Ovulation Induction • Ovulation Induction Medications Are you a woman having ovulation problems? Ovulation induction may help your ovaries make multiple eggs during a menstrual cycle. Doing this can increase your chances of getting pregnant. Up to 65% of couples who try this treatment become pregnant. The cost of ovulation induction will depend on how many cycles you'll need. You can discuss this treatment option with one of our doctors. Increase your chances of getting pregnant. Contact us today.
Ovulation Induction MedicationsBoth oral and injectable medications and be use to stimulate egg development and ovulation. These medications restore hormonal balance to your ovulatory cycle. They can increase the number of mature eggs in a given cycle. Below are descriptions of the medications we use.
Clomiphene Citrate and Dosage Clomiphene citrate is commonly used to treat women with ovulatory disorders. It works as an anti-estrogen. Clomiphene citrate blocks the effects of estrogen (estradiol) in your body. Rising estradiol causes the pituitary gland to lower FSH output. A lack of FSH causes most of your egg-containing follicles to stop developing. Clomiphene citrate hides circulating estradiol from your pituitary gland. It causes it to think there are low levels of estradiol in your body. Now the pituitary gland believes your ovarian follicles aren't being stimulated enough. This causes it to increase the output of FSH. The increased FSH should allow more stimulation of your follicles. Clomiphene citrate indirectly causes your body to make more natural FSH. The goal is to improve ovulatory function. The normal starting dose for Clomiphene citrate is 50 mg per day for 5 days. One pill is taken orally. If ovulation doesn't happen with this dosage, the level may be increased sequentially. Your doctor will increase it by one pill per day until the desired effect is achieved. Your doctor may recommend the dosage be increased to as many as 5 pills per day. The medication is taken on days 5 through 9 of a men your menstrual cycle. The best timing can vary from client to client. It will be precisely determined by your doctor. If successful, ovulation usually happens about 5-9 days after completion of the medication.
Injectable GonadotropinsWhat happens if Clomiphene citrate won't work? Another option is injectable gonadotropins. These medications give women higher levels of FSH over a longer period of time. Your doctor injects FSH into your body. Injectable gonadotropins are different from Clomiphene citrate. They don't rely on the pituitary gland to control how much FSH it wants to make. Sometimes the FSH levels indirectly caused by Clomiphene citrate, isn't enough to stimulate ovulation.  With injectables, your doctor controls your body's FSH levels. He does this by replacing the dose normally provided by the pituitary gland with a series of controllable doses of the same hormone through injection. The injection makes it possible to reach levels of FSH sufficient to stimulate follicular development, oocyte maturation, and ovulation in a many patients. Your infertility doctor will determine the dosage and duration of the injectable medications depending on the goal of your treatment.
HCGHCG stimulates your ovary like the LH hormone and can be given by injection to trigger ovulation at the right time in the right cycle. Injections are given as patients undergo infertility treatment to reinforce or replace a weak or poorly timed LH surge. HCG is important for women undergoing stimulate cycles.
GnRH StimulationSome women fail to ovulate because the hypothalamus fails to produce sufficient stimulation to the pituitary gland in the form of GnRH (Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone). GnRH is necessary to keep the pituitary gland functioning. The hypothalamus may not secrete GnRH and the pituitary gland stops producing the gonadotropins FSH and LH. Remember these hormones are necessary for egg development and ovulation. GnRH can be directly administered into the blood stream by injection. It has a high rate of restoring pituitary function. 
GnRH agonists are the opposite of GnRH stimulation. GnRH agonists stop the secretion of GnRH from the hypothalamus. This turns off the secretion of FSH and LH from the pituitary gland. It benefits couples in a few ways, it stops the onset of a premature LH surge. A premature LH surge can stop the maturation of developing eggs and keep them from ovulating. Premature LH surges are not uncommon when performing ovarian stimulation. The pituitary gland can be easily fooled by the increase in estrogen produced by a number of developing follicles. The pituitary gland expects to detect the estrogen from a single mature follicle. As a result it may be fooled into thinking the elevated estrogen level is coming from one follicle ready to ovulate. But, it's actually the effect of many developing and immature follicles. The pituitary gland may send out an LH surge too soon in response to a misinterpretation of estrogen levels and sabotage the cycle. Second, GnRH agonists let your doctor control the timing of ovulation. They do this by giving HCG when necessary. A GnRH agonist turns off the pituitary gland. Since this happens, all FSH for stimulating follicles in a cycle has to come from injectable gonadotropins. GnRH agonists are given to most of our IVF patients. It's done to specifically stop premature LH surges. We'd hate to see a surge ruin a cycle where a couple has made a high emotional and financial investment. Third, GnRH agonists are desirable in the treatment of endometriosis. Please see "Pelvic Factors" under "Diagnosing Infertility". For medication costs check our "Treatment Fees" page. Contact the Gyft Clinic for affordable fertility and gynecology services. Schedule an appointment at 253-777-1964. |
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Tel: 253 777 1964
Fax: 253 473 6715
Tel: 253 777 1964
Fax: 253 473 6715