The Lowdown on Fertility Drugs

If you have been trying to get pregnant for a year or longer and are dealing with infertility, you may also be considering taking fertility drugs to try and conceive.

We hear a lot about fertility drugs, but how much is fact and how much is hype? If you think that you might soon be taking a fertility drug, you might appreciate a bit more information.

Here are the most commonly used fertility drugs with a little info about each:

• For abnormal FSH and LH production, Clomiphene citrate, also known as Clomid or Serophene might be prescribed. This is an oral medication that  stimulates ovulation in women who have PCOS or other ovulation disorders. It causes the pituitary gland to release more FSH and LH, both of which stimulate growth of an ovarian follicle containing an egg. Clomiphene citrate also improves fertility in normally ovulating women, and is often used as an initial treatment for unexplained infertility.

• Gonadotropins: Instead of stimulating the pituitary gland to release more hormones, gonadotropins stimulate the ovary directly. Gonadotropin medications are often used in conjunction with intrauterine insemination, which is a procedure in which sperm is injected into your uterus through a thin catheter, to increase the odds of conception.

• There are different gonadotropin medications, including Repronex and Menopur, which are both given as injections to women who do not ovulate on their own. These injections stimulate the ovaries to release eggs.

• Another type of gonadotropin is follicle stimulating hormone, or FSH, also known as Gonal-F, Follistim and Bravelle.

• Human chorionic gonadotropin, or HCG, also known as Ovidrel, and Pregnyl. This is used in conjunction with clomiphene, hMG or FSH, and works by stimulating the ovarian follicle to release its egg.

• Metformin, or Glucophage, is sometimes given for infertility. Insulin resistance may be the suspected cause of infertility, and this drug improves insulin resistance, thus helping the infertility issue.

• Letrozole, also known as Femara. Letrozole belongs to a class of drugs known as aromatase inhibitors. Letrozole, which is also used to treat some breast cancers, may induce ovulation. However, the effect the medication has on early pregnancy isn’t yet known, so this medication isn’t used for ovulation induction as frequently as others.

These are the most commonly used fertility drugs today. Infertility can be a frustrating and traumatic thing, and some knowledge about fertility drugs might help make things less stressful!

Tagged as: Fertility, get pregnant, infertility, ovulation