Drugs That Are Effective For Fertility Problems
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.
There’s a secondary class of fertility drugs, not as popular as Clomid, known as gonadotropins. In terms of composition, they are somewhat like the FSH and LH hormones. Normally, these hormones are generated by the pituitary gland. If they are not, however, gonadrotropins can be 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.
Some of the 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) – this hormone triggers the pituitary gland to make the LH and FSH hormones. It is expensive and less available in the U.S. than it used to be.
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. They are often used in combination with some other fertility treatment. Also, in many cases the cause of the infertility is not with the woman. For example, 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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