The first time you get the "big box" of drugs, you're excited that you're moving onto the next step and full of hope, but at the same time you're freaked out because you don't understand anything that's going to happen next and the needles and medications are completely overwhelming. I remember sitting down on the floor and going through the box to see if I even understood what everything was and to try to match it up with my cycle calendar.
Here's the contents of my first "big box":
I've swapped out many of the drugs in this picture for various other fun varieties. But they all end the same, a lovely needle jabbed into soft flesh to inject a liquid that burns and possibly bruises. At the beginning I had to do each injection at home and it would take me about 30 minutes. By the end, I was injecting in the car, at bars, friends houses, you name it.
After switching up the cocktail a few times, here's a rundown of what actually ended up working for me after ordering most of my drugs from Europe through
http://www.ivfmeds.com/ at about 1/2 the cost:
* Bravelle 225 IU CD 3-12
* Menopur 150 IU CD 3-12
* Prednisone 5mg 2x day CD 3-beta
* Ganirelix CD 9-11
* Folgard (mega dose Folic Acid, B6, B12) due to MTHFR
* Baby aspirin from CD1 (stop just for ER)
* Lovenox 40mg starting at ET through entire pg (switching to Heparin 1ml 2xday at the end) due to MTHFR
* Progesterone 1cc ET - 12 weeks
* Estrace (oral estrogen) ET - 12 weeks
* Vivelle (estrogen patch) ET - 12 weeks
If only this were the magic potion that would work exactly the same next time around, but alas, we all know that life is just not that perfect....
