What to expect on our first IUI with Gonal-F and Ovidrel?

socopenny

We've been through months of Clomid and one cycle of Clomid and Ovidrel..but this month is our first IUI with Gonal F. Any suggestions, pointers or words from the wise???

PinkHope

Good luck! The injections are a bit overwhelming at first, but you will get through it and they become easy! I didn't respond to Clomid well at all and had great response with Gonal-F. Expect a LOT of monitoring appointments.

I got pregnant my first cycle with Gonal-F, Ovidrel, and IUI. I know I was one of the lucky ones. Keep us posted!

UMichGirl

Hi,

I am in the middle of my first Gonal-F + Ovidrel + IUI cycle.  I actually go in for my IUI's tomorrow and Friday.  I had done 2 months of clomid + Ovidrel + IUI and was going to do a 3rd, but I got a cyst from the clomid and also had additional b/w done (AMH) and discovered I have poor ovarian reserve, so we moved straight to injections.

I am a needle WEENY and really wanted to do these injections myself...And I did!  I had to sit there with the needle pointed at my stomach for a few minutes until DH finally said, "Just do it!" but it in all honestly didn't hurt AT ALL.  I can do the injections just fine now.  I would take the pen out of the fridge about an hour before hand to let it come to room temp.

One thing I'd advise you to do is make sure you drink plenty of water.  I drank a lot of water while on the clomid b/c I know it can dehydrate you but didn't pay too much attention to it while on the shots.  Sure enough, each day after an injection around 5-6pm I'd get a bad headache.  Told my RE about it and he said to make sure to keep up on the water intake b/c the injections can dehydrate you too.  The headaches have been my only s/e though.

Make sure to prime the pen first...This is a great video that I watched to make sure I was doing everything correctly.  (Click on the "Instructions for Use" tab.)  Also, I don't know if you're usually an early/late responder, but on clomid I was having my IUI's around days 13-14.  On the injections I responded super fast and am having the IUI's on days 9-10.

Good luck!

k-mart

I started Gonal-f for an IVF that then got switched to an IUI. If you are only doing the Gonal-f - it's so easy! The pen makes it super easy. The needle is tiny, there is no mixing, you just turn a dial, pull out a lever, and inject. It doesn't get any easier than that.

Per my clinic you only have to refridgerate the pen until you start using it, then you can leave it out at a cool temperature. They aslo said that I didn't need to prime the pen. I'm sure they'll tell you everything when you go for your appointment.

GL!

marsht

For Gonal-f a couple of pointers:

Make sure the pen is straight and goes in straight (less bruising that way at least for me)

Each click is 37.5, counting them helped me make sure I was giving myself the correct dose.

 Good luck! 

June0609

I'm on my first IUI cycle with Gonal-F pen as well. My DH does the injection for me and it doesn't hurt at all. The one time I did it myself I got a bruise.

The tip that I got from other people is to ice the area before the injection, so that's what we've been doing.

I'm on day 11 now and looks like my body is responding very well to the Gonal-F. RE said that he might do the trigger tomorrow and IUI Friday & Saturday.

Good luck! 

mlmtgg

best advice I have for the injects is to use a cold pop/soda/beer can on your inject site before inserting (SLOWLY - no poking!) the needle. pull straight out -- less bruising that way.

also, for me the bloat wasn't terrible until close to trigger, then with ovidrel it was crazy bloat for the week. and incredibly sore bbs but I also took estradiol. 

good luck!

socopenny

Thanks gals for all the info! Very helpful! I'm dreading all the RE appointments during this process as it's a 2 hour drive to my RE from where I live. But we'll make it work. I see people talking about IUI's in the plural sense...but you only actually do one insemenation per cycle, right? Correct me if I'm wrong but I didn't think I had read anywhere that they do more than one per cycle.

 This is my first IUI...with Clomid we just tried it the old fashioned way. The plan was to do IUI the last cycle but my lining was too thin from the Clomid and my follicles weren't ideal. How often do you have to get a sono once you begin the injections? I thought I remembered them saying every other day.

I am a bit nervous about the injection itself. I'll likely do it myself...Thanks for the advice about getting the injection site nice and cold!

Mommyof2dogs1

You may get more than one iui per cycle.  Many people get one 24-36 hours after trigger and then again 24-36 hours later.  I think it's just "extra" insurance that they actually catch you when you ovulate.

UMichGirl

socopenny:

Thanks gals for all the info! Very helpful! I'm dreading all the RE appointments during this process as it's a 2 hour drive to my RE from where I live. But we'll make it work. I see people talking about IUI's in the plural sense...but you only actually do one insemenation per cycle, right? Correct me if I'm wrong but I didn't think I had read anywhere that they do more than one per cycle.

 This is my first IUI...with Clomid we just tried it the old fashioned way. The plan was to do IUI the last cycle but my lining was too thin from the Clomid and my follicles weren't ideal. How often do you have to get a sono once you begin the injections? I thought I remembered them saying every other day.

I am a bit nervous about the injection itself. I'll likely do it myself...Thanks for the advice about getting the injection site nice and cold!

My RE's standard practice is b2b IUI's.  You can look at my chart to see how the timing is going to work with the trigger shot and the IUI's themselves.  (I already put it in...)  I'll basically have an IUI done at 12 hours and 36 hours post trigger.

With me, I started the injections on CD3 and then went in the morning of CD7 for my first monitoring appt.  I would have gone back in on CD9 for my 2nd monitoring appt, however I had responded so quickly to the injections that I'm going in on CD9 now for my first IUI instead.  Otherwise I think I'd be going in every-other to every day from CD7 on until I was ready.

I've never iced the injection site and it definitely hasn't hurt or bruised at all.  I have to look REAL carefully to even try and see the little red speck where the needle went in.  It's obviously up to you what you want to do though!

Also--you may want to ask your doctor or nurse about priming the pen.  I heard mixed things on the bump when I asked about it, but in talking to my nurse she said that with the pen I was using, I did have to prime it.  (Otherwise your first injection may not be a full dose.)  She said with follistim there was no need to prime, Gonal-F there was.  So I did what she said, and primed it.

Good luck!

socopenny

Very helpful. Thanks. My RE didn't say anything about 2 IUI's but who knows. Maybe that's in his plans. We had our medication education appointment on Monday and he did tell us to make sure we primed the pen.

massagegirl2017

good luck to you! I had my second iui this month w/clomid and ovidrel I take my preg test on monday so we'll see..I havent tried the gonal-f yet. I had a meeting w/my dr today to discuss ivf.

socopenny

We're hoping (for many reasons) that the IUI is successful and we don't have to move to IVF. I hope you get a BFP on Monday!