First round of injectables

[Desire2Mom]

A little background about my journey. I'm almost 35, DH is 40, we've been trying to conceive for 12 years now. I have PCOS and anovulation, DH has slower swimmers, but is being treated with Clomid and has perfect counts and speeds. Most of our trying was timing, pretending not to be trying, and whatever we could without assistance. I have now completed 8 cycles of Femara, 1 round of high dose Clomid, and 1 IUI with no success. My fertility doc is having me move onto injectables this cycle with an IUI. Insurance of course doesn't cover the medications (Menopur and Novarel), but thankfully my US and hysterosalpingogram are expected to be covered.

Has anyone had success with injectables? I'm wondering what the injection schedule looks like. I am finding a lot of info of using these meds for IVF, but not with an IUI cycle.

Edit: Anyone else starting on their injectables are free to chat about their experience here with me!

 

[messica]

I'm sorry I don't have much to offer you as I used a trigger with my IUI's but not injectable's for hyperovulation. What I will tell you, is if you're unsuccessful after 3 IUI's, please don't keep trying that route indefinitely.

I'm grateful our doctor said that was her limit. Under other care we probably would have continued trying, spending more and more money, time and heartache on a process that would never work for us.

I did however take Menopur as it was part of our IVF protocol and I won't lie, it was one of the toughest meds I took throughout our entire journey. The injections hurt, made me incredibly moody and emotional and left me pretty bruised up. That said, they did what they were supposed to do and can be very effective for many women. For me it helped to ice the area beforehand and inject slowly.

I will keep fingers crossed for you that your first go with it works

 

[Desire2Mom]

I wonder why my doc didn't add a trigger to my Femara since it was making me ovulate, just weak. When I first met with my fertility doc, we set up a schedule for only 3 cycles with IUI before moving onto IVF. We only got one IUI in but that was the weak ovulation. My OB previous to my new fertility doc had me on Femara 5mg for 7 cycles unmonitored, and I was apparently ovulating because I got positive OPKs, the sustained temp rise, AF was coming on her own. However when switching docs, the 5mg didn't do anything so he increased it to 7.5mg which was the weak ovulation cycle, then moved to a high dose of Clomid which brought on nothing. I wish I was monitored better with my OB because I feel like those 7 cycles were a waste.

I'm nervous for the injections, mostly because I hate needles. Funny because as a nurse, I can insert IV's and give injections all day long and I love it, but when it comes to myself I want to cry. Haha Thank you for the insight on Menopur. My work schedule gives me 8 days off in a row every 3 weeks, I might try to plan the injections during that time. Being moody and emotional while delivering babies may not be the best.

 

[Desire2Mom]

Anyone who used Menopur find discounts for it in the US? The pharmacy my doc uses recently changed to cash/check/money order only so I have to purchase in the US. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[messica]

Menopur was one of the few I had that cost almost nothing (despite having no insurance coverage for infertility treatments). There are loads of discount programs for them, just google up "Menopur discount" and follow the links

https://www.univfy.com/fertilitychronicles/fertility-drug-discounts

 

[MKaykes]

Some pharmacies give discounted prices whem paying cash so ask around. And I agree about the injections hurting. I thankfully didn't have any other side effects.

On another note: Have you had your AMH and FSH tested? My OB that I was doing my IUI with didn't think It was necessary and after 4 IUIs we moved on to a different clinic to take advantage of insurance options and found my levels weren't good, so my IUIs were probably a waste of time.

 

[TTC First]

Desire2Mom, I have done many...many IUIs with injectables.

I don't like needles do I have DH give them to me. We start them on day 3 and a couple days later go back for BW and u/s to see how things are going. They may increase or decrease your dose depending on how things are going. Please...please keep in mind that these are serious medications. I was given a regular dose and I hyperstimulated. Start low and go higher if needed.

I am not so sure how much someone needs to have injectables, but they do allow you to have more follicles and increase your chances of getting PG. I use progesterone and Aspirin in order to help also.