Obligatory IVF Medication Picture

I believe it is necessary in ALL IF blogs to have a picture of the medications to be used. So, without further ado here is mine:


I've numbered the meds (really tiny red numbers) to coordinate with the list below along with what each drug is used for. (For those of you new to the world of IVF.) Surprisingly, after taking the picture I'm not as overwhelmed with all of the medications I'll be using.

Suppressive: These medications helps prevent the body from doing what it’s meant to and ovulating once the the egg follicles begin to progress. If ovulation should occur, the cycle would be lost, as there is no way to retrieve them once that happens.

1 - Loestrin – Birth Control Pill – suppressive
2 - Leuprolide 2 wk kit – injectable lupron – suppressive

Stimulatory: In an IVF cycle, stimulatory medications cause the ovaries to grow all of the eggs that will eventually be retrieved. They are a combination of FSH, or Follicle Stimulating Hormone and LH, or Leutenizing Hormone, the hormones that the body makes naturally during the menstrual cycle. During IVF however, they are given in much higher, precise doses as determined by the doctor, typically for 10 to 12 days. These are also injectable medications and are given in a combination that Dr. Opie feels is most appropriate for me. Dosing decisions are typically made based on the monitoring that occurs each day.

3 - Follistim 900 IU & Follistim 300IU – injectable - stimulatory
4 - Menopur 75 IU – injectable -stimulatory

Trigger: Once Dr. Opie feels that I have reached the criteria to proceed to retrieval, he will order an injection of HCG or Human Chorionic Gonadotropin to finalize growth and maturation of the eggs. A crucial step in the IVF process, this injection is carefully timed so that retrieval will occur at the optimal time just before ovulation occurs.

5-HCG 10,000 Units – injectable - trigger

6 - Doxycycline – anti-biotic used in conjunction with egg retrieval to prevent infection
7 - Medrol 16 mg – steroid used after egg retrieval to prevent uterus rejection of embryos

Hormone Supplementation: After the retrieval, Dr. Opie will probably place me on supplements of progesterone to prepare the endometrial lining for implantation of an embryo.

8 - Progesterone in Seame Oil 50mg – injectable- hormone supplementation
9 - Tranxene – mellow pill- to mellow me out and calm down my uterus (no contractions) during embryo transfer to be taken 1 hour before transfer
10 - Prometrium 200mg – used 3 times a day from embryo transfer through first trimester of pregnancy – hormone supplementation