Sunday, September 21, 2008

A Question for the IVF Experts Out There


Well, the IVF meds are officially ordered and should arrive Thursday. Stay tuned for the obligatory photo of my great big box of meds which will be posted for your viewing pleasure sometime next weekend.

I have a call in to the RNs at my clinic, but I wanted some input from some of you who've been through this. I am wondering about the difference between the painful PIO shots versus progesterone suppositories. Was one better than the other for you? Recommendations?

It's going to be an exciting week - pre-IVF acupuncture begins tomorrow evening! Hopefully that will get me ready to begin playing with needles as well as my very own, personal sharps container!

5 comments:

Emily said...

It's an age old debate in the IVF community. There is no wrong or right answer. My old RE recommended PIO for just 2 nights and then switched me to supps, but said it was ultimately "my choice" if I wanted to stay on PIO. I did it his way with the supps and BFN both times.
New RE believes in PIO until a BFP, then supps. So PIO it will be! I would inject it in my eyeball if they told me to :)
Enjoy your needles! GL!

Hope2morrow said...

M doctor told me that if you do the PIO shots, the progesterone is measurable by a blood test but it is not measurable in your blood if you do the suppositories. You mights ask your doctor about that, but my doctor much prefers the PIO injections to the suppositories because they are more "beneficial," according to my doc.

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

I've been on the PIO shots for four days now and they haven't really been that painful. Well, the one I did in my thigh was awful and the pain lasted for three days, but the ones the hubby has been giving me in my booty don't hurt at all. I had said I didn't want to do shots but my doctor didn't give me a choice and the thought of having to do suppositories every day and live with pantyliners and, uh, drippage, just wasn't appealing. I've got enough going on.

Jill said...

I never had the option of suppositories. I would choose the needle over them if I did have a choice though because they are said to be very messy and I wouldn't want to deal with that. That's just me though.

I will tell you this...I was SO AFRAID of the PIO injections and they are honestly the easiest of all. The key is to ice the area for about a minute (it's nice and numb that way) and I never feel a thing. I also rub it and apply a little heat for about 10 mins afterwards which helps with soreness later on.

You and your husband will be pros after that first shot, trust me! :)

Penny said...

Definitely take the suppositories. I've only had 1 intramuscular injection and it hurt like hell. I've never heard of positive experiences from PIO gals myself.