Follistim, Bravelle, etc.

jlr96

Are Follistim, Bravelle, & Gonal-F all really equivalent?  I know they all have FSH but do some work better?  My RE's office said they rotate which one they prescribe & right now Bravelle has the best price so that's why they picked that for me.  It seems like Follistim is more commonly used here & it seems like a lot of the grads used the Follistim/Menopur combo.  I don't see Bravelle mentioned very often at all.  I'm really thinking about asking to be switched from Bravelle/Menopur to Follistim/Menopur.

pblge

I THINK I know the answer to this. Gonal-F is manufactured FSH, while Follistim, Bravelle, and Menopur are purified from urine. Menopur still contains some LSH (probably converted to HCG, as LSH isn't stable), whereas I believe it's removed in Bravelle and Follistim.

My doc was trained at Harvard, and he said they did some small studies there and found very slightly better results with Gonal-F, possibly due to more consistent concentration of the FSH. But he said it probably doesn't matter at all, and that they've converted to different drugs in a the middle of a cycle with no ill results.

Edit: They have me supplementing the Gonal-F with diluted HCG during stims, which they say functions in egg maturation the same way that LSH does. I guess they wouldn't need that for women using Menopur, but this may also depend on whether you're on an agonist or antogonist cycle.

I've only used Gonal-F, so I can't speak to ease of use or any other factors that might sway a choice.

Hope this helps and that I've got it right!

zazu13

*** PAIF ***

 

My 2nd clinic also had a strong preference for Follistim or Gonal-F over Bravelle. My RE said that she sees a better response in some difficult cases. I used both Follistim and Gonal Fin my 4th and 5th (successful) cycles.

My first 3 fresh IVFs were with Bravelle which I did get pregnant with (and had likely unrelated losses). My first RE felt there was no difference in effectiveness though the way they are derived is different like described by the other posters above. I know that plenty of people have success with Bravelle, but based on my experience I would choose the Follistim or Gonal F if the price is not a huge deciding factor. Also, the pens are a much simpler delivery method than Bravelle was for me which I had to reconstitute from vials.

vpine

Interesting, my Dr's office only prescribes Bravelle

jlr96

Thanks, Ladies!  So, Follistim is a pen like Gonal-F?  That's another plus because I have a hard enough time as it is getting out of the house in the mornings.  I was thinking I would have to get up an hour earlier to reconstitute vials as I check everything a hundred times to make sure I don't screw anything up!

jlr96

Yeah I thought about that but my dosing schedule is Lupron/Bravelle in the morning, then Lupron/Menopur at night so I would not be taking them at the same time of day.

LooneyLife

My RE pretty much prescribes Bravelle/Menopur for everyone.  All of my TI/IUI cycles were Clomid/Bravelle.  My IVFs were both Bravelle/Menopur.