Day 20 – Lupron Research.

I’ve been thinking about many things, one of which happens to be my length of time on Lupron (the freak in me is starting early 🙂 )I have been learning about protocols and what lupron does exactly etc.I found a great article here:

The Role of GnRH Agonists (Lupron, Synarel, Busrelin) in In Vitro Fertilization

Unfortunately this is a cached article and I do not know how much longer it will be available.

Basically it talked about the role the GnRH Agonists (Lupron in my case) play and the pros and cons of different suppression protocols and how physicians decide which to use.

In general long protocols are used for women who are “strong responders”, low FSH, under 35 etc, since logically they would need more meds/time to get adequetely suppressed. It is possible to get oversuppressed and then not stimulate well. Scary thought. Reason why it is scary for me is that I keep wondering if my FSH number (last taken 8-9 months ago) has shot up in this time. What if I don’t need to be on lupron as long as my current protocol dictates?? I know that my RE knows what he is doing, but can I triple check please??! One of my biggest fears is that I’m closer to menopause than I think – my FSH value was good, but not great. And I keep feeling that the reason that it has been so hard for me to get pregnant (and the reason I miscarried the time that I did) is because of aging eggs. Frankly the thought of putting my body into temporary menopause mode is freaky enough as it is. But I know it is necessary in order to get this IVF done. Does it have to be done with this much lupron then?

I have figured out I’m on the long protocol since the article stated that a long protocol is taking Lupron for 7-10 days, and I’m going to be taking it for a whopping 13 (yikes!!). Well, I just hope that it is all good in the end and the right thing to do for the best outcome. I know that rule one in beginning IVF, is just beginning to trust your physician completely. You’re literally giving up your body’s natural hormone cycle, and just let your doctor drive.  Hope I got myself one good driver!