Follicle-stimulating hormone Archives

One major change from the treatment protocol I had last time is the fact that instead of injecting the antagonist in the evening an hour after the follicle stimulating hormone, I now need to inject the antagonist in the morning. I asked my new nurse why the treatment protocols had changed. She replied that an expert visited the clinic in April and advised that these cycles tended to have better success when the antagonist was given the next morning.

I was mildly annoyed as I had treatment in July and I had been told to inject in the evening. I asked my nurse about this. The reply, “it takes time to do a proper literature search so it was not adopted as a procedure until June or July this year.” Of course, indicated that my treatment was in July so why was I not told of this. She suggested that maybe the treatment was adopted after I commenced. Maybe! Maybe! Wouldn’t you kind of think it might actually be a good thing to know – especially after spending countless dollars on the treatment and having what is starting to become countless failures.

I am now commencing IVF cycle #7. This should be interesting. My Doctor has changed the treatment protocol and I will now be having an antagonist cycle???

An antagonist cycle essentially means that at a certain point of the cycle I will need to inject twice daily – the first injection being a follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and the second being a injection that apparently stops you from ovulating. For those familiar with IVF, the second injection is a substitute for the nasal spray.

The antagonist cycle is more intense but the benefit of this cycle is that it is quicker than a normal IVF cycle. I have been told that generally the aim is for less eggs but more quality. Given I produce a lot of eggs, this should be interesting.

In any case, I had an appointment at the IVF clinic to test my hormone levels and also how many follicles I had. My expectations weren’t that high given it is only Day 6 of my cycle and I have been injecting FSH for the last 3 days (although tonight’s dose makes it 4).

Fortunately I don’t have to have the second injection just yet as the follicles are too small and immature. However, during my ultrasound visit I learnt that I had 18 follicles in one ovary and 9 in the other. Amazing! I only counted 5 of the 18 and expected a lot less at this early stage.

I am now hoping that they don’t all mature because there will be hell to pay as I get nearer to egg collection. That many eggs = bloating and sore tummy. My highest number of eggs collected was 22 so with a bit of luck there won’t be any more than that.

So my next visit to the clinic will be in two days time. Lucky me – I get to get up early on Saturday morning for an 8am appointment.

Change in Antagonist IVF Treatment Procedure

IVF Antagonist Cycle