Gonal F or Follistim

iheartsippycups2

So if this cycle doesn't work, Dr suggested next cycle letrozole 7.5 again, days 3-7, then a "mini session" (her words), of either gonal f or follistim. She did not say however, how long I do that for- I assume they are shots? I honestly know nothing about them, and I am trying to look up the cost of them with my insurance- surprisingly I have really decent drug coverage, just procedures costs suck. To get a rough estimate, has  anyone done a "mini session" after letrozole, or clomid, if so, how many days did you do it, so if they are shots, how many do you need?

Educate me please and thank you.  

designer303

Yes Gonal or Follistim are shots, usually sub q an the shots arent so bad. As far as which to use they are basically the same, but if you are trying to get insurance to cover them start now. Which brand you use will likely depend on which pharmacy your insurance prefers to deal with and then which brand they prefer.
@Bananappeal145‌ did a combo cycle just recently so I'm sure she can chime in, but I think she used Bravelle.

Frenchteachermama

I used Gonal F for my IVF cycle. One 900 unit pen (it comes in this cool pen that measures your dose for you. One pen totally out of pocket was $900. Not sure what dose you'll be on but thought you might like an idea of what if costs.

iheartsippycups2

Thanks, I'm going to call my insurance company

pettycrocker

Yes, same with the Follistim (that's what I use) it also comes in the 900 unit pen, and I would think you would just need one vial for a "mini" session. My first IVF cycle I did 100u / 2x per day, so I would imagine a mini session would be much less than that. 

The shots are painless. 

lupineaura

My RE practice holds a class you take prior to starting injects. The nurse running it said Gonal-F and Follistim are essentially the same. They give you whichever you have better insurance coverage for. There was another option, but I forget what it was called.

I was so nervous my first night, but now it's no big deal! Good luck!

jennycam

I echo @Frenchteachermama‌ , i was prescribed the Gonal F in 309 units at a time for over $300,bucks a pop and I ended up needing 3 pens! Then the trigger for another $100 bucks!

STL34

On the cost front, if your insurance covers either Gonal-F or Follistim, that is awesome and I would go with the one covered (or covered the best).  If you don't have coverage, then shop around based on how much you need.  For my last IVF cycle, I got slightly better prices through Walgreens Specialty (mail-order) Pharmacy.  The initial cost was about the same between Gonal-F from Freedom Fertility and Follistim from Walgreens Specialty, but there was another program you could sign up for with Walgreens Specialty that would deduct $100 for each $1000 spent.  That probably wouldn't be helpful for an IUI cycle.  But, I was spending around $6,000 on fertility medications for my IVF cycle (DOR and poor responder here); so, I saved around $600.

Good luck!  I hope you don't end up needing to worry about this!