day.

If you're just squeezing in your appointments during the day, because you've go to be in every last meeting. This is putting your body in chronic stress. It is to have someone call you out on this and this hustle based lifestyle, it's going to disregulate your hormones. Suppress your progesterone and your thyroid and it creates an internal environment

fertility is not the priority. It's keeping you alive. And so if [00:06:00] you are skipping lunch or you are doing fertility research. For me, in times of stress, I cannot tell you the level of research that I go into. I'm going research my way out of it. It empowers me to a certain extent and then I find myself spiraling down it and then it exhausts me.

Maybe you're working late and you're also tracking your ovulation and you're meal prepping, you're squeezing in your workouts, and you're doing all your supplements, and you got them all in these boxes. You are going get it done.

You're the person that's a go-getter and you're going to get things done. But we don't need to do it all at once. If you're saying yes to something professionally while telling yourself, Hey, I'll rest later. I see so many people are working more than 50 hours going through IVF and also somehow they think now is the best time for them to do a doctorate program.

They're in a master's or a PhD also working full-time trying to have their baby and wonder why something's not working. It's your superpower, but then it's become the thing that's going take you down. Your REI is not going to [00:07:00] talk to you about any of this.

They'll be like, wait a minute, you've got poor egg quality and low AMH. The elephant in the room is this. You've over exhausted yourself, so your cortisol is going to, impact progesterone disrupt ovulation. It can impact FSH levels. They fluctuate each cycle. All the stress can impact your LH, your ovarian response, your blood sugar dysregulation, poor sleep, and it may look fine on conventional labs where they're telling you everything is normal.

You just, you have poor eggs. That's just not the case. We've got to dig deeper and see what's being missed here. And so the chronic cortisol elevation over time is going to interfere with LH pulses and ovulation. It's going divert your sex hormones to stress hormones to keep you alive.

The mitochondria the powerhouse for the cells it's important for egg and embryo division, the stress driven oxidative damage is going impair energy production in DNA integrity. That could be why the embryos aren't making it.[00:08:00]

We got to be careful not to blame ourselves here, right? So we know better, we do better. We make small changes every day. We tweak things, recognize our patterns. Oh, there you go again, saying yes to everything. Thinking you could do this huge list of things, that it's just not even feasible, but you get it done because you're you.

But how is that impacting your fertility? So this could suppress your thyroid, lowers your T3 conversion, and then reduces the TSH responsiveness. So sometimes we see the TSH is fine, but the whole thyroid panel is off. And it is the stress that's tilted at the wrong way.

Obviously gut infections and food sensitivities, but stress can be the first piece that tips that. Subclinical thyroid issues can increase miscarriage and IVF failure. Gut dysbiosis and estrogen recirculation. So chronic stress impacts your digestion. It leads to estrogen dominance, inflammation, autoimmune issues.

So [00:09:00] many people are like, oh, I got this autoimmune disease. It doesn't just come out of the blue. I'm like what happened? I just went through a really stressful time at work. Oh, I just finished college. Oh. I was working 70 hours. I had one lady tell me for a whole year, she only slept one or two hours a night because she was in a startup just pushing.

Now multiple autoimmune diseases, all sorts of issues. Her fertility, her hormones have been deprioritized. We go to keep you alive. Poor sleep. So high achievers often have that poor sleep hygiene where you're like, oh, we go to do all this work. I'm on the laptop late at night, getting all this stuff done, checking off more boxes.

Sleep is going impact your egg production and embryo development that impacts your melatonin. So at night we need to, use the blue light blocking glasses to go check out that episode we have on sleep. Do some sleep hygiene, close the laptop. Close the phone off and that blue light, all that impact impacts melatonin, which is crucial for the egg and the sperm.

You've got [00:10:00] all this workload. Maybe you just got so much work, we're not able to delegate. So we need to be able to see is the job really serving us? We have many people leave their job or change a job or actually go into their current employer and say, look, this is what's going on.

I need to divert, change, reduce, delegate, whatever it is. But seeing in your current job how you can make changes, and many times people are compassionate this and can make changes, along with you, but sometimes we think that's not the case. We don't have the conversation and we spend tens of thousands of dollars.

All these companies have insurance. To cover IVF, but we didn't look at the root, the fact that you were working 80 hours a week to get this insurance and then it's not working because you're exhausted. So all that job strain can reduce your ovarian response and lower IVF success. We go to each day make changes.

We go to recognize this. Once was your superpower, and now it's no longer serving you. There's certain times that can be helpful, but we get that pushing and pushing. We need to make small changes every day. [00:11:00] So start to rewire your nervous system. So you can do five minutes of humming or holding the breath of 4, 7, 8.

So inhale for four, hold for seven out for eight. We can heart math, get a oura ring so you can see your heart rate variability. It was popping along all day long. Did many episodes on HeartMath and our coaches are trained in that to be able to help you regulate your nervous system.

Looking at doing some journaling, if that feels right. What does success look like? If it's not a positive test today. We just feel like a failure and we go to keep putting more effort into it. But meanwhile, if we had more sleep, spent more time with friends, that make us happy.

Spend more time with family that light us up. Spend more time with your partner. Do date night and enjoy each other's company. And so track how you feel. Maybe you're feeling tired, not just the ovulation piece. See how you're feeling. Maybe you're feeling a little sad, maybe you're feeling exhausted.

You can listen to [00:12:00] your body. You can bring in some adaptogens. Sometimes like a cortisol manager or an ashwagandha. You need to work with someone on that, but maybe you can bring in that to help with resilience. And if you're doing IVF, we need to be careful on some of these herbs, but that can be helpful for your nervous system.

More protein, you want 30 to 40 grams of protein. For each meal, send me a message at hello@fabfertile.ca and just do subject line fertile and we will send you that protein guide. But have a nice protein rich breakfast that can help you.

So your blood sugar is not on a roller coaster. Kick out the caffeine I know when I'm extra stressed. And then I have caffeine that just fires me up to feel anxious, panicked, just not good. So being able to have some good protein rich breakfast and see how you do without the caffeine.

Sometimes people have never not had caffeine. We don't know if that's causing anxiety and feeling panicky and not feeling grounded. And the magnesium, that can be [00:13:00] super helpful. I have magnesium spray. I put it on my feet before I go to bed, or there's a cream you can use. You can do magnesium in the morning at night to help with your sleep.

There's a little magnesium drink so you can take magnesium citrate. We recommend magnesium glycinate, but the citrate go to be careful if they're having like loose stools with that. So you can take it to bowel tolerance, but having a little sleep mask and your blue light blocking glasses all that piece can help

to calm things down. Repairing the mitochondria. So we like CoQ 10, which is one of our foundational supplements. And then you can do some nutrition such as grass fed liver. I whole podcast episode about liver. But you can take some liver pills too. Wild salmon and blueberries. I had some nice blueberries last night.

They were good. Leafy greens, all that nutrient dense antioxidant rich foods. Coq 10 has been shown to improve ovarian response, embryo quality, in poor responders. So I think a lot of us know what the CoQ10 definitely want to be taking that. And support your detox and gut health. So you can have some cruciferous vegetables.

You want to be careful if you have a thyroid issue. Sometimes [00:14:00] having the raw vegetables can be contraindicated for a thyroid issue so you can steam those. Dry brushing, the detox episode I did, there's a whole strategy on there, but you can do the dry brushing, the rebounding, the Epsom salt foot bath.

If you're sitting working, maybe you're at home throwing your feet in a Epsom salt bath. And that can help with calming things down and supporting your detox pathways. And then also we do a testing here looking at your stool testing, looking at the DNA of your stool. Looking for gut infections and doing food sensitivity testing along with it for deeper insights.

Some of this stuff is basic, right? Like you need to have some hydration. I'm just thinking of one couple here where they came in and yeah, she's a lawyer and doing so much work and a job that she wasn't enjoying. And he was in a stressful job as well.

He had male factor and she had low AMH and high FSH and they made all the changes. She ended up changing her job, partway through. We do see that as a bit of a theme, so just maybe planting a seed there for you that maybe the job you're in isn't currently serving you. We need to be mindful [00:15:00] of making radical changes like that, but sometimes just having that conversation with your boss can be helpful.

She was able to go on and have her son after she was told donor eggs. The AMH and the FSH, but the nervous system needed to be reset. So working with our fertility mindset coaches, we love the testing equally as important with the mindset side of things. And then the sleep, like we just talked a little bit about do the wind down routine.

If you find yourself, on the laptop late at night you can try some melatonin, but you want to do things to naturally support your melatonin. The blue light blocking glasses can be helpful. Sometimes people they're taking all this melatonin and then their melatonin is sky high.

So we need to be very careful about just taking a whack of supplements. So you want to charge your phone out of your room so you're not getting all those EMFs in there. Do the legs up the wall, that can be helpful. Just sit with your legs up the wall, and that helps your nervous system.

Have a nice herbal tea depending on where you are, maybe right now it's more of a herbal iced tea. Then really reframe where you are. This is [00:16:00] not about you doing more. I know I feel this way. I'm always like, I've go to do more. I go to plan it. I'm the only one that can do it.

It's about doing the right things at the right time. That's what's going support your whole body. Giving yourself some grace, understanding that is your superpower. You're going to get things done. You are the one that's going, stay late and you've achieved a lot.

But is it serving you right now? We don't want to obsessively doing all this fertility checklist, right? A lot of it is spending time in community, spending time with people that make us happy. Spending more time with your partner, having more intimacy. It's not just about baby making.

Really connect with your partner. Because this journey can pull you apart. Bring yourself back together and connect that way. If you've had failed IVF's, pregnancy loss, if you feel like you're in this sort of hyper achiever side of things it's time to gently pause.

It's not about pause. You're not doing anything. This is the most powerful thing that you can do. [00:17:00] And if you wanted to have my eyes on your specific situation, send me a message at hello@fabfertile.ca and we'll talk about some options to improve pregnancy success. 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's - Stress, High Achievement & Fertility

Q. Can high stress affect my ability to get pregnant naturally or IVF outcomes?

A. Yes. Research shows that chronic stress can lower your pregnancy rates, especially during IVF. High stress hormones like cortisol can disrupt the HPO axis and ovulation, and hormone balance.

Q. How does the hyper-achiever mindset impact fertility and egg quality?

A. Constant striving, overworking, and perfectionism trigger the stress response, raising cortisol and adrenaline, which can lower AMH and accelerate ovarian aging, impacting egg quality and ovarian reserve. 

Q. Is there a link between stress and low AMH or diminished ovarian reserve (DOR)?

A. New research is showing that chronic stress can suppress AMH and negatively impact ovarian reserve. Addressing stress through a functional, mind-body approach can be a big part of improving egg quality. Learn more here.

Q. What are functional ways to lower stress and support fertility?

A. Techniques like nervous system regulation, sleep optimization, targeted supplementation, and functional lab testing (e.g., cortisol, GI MAP) can help identify imbalances and support the body’s natural fertility. Learn more about our Fab Fertile Method.

RESOURCES

📩 Get your free 10-day elimination diet plan! Email hello@fabfertile.ca with the subject line 10 DAY to receive your guide and take the first step toward reconnecting with your fertility.

Is Your Thyroid Impacting Egg Health? The Hidden Connection to Low AMH, DOR & Fertility Success

Improving Egg Quality and Fertility: The Gut Fertility Connection for Low AMH, High FSH, and Poor Egg Quality

Progesterone, Low AMH & Miscarriage: What You’re Missing

The Link Between Sleep and Fertility: Why Getting Enough Rest Matters

Why Working On Your Stress Matters For Pregnancy Success:

Detox Your Way to Better Egg Health: Strategies to Improve Fertility Naturally

Success Story: Pregnant Naturally, AMH 0.15 and FSH 33, and Low Motility

Our favorite fertility tracker Inito (use code FABFERTILE15 to save 15)