Ovarian stimulants are one of the fertility methods that promote fertility in women. This method is applicable to a couple diagnosed with infertility infertility. However, this method is still new, in order to better understand this method, the article will share with you information about the stimulant to know.
Table of Contents
What is a stimulant?
Ovarian stimulants are hormonal drugs that are used to stimulate follicles to develop, thereby allowing the follicles to ripen, allowing the egg to release and helping to increase fertility. In addition, egg stimulants are also used by obstetricians in case of intrauterine injection (IUI) or in vitro fertilization (IVF) .
The stimulant comes in oral and injectable forms. The drug is often indicated for use in women with polycystic ovary syndrome, who have an ovarian follicle that does not develop or is not regularly ovulating. At the same time, the injection of the stimulant is indicated for women who respond poorly to oral stimulants.
Ovarian stimulants have the effect of stimulating not only 1 but 2 or more follicles to develop and a woman’s ability to become pregnant is higher. The proportion of pregnant women using the oral stimulant injection is reported to be higher than those using oral stimulants.
When should use stimulant?
Ovulation stimulants are used in cases where a woman has trouble ovulating an egg. This is considered a convenient and effective solution to change the internal hormones to improve development and ovulation, thereby helping to increase fertility.
Ovarian stimulants should be used on day 2 to about day 11 of the menstrual cycle with the aim of increasing the number and size of the follicles and thickening the uterine lining.
During ovulation, patients will receive an appointment on the 6th, 8th and 10th day of the menstrual cycle to monitor follicular growth. Until day 13, when the follicle has reached certain standards, the patient will be given a day to poke the eggs.
However, women should note that not to arbitrarily use egg stimulants without consulting a doctor or overuse of drugs too much also has negative effects on health. Therefore, you need to consult your doctor as well as use the medicine as directed to ensure your health and avoid unnecessary risks.
Medications to induce premature ovulation
Normally, in order for an egg to be released, it takes 2 factors that are to grow and ripen. Currently, there are 2 types of ovulation stimulants: Clomiphene and Gonadotrophin with 2 accompanying drugs: Metformin, Bromocriptine. Each drug will be indicated for use in specific cases and under the guidance of the doctor:
- Clomiphene (Clomid): This is a drug that helps the body to misunderstand that low levels of estrogen to increase FSH and LH cause eggs to ripen and release. However, this medication is only for women with low estrogen levels and normal pituitary function but who do not ovulate or ovulate irregularly.
- Gonadotrophin (Merional, Menopur): This drug directly supplements FHS and LH. The drug is used in the case of pituitary failure, stimulates the normal egg to become healthy and makes conception easier.
- Metformin (Glucophage): The effect is to reduce insulin resistance to reduce Androgen and increase ovulation. Metformin is used in combination with Clomiphene to treat patients who are not ovulating due to polycystic ovary syndrome.
- Bromocriptine (Parlodel): Ability to reduce Protaclin, indirectly increase FHS vs LH. The drug is used in patients who do not have ovulation due to increased blood protaclin.
The procedure of performing an egg stimulant injection
The egg injection will be administered as follows:
- Step 1: Before using the stimulant, you will need to have a general examination including necessary tests and an ultrasound of the follicle to determine the reason that makes it difficult for you to conceive. The best time to have a checkup is on day 2 of your menstrual cycle.
- Step 2: Through the examination results that the specialist will assign you to use the appropriate stimulant drug as well as the dose and injection schedule. Therefore, you can also give the injection at home and follow your doctor’s appointment.
- Step 3: After choosing the right egg stimulant, you will have a skin test to see if you are allergic to any of the ingredients. This is a very important step in health care to prevent the risk of anaphylaxis if the body is allergic to the drug. Therefore, all drugs must be tested before being injected into the body.
- Step 4: Follow up the injection process by blood test and ultrasound of the follicle to help know the result of the injection process. From there, helping the doctor adjust the dosage of the drug to suit the patient’s condition.
- Step 5: When the size of the egg reaches a certain size, your doctor will advise you to have sex or inject ovulation pills and aspirate to perform measures such as in vitro fertilization (IVF or injecting sperm directly into the uterus (IUI).
Is egg stimulant safe?
Ovarian stimulants bring some certain effects such as: Helps increase fertility from 20% to 60%. At the same time, the drug stimulates quite a few ovules to develop, not just one or two, so that the fertility of women will be higher.
Although the egg stimulant is used to increase fertility for women, in some cases, the patient may also experience some complications such as:
1. Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome
This syndrome occurs when the ovaries overreact to the use of ovulation stimulants, especially when using the drug Gonadotrophin. At that time, the patient will have manifestations such as: difficulty breathing, swelling of the limbs, nausea, bloating, forming a blood clot in the blood vessel (blood clot can cause embolism and death).
In addition, ovarian hyperstimulation can directly threaten the health of the patient and has the potential to cause undesirable complications such as venous or arterial thrombosis, including stroke or anemia. below.
2. The risk of multiple pregnancy
The risk of multiple pregnancies is one of the undesirable things that you may encounter. Because, during ovulation will cause the number of ovulation to increase and more than one. Therefore, when performing the method of injecting sperm into the uterus (IUI), the risk of multiple pregnancies such as twins and triplets will also be higher.
In addition, multiple pregnancies also make pregnant mothers face many high risks such as having many complications during pregnancy or preterm birth. Preterm birth not only directly affects the mother but also causes the baby to have many health problems such as: respiratory disorders, digestive disorders or temperature instability.
3. Children are at risk of birth defects
According to the researchers, the risk of birth defects often increases sharply with the use of the ovulation stimulant Clomiphene. So, using the drug according to the prescription of the doctor, you will minimize the risk of the fetus being not exposed to the drug.
In case of self-medication, if you abuse or use it continuously, do not know when to stop the drug, it will cause the fetus to form in the condition that your body has Clomiphene. As a result, the child will be at a higher risk of birth defects.
4. Ovarian failure
The overuse of stimulants also makes women face the risk of ovarian failure. If this happens, the ovarian function will stop working and the reproductive function and egg feeding will not be able to perform.
How much does stimulant cost?
Depending on the specific case, the patient will be prescribed by the doctor to use the appropriate drug as well as the dosage of the stimulant. Therefore, the cost to perform depends on many factors and therefore each patient will have a different performance rate.
However, according to the general price list of the fertility support centers, the cost of stimulants taken in a cycle will range from 20-30 million.
Above is the shared information about the stimulant. In addition to applying this method, you also need to keep yourself in a relaxed, optimistic, and patient spirit. At the same time, taking the drug in accordance with the doctor’s instructions to achieve a high rate of implementation and ensure safety when applying.
