With the cost of ivf being so high, many times when a woman is having problems conceiving, the fertility specialist will prescribe drugs – most often Clomid. But there are other drugs that are useful as well.
A second class of popular fertility drug are gonadotropins. They are similar in composition to the FSH and LH hormones. Normally, FSH and LH hormones are produced by the pituitary gland. If they are not, however, gonadrotropins are used to replace the FSH and LH hormones that would normally be produced by the pituitary gland. These drugs used to be produced from the urine of menopausal women. Nowadays, however, they are genetically engineered. These drugs are not taken orally but are given by injection either in the buttocks or just under the skin.
Lesser prescribed fertility drugs include:
Human Menopausal Conadrotropins (hMG) – this is a distilled extraction of LH and FSH taken from the urine of postmenopausal women. It’s injected either subcutaneous or directly into the woman’s muscles.
Human Chorionic Conadotropin (hCG) - this is a hormone that helps the ovaries produce progesterone and estrogen. Ovulation usually occurs within 36 hours after injection
Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone (GnRH) – the function of this hormone is to trigger the pituitary gland to begin producing the LH and FSH hormones. The drawback is that it is extremely expensive and a lot less available in the U.S. than it once was.
Progesterone supplement – these are given to women who’s body can’t produce enough progesterone on it’s own. It is usually taken orally, but can be taken by injection as well.
If you monitor some of the ivf message boards, you’ll discover additional effective drugs as well.
Each year, aw we learn more about the reproduction system, new fertility drugs hit the market. And, normally, there is no magic drug that can trigger fertility, at least not when used alone. These drugs are often used in combination with one or more other fertility treatments. In addition, in many cases the cause of the infertility is not with the woman. It may be that the male’s sperm may be bad. In other cases, the cause of the infertility may be with the woman, but not related to hormones. In these cases hormone treatments will be useless.
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