Hi Sherry, what type of stimulation are you talking about? Are you going to IVF or are you going to try a medicated IUI cycle? If you're going to IVF, you should go on the Fall IVF thread...there are a lot of ladies there that can help answer your questions. If you're getting a medicated IUI, it really depends on the type of drug your getting...there are oral kinds (clomid or femara), there are injectibles (Follistim, Gonal F) and I'm sure there are mixes of both. So it really depends but for medicated IUIs, typically, you take the drug for about 5 days and then you get inseminated when ultrasounds show that your follicle is within range of having a developed egg.
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For IVF (which I'm guessing is more likely due to your age and the tube reversal), there are also a lot of different types of protocols. There is the suppression protocol, where you get an injectible, Lupron for many weeks and then start the stimulation meds for a could of weeks (until you develop enough follies and your lining looks good). You'll have a lot of check ups to see how you're progressing. There's also the antagonist protocols, where you start with the stimulation (after some birth control pills, depending on your clinic's preference). After your follies grow to a certain size, they add another drug in to prevent the follies from erupting and then trigger and retrieve when you have enough eggs and your lining looks good. This is the type that i got. However, like i said, please go on the IVF site because i know of a lot of people who have gotten the suppression protocol and can give you thoughts on that protocol. There are other protocols as well, I'm sure, so hopefully, you can get answers about those, if you know what your protocol is.
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Here's an example of my cycle:
Birth control pills for about 2 weeks
On the day after my last BCP, I had to get a ultrasound and blood work to make sure that everything was suppressed enough
On day 4 after my last BCP, I started stimming...they said that it would last anywhere from 10-12 days, probably, although I'm sure some people go faster, and some go slower. I think mine took like 13 days.
On day 3 after starting stimulation, I had to get blood work and another ultrasound. Again, on day 5. This is when they increased the doses of one of my drugs. I had to go in again on day 7 and 9 to see how everything was working. On day 9, they added in the ganerilix. on day 13 we triggered and then retrieved 36 hours after the trigger.
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I expected it to be much worse than it is. Most of the drugs can now be given through subcutaneous injections so while they weren't the best feeling, it wasn't as bad as having to get intramuscular injections constantly. A few of the drugs may be intramuscular though so be prepared. Also, the day after the trigger, I had to start taking endometrin (progesterone) suppository and estrace (estrogen) orally. You'd probably have to take progesterone and estrogen too, but it would be dependent on your physician which type you would take. He/She may prefer the intramuscular injections of these two hormones.
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I hope that helps! Please feel free to ask any questions and please come over to the IVF site so you can benefit from all the ladies who have gone through this before!!
) haha
