The Scoop on Fertility Treatments

It’s difficult to flip through a magazine, turn on the television or simply gather with friends these days without hearing about someone who has undergone infertility treatments. Although talk of the treatments is much more prevalent, I’ve noticed that information about the overall process and the medications involved is often lacking.

Infertility, which is defined as the inability to conceive after one year of unprotected sex – or six months time for women over the age of 35 – affects more than seven million people in the United States. In fact, one in eight couples face infertility issues, and you’re not forever fertile just because you’ve gotten pregnant before.

Here are the top infertility medication shockers, with a synopsis of what patients can expect:

The materials
Women are always amazed when we hand them a shopping bag full of medications and supplies. The infertility medications you receive will greatly depend on your particular situation and your doctor’s diagnosis, but at the very least, you can expect to go home with a gonadotropin, an agonist and/or antagonist, and a trigger shot. Most IVF cycles also include a progesterone supplement and possibly an antibiotic or another medication, depending on your health history.

Here’s a breakdown of what these medications are and why they are used:
· Gonadotropins are luteinizing or follicle stimulating hormones that stimulate the ovaries to produce eggs. A woman could be on one or two of these medications during an infertility treatment.
· Agonists and antagonists shut down the pituitary gland’s production of gonadotropins so the only hormones the woman has is what the doctors are giving her and her levels can be monitored more closely.
· Trigger shots, also known as human chorionic gonadotropins (HCG), are used at the end of an IVF treatment cycle to help kick-start a woman’s ovulation.
· Progesterone supplements are used after the trigger shot to aid with egg implantation in the uterus.

In addition to the medications, patients are also supplied with needles, syringes, gauze pads, alcohol wipes and a needle disposal container. Yes, needles. This can be a scary thing for some people, but with the right amount of education and support from your fertility pharmacy, you’ll be just fine.

The unpredictability
Unlike people who have diabetes or asthma, whose medications remain relatively constant throughout their lives, IVF patients’ treatments never last more than a month or so, and can change from day to day. The challenge is educating patients in a very short period of time and preparing them for the introduction of new drugs or increases in daily injections.

In addition to the educational hurdle most patients must overcome, it’s also important to understand that there will be interruptions in your daily life, for both injections and unpredictable office visits. For example, depending on the physician’s protocol, agonist medications could begin the month prior to the actual start of treatment, and then one or more gonadotropins are added. A series of blood work and/or ultrasound monitoring begins shortly after the gonadotropin starts, and your dosages will be adjusted. When the eggs are mature, you will be told to stop your meds and administer the trigger shot. Thirty-six hours later you will need to go back to the doctor for the egg retrieval.

Once the eggs are retrieved, they are introduced to the sperm and fertilization is assessed a day later. The embryo will be transferred back into the uterus three to five days after retrieval and a visit with your doctor in about two weeks will tell you whether or not a pregnancy will result.

The price
Sticker shock is very common for fertility patients. The treatments themselves could cost upwards of $15,000 per cycle, and then the medications can cost another $1,000 to $6,000.

Even with insurance coverage, this can be a very costly endeavor, so it’s important to understand how your insurance plan works. If you do not have insurance coverage, you should do your homework and have a working knowledge of the programs and discounts that are available to you – even if you are not planning to start treatments anytime soon. The biggest mistake that I see patients make is that they wait too long to seek help and learn if they are a candidate for IVF. Then, they rush into the treatments and stress about how they will pay for them. It’s proven that anxiety complicates your ability to conceive, so if you can eliminate those headaches now and start laying the groundwork for the road ahead, you will be in a much better position to begin the process.

IVF treatments and the medications involved are very complicated and the procedures can be quite daunting. As a professional who has worked with women undergoing these treatments for more than 20 years, my best advice – and the most effective way to reduce surprises and unnecessary stress – is to educate yourself well in advance. Being armed with knowledge can help you experience better, more predictable treatment outcomes.

Stuart Levine is the co-founder of Village Fertility Pharmacy, a pharmacist-owned and operated specialty pharmacy that is dedicated to providing the ultimate service and education to infertility patients and clinics. Visit them online at www.villagefertilitypharmacy.com.