Follistim

mizzougal08 · September 2011

Hey everyone. I'm new to The Bump. I used to lurk and post occasionally on The Knot and The Nest, but I'd never really ventured over here until now. I'm experiencing some infertility issues and was just hoping to hear how you ladies are dealing with it and maybe that there's light at the end of the tunnel for me and my husband...I hope.

Just a little background: My mother experienced fertility issues trying to get pregnant with me almost 26 years ago. She was put on several types of medications and took ovulation shots etc. My husband and I have been TTC for over a year and a half. It's been determined that I do not ovulate on my own. I was put on countless rounds of Clomid by my regular OB/GYN before (after talking to a friend that had infertility issues too) I sought a doctor that specializes in helping women who are having trouble TTC. I started seeing him and he did a semen analysis and a hysterosalpingogram (both came back fine). He put me on Clomid for 2 rounds and then began doing ultrasounds to track egg growth. Clomid, in any dosage, did nothing. He then told me that he was going to try Femara as a backup. It was definitely more expensive than the Clomid, but doable. Unfortunately Femara did nothing for me either.

We were brought into his office after the failed Femara and told that the next step was Follistim shots. We were told what the process would entail...including the cost of the meds and doctors visits (as my insurance would only pay for the first 4 visits and I'm definitely past the 4 now...). Holy.crap. My husband and I think we will be able to swing a couple of rounds of the Follistim shots, but probably not more than 2 or 3 as they will end up being around $1200-1300 per round including doc visits, ultrasounds, etc.

I guess my question for you ladies (after my very long-winded intro) is: Have any of you had a similar experience? And if so, how successful was the Follistim for you? I don't mind forking out the couple thousand dollars if I know it'll mean there's a baby. It's just so hard to blindly do this when I've been disappointed before. I guess this is where faith comes in. I'm trying so hard to be positive, but it's very difficult. I'm sure you all understand the feeling.

steveandkim2 · September 2011

Best of luck on your cycle. Most of us have our details in our siggies, so you'll see that there's a variety of experiences out there. For some of us, injectibles and IUI are the answer....others had a much longer journey with multiple rounds of IVF (I was one of those). My only advice is to never give up hope -- we can't control what our bodies are going to do in a cycle. GL.

HotChocolate79 · September 2011

Hugs and good luck to you!

I don't know if I qualify as success yet (still waiting for my 2nd beta and having a hard time believing it), but I got a BFP on my 3rd IUI (which was my first IUI with Follistim). We had to fight insurance to get it paid for and won in the end, but I understand how scary it is to pay that much for something that may or may not work....

CluckyEV · September 2011

Hello from a fellow Missouri girl (well at least still at heart)! Sorry you are going through this; it is a tough road indeed. We were not given the same diagnosis; first was my ute, then once that was removed we were unexplained. We did 3 rounds of Clomid with TI, then moved onto Femara with Follistim with IUI. I had a trigger and used progesterone every cycle. I had no problem ovulating on my own, but did believe that my egg quality was the issue.

Did you see any growth with the Femara? As pp said, it may be worth asking some questions regarding your options with all the treatments you could be encountering, so you are able to weigh your options.

GL!

eaellis04 · September 2011

I was diagnosed with unexplained infertility. I tried several rounds or Clomid and one round of Femara (under my ob/gyn supervision). I ovulated each month (in fact, I ovulated each month WITHOUT meds too, had a normal HSG, etc . . . hence the "unexplained" diagnosis.

I had my first IUI in April. With this cycle, we did Femara and Follistim, as well as an Ovidrel trigger. Apparently, that was the perfect combination, as I got my first BFP ever. I realize that I was incredibly lucky, as I was planning on moving to IVF after one more cycle. My RE still has no explanation as to why I had fertility problems . . .

FWIW, I also received weekely accupuncture treatment for 6 months prior, as I was desperately trying to get pregnant without intervention. I truly believe that it helped contributed to the success of the cycle.

mizzougal08 · September 2011

Thank you so much for the kind words. My friend who went through IVF told me that it really helped her going online to messaging boards and talking to women who were dealing with the same thing. I felt so alone about this all until I started talking to her about it. I can already tell that coming on here is going to help me not feel so alone on this. Hoping there's light at the end of our tunnel. So happy that so many of you have had SAIF! I'll be hanging around here and T-TTC for quite some time I think.

Want a personalized experience?

Follistim

Re: Follistim

Choose Another Board

Search Boards