Ivf medication price estimation

emgem819

Hi all,

I'm trying to estimate costs for the drugs my re said I'd be taking during IVF in order to figure out how much more i need to plan on spending (in additional to the ivf procedure and anesthesia) and wondered if anyone knew of the estimated price and/or the reason for the medication?  I've done iui cycles and have used letrozole, gonal-f, and hcg trigger so I'm ok with those (and why I need them) but have questions about the following:

menopur
endometrin
lupron or cetrotide

Also, re said it'd be $2000 for the fet...is that always part of the ivf procedure and usually only occurs at the beginning?

Thank you in advance for the clarification!  

Piperella

There are many pharmacies out there you can access, but I found Freedom Fertility a great resource to get an estimate on cash prices of medication.  I linked a page that goes to their price estimator. Think if the IVF typically being a retrieval and fresh transfer.  A FET is a frozen transfer that happens about a month or more after the retrieval.  This happens if needed due to OHSS, other medical issues, or after a failed fresh transfer.  If you have enough frozen embryos/blastocysts, you can do a FET which is another try of a transfer, but with your frozen embryo.

emgem819

Thanks @Piperella that's a helpful link. I've used freedom fertility and village pharmacy so either works.  Good to know that the fet happens only if needed but of course coming up the extra $2000 is another story!  I appreciate your help!

AandDM2014

My cost for medication for an FET is between $400-$600 depending on the price of Lupron, which my doctor uses for every FET cycle. For my ivf stim cycle I spent about $3300 on medication. 

vssbrm

I too spent just abou $3300 on stim meds, because We are doing a study we have to do a frozen transfer. I have not ordered the Lupron yet, so not sure how much that will be - I was told to expect around $1000. Good luck! 

emgem819

Thanks @AandDM2014 and @vssbrm I appreciate your estimates!  Helps to know an approximate figure to plan for!

vssbrm

I should have mentioned, those costs are with out insurance (it only covered the antibiotics) but with a military discount.

dragonfaerie

My IVF stim meds cost $5500 OOP (Menopur, Ganirelix, Follistim, Pregnyl [and one other I can't remember] trigger, plus the antibiotics for after the ER.) We decided to do an FET because we wanted the PGS testing, so those meds will be around $1500 or so. For a fresh transfer it would've been around $500 I think.

We went through Braun Pharmacare.

emgem819

Thanks everyone!  Does anyone know the doses of menopur or endometrin one usually takes?  Just looking at the freedom fertility site and it says menopur comes in 75iu vials and endometrin is in 100mg increments and curious how many I'd need or if it varies for everyone?

AandDM2014

When I did my stim cycle I took 75iu of Menopur (it is one bottle that gets mixed with a sterile liquid). I started out on 2 tabs of endometrin, one in the morning one in the evening. It got bumped up to 3 tabs daily 5 days after a day 5 transfer. That cycle didn't work for me and I haven't used endometrin since.

dragonfaerie

@emgem819 I took 2 vials of Menopur every day, for I think 8 days. I grew at a steady rate, so they didn't have to change my meds. Some people end up with 3 or 4 vials a day. When I did Endometrin it was two tabs a day as well.

emgem819

Thank you @AandDM2014 and @dragonfaerie that's very helpful info! 

dragonfaerie

Glad to be of service! Good luck!

emgem819

Does anyone know why the drug Menopur is so expensive?  Feels like everything else is justified and makes sense in pricing but if I have to take 16 vials of Menopur that would be like $1200!  Is this correct?  I currently take gonal-f or follistim and realize this is needed for increasing follicle size (especially since I have PCOS) but would the menopur be in addition to this?  Just trying to clarify!

dragonfaerie

I think that Menopur MIGHT be one of the ones that isn't synthetically created hormone. I can't remember which one they said is naturally derived, but that may be why it's so expensive. And yes, I had Menopur in the AM and Follistim in the PM. It stinks for sure.