Frozen vs fresh transfer and meds question

[megstoo]

We had our consult to start IVF with a new clinic yesterday.  They sent me the meds I'm going to need so I can start to shop around since we're self pay but the clinic is saying that frozen transfer has better success than fresh and they'd prefer to do frozen (which I'm ok with)

On the meds list though I'm having a hard time telling what's for egg retreival and what meds would be for transfer.  unless they're all for retrieval but then what meds are typical for transfer?  
On my list is:
Gonal F
Menopur
Cetrotide
Lupron trigger
Estrace
Endometrin
Progesterone in oil  

Sorry this is all new to me and I feel like I'm thrown into the deep end.  We're not starting probably until December.  

[icedcoffee]

Gonal F, Menopur and Cetrotide will be taken for about 10 days before retrieval.  These are your "stim" drugs.
You'll trigger with the lupron
You'll take Estrace starting the day of retrieval until you're like 10 weeks pregnant
You'll take Endometrin OR PIO starting the day of retrieval through like 10 weeks pregnant (In my experience, they use Endometrin for fresh and PIO for frozen except when I was at high risk for OHSS then they did PIO). So you likely won't need both. In my experience this has been an either/or type drug, but I guess all doctors are different.

So---Estrace, Endometrin and PIO are all transfer related.

[megstoo]

Oct 31, 2018 9:15:01 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

Gonal F, Menopur and Cetrotide will be taken for about 10 days before retrieval.  These are your "stim" drugs.
You'll trigger with the lupron
You'll take Estrace starting the day of retrieval until you're like 10 weeks pregnant
You'll take Endometrin OR PIO starting the day of retrieval through like 10 weeks pregnant (In my experience, they use Endometrin for fresh and PIO for frozen except when I was at high risk for OHSS then they did PIO). So you likely won't need both. In my experience this has been an either/or type drug, but I guess all doctors are different.

So---Estrace, Endometrin and PIO are all transfer related.

Thanks, I figured the majority of the meds on the list were all for retrieval but I was thinking I'd have more injections before transfer.  I feel like the quantity of the meds they want for each is really high 6 cetrotide, 3 lupron, 6 gonal, 12 menopur etc. We're guessing retrieval will be in December and transfer maybe end of Jan all because of our work schedules.  


I hate the feeling like I'm thrown in the deep end.  

[seeyalater52]

What icedcoffee said, except my office does both PIO and endometrin for frozen transfers (and just PIO for fresh) so it will really depend on your clinic whether you need both.

[icedcoffee]

Oct 31, 2018 9:32:19 GMT -5 megstoo said:

Oct 31, 2018 9:15:01 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

Gonal F, Menopur and Cetrotide will be taken for about 10 days before retrieval.  These are your "stim" drugs.
You'll trigger with the lupron
You'll take Estrace starting the day of retrieval until you're like 10 weeks pregnant
You'll take Endometrin OR PIO starting the day of retrieval through like 10 weeks pregnant (In my experience, they use Endometrin for fresh and PIO for frozen except when I was at high risk for OHSS then they did PIO). So you likely won't need both. In my experience this has been an either/or type drug, but I guess all doctors are different.

So---Estrace, Endometrin and PIO are all transfer related.

Thanks, I figured the majority of the meds on the list were all for retrieval but I was thinking I'd have more injections before transfer.  I feel like the quantity of the meds they want for each is really high 6 cetrotide, 3 lupron, 6 gonal, 12 menopur etc. We're guessing retrieval will be in December and transfer maybe end of Jan all because of our work schedules.  


I hate the feeling like I'm thrown in the deep end.  

6 Cetrotide sounds right for 1 cycle.  3 lupron doesn't make sense to me.  I only needed 1 vial and I only used like 1/3 of it.  Gonal comes in different sized pens so you'll need to know how many IU's they want you to order before ordering it (ex, 6 pens of 900 IUs of gonal would be A LOT), 12 vials of menopur doesn't sounds like enough and 12 boxes of menopur sounds like enough for 3 cycles haha


You'll give yourself about 2-3 injections per day for about 10-14 days.

[barney96]

Do you mind me asking what your complete/actual meds and amounts are? You can message if that's better or tell me no just trying to compare what I have to what someone else near my age has.

[megstoo]

Oct 31, 2018 13:06:36 GMT -5 barney96 said:

Do you mind me asking what your complete/actual meds and amounts are? You can message if that's better or tell me no just trying to compare what I have to what someone else near my age has.

I'm just starting to price things out but it's not pretty.  Below is my complete meds list for just 1 cycle

Gonal F - 6 - 450 IU multidose (OR 5 prefilled pens 900)
Menopur - 12 - 75 IU (vials not boxes)
Cetrotide - 6 - .25 mg
Lupron - 3 - 4mg
Estrace (Estradiol) - 60
Endometrin - 63 (or could use crinone)
Progesterone in Oil - 3

Let me know how it is against yours.  A friend of mine gave me her follistim she didn't use so I'm hoping to use some of that and less of the gonal.  

[msmerymac]

Unfortunately, the Gonal and Menopur are the pricey ones - and those are the stim meds. :/

[cherryvalance]

It's hard to say with the first cycle, but I am a slow responder and pretty much used 4-4.5 Gonal-F pens (900 ius), even on my shorter cycle this past time.

I've only used an HCG trigger, but that does sound like a lot of Lupron. They did think I might need Lupron when my follicles pulled a Little Shop of Horrors, but I don't remember receiving that much.

Each cycle, I've received 2-3 boxes of Menopur and never needed anywhere near that much. I've always been on the lowest dose and used only 1 vial/night, so 12 doesn't seem that far off to me.

I've been on Ganirelix instead of Cetrotide and both cycles came THISCLOSE to needing another dose (they always call in 5 for me), so that sounds right also.

I've always been on both PIO and Endometrin, but only started Endometrin after a positive beta IIRC.

Good luck!! It can seem crazy overwhelming.

[woowoo]

I also used Lupron during my mock transfer and transfer cycles to suppress.

[King26]

Oct 31, 2018 13:43:18 GMT -5 megstoo said:

Oct 31, 2018 13:06:36 GMT -5 barney96 said:

Do you mind me asking what your complete/actual meds and amounts are? You can message if that's better or tell me no just trying to compare what I have to what someone else near my age has.

I'm just starting to price things out but it's not pretty.  Below is my complete meds list for just 1 cycle

Gonal F - 6 - 450 IU multidose (OR 5 prefilled pens 900)
Menopur - 12 - 75 IU (vials not boxes)
Cetrotide - 6 - .25 mg
Lupron - 3 - 4mg
Estrace (Estradiol) - 60
Endometrin - 63 (or could use crinone)
Progesterone in Oil - 3

Let me know how it is against yours.  A friend of mine gave me her follistim she didn't use so I'm hoping to use some of that and less of the gonal.  

Sounds about right to me. I always used a ton of gonal ( up to 750 a night at one point) and 1 vial of menopur per night.