In my personal opinion, as far as the outcome is concerned, I still think that you will need to think about your current situation. In particular when you have a lower AMH value.Provided that your AMH value is still abundant or maybe your retrieval result does not match your AMH, you can give it some time for a try. But for cases of AMH<0.5 or age over 40-year-old, we might consider putting treatment at priority. After all, using DHEA or growing hormones trying to improve the function of the ovary or improve the quality of the eggs might take weeks to do.

Studies on drugs that can improve the ovarian's response are mostly focusing on androgen and growth hormone; DHEA is the precursor of androgen.

• Androgen is believed that can increase the receptors of the follicle itself in the early stage of egg development. Which can reduce follicular atrophy during the period. Also, it is assumed to increase the response of follicles to follicle-stimulating hormone. This might increase the number of eggs obtained during the ovarian stimulation cycle. The timing of usage is 6-8 weeks before ovarian stimulation. DHEA is commonly used compared with the direct use of androgen, as DHEA has lower side effects (masculinization).  However, as of the current research, whether to improve the egg-retrieval results, the cyclic pregnancy rate, and the live birth rate, results are still conflicting.Furthermore, recent studies have also found that DHEA may improve the function of mitochondria in cumulus cells. Therefore, even though it is currently controversial in increasing ovarian response, it is still commonly used clinically.
• Growth hormone increases the response of follicles to FSH through IGF-1. Also increases many regulatory factors required for the formation of follicles. Thereby improving the response of the ovarian, resulting in better retrieval results.However, there are many variations, such as ethnicity, dosage, etc., in clinical research, which led to a controversial result.From a comprehensive point of view, the use of growth hormone may increase the result of egg-retrieval, improve the quality of embryos, and decrease the chemical pregnancy rate. But it has no obvious effect in terms of creating great blastocysts, clinical pregnancy rate, and live birth rate. In addition, the drug itself is expensive, the economic benefits of its use are open to question.

Antioxidants are mentioned while discussing the question of whether to use DHEA or growth hormone before the IVF cycle. It is mentioned in this year’s journal Fertility and Sterility, the effect of using antioxidants appears to be better for men than for women. (Great news to the gentlemen!). Nevertheless, healthy food, sleep well, and exercise is what I most recommend!