Can someone explain to me the difference between long lupron and antagonist?

hooliface · January 2010

I am meeting with the RE on Wed afternoon to review why my first IVF did not work. I was a really bad responder to the stims, so they had me take a blood test for ovarian reserve among other things. They think that my eggs are in low supply or not good. I was able to get 3 eggs total after all the stims.....grrrr.

I have read that the above approaches are good for slow responders. I was going to chat with him about this but wanted to get a better idea of what they were so I was informed before hand.

Thanks ladies.

charmcitygirl · January 2010

I would actually say that long lupron is not good for poor responders. Lupron controls the follicles and makes them all grow at the same rate, starting very slow. I was over suppressed even on lupron stop protocol where I only took Lupron for a short time.

Antagonist is when you start stimming and when you're closer to Oing, you start a medication called ganirelix to control that until you're ready to have your ER.

Microdose Lupron is another protocol that is good for poor resonders like I was. (It was the one that was successful for me.) You start MDL(its another way to use Lupron, but in a different dosage than long lupron) right after you get AF and then begin stims a few days later. You continue both medications until you're ready for your ER.

I stimmed on a high dose of medication for 11 days and got 16 eggs, so it is possible to have a successful IVF when you're a poor responder.

Good luck! And don't hesitate to ask more questions!

tapgirl · January 2010

Like charmcity, I did not respond well on the long lupron protocal. We had success with the MDL (microdose lupron flare) protocal as well. We got 13 eggs the first time we did it and 17 the 2nd time. I added accupuncture the 2nd time we did it and think that helped with the slightly better response. Good luck!