Hi Lovely people,
Apparently there’s a UK national shortage of menopur and I am to start a gonal F short protocol in the next few days. I 41 and to start changing protocols is worrying. Has anyone one else used only gonal F? If so please, share your stories good or bad xxx
Hey, I have used gonal f for both of my rounds and luckily responded well (I have low AMH so get less eggs than the average but still managed to get eggs with gonal f) I was also on short protocol for both and will stick with this for my coming third round. Overall I felt fine on it if im honest, hope it works out for you lovely! X
Hi babe, so I've had gonal f twice (also 41) and first time I over responded to it (borderline ohss, 15 follicles) second time I really under responded (only 2 follicles). I was on bemfola before and also over responded on it and felt terrible.
So it's probably my weird body but overall I felt better on gonal f. Having said that, I had intended to ask for menopur next time given my 50% hit rate with gonal, but wasn't aware there was a shortage!!! So that might change my plans!!
Good luck, I think changes are generally a good thing as if the previous thing didn't work, then maybe a change of plan will xxx
Hi Joeysjourney, thank you for your response. Interesting to know you can over respond to ivf drugs on 15 follicles. Just had my scan yesterday and I have 16 between both ovaries, fingers crossed they are mature and don’t over respond.
The last round of menopur and gonal f was the best round in terms of the last two embryos had a decent grade. I was hoping for the same this fifth round.
Have a chat with your clinic before your next round and see what they have to say with the menopur update Xx
Yeah I'm not sure that I over responded in the traditional way. My lining seemed to go wonky (gelatinous was the word he used) and he didn't want to transfer an embryo into it. So I'm not convinced it was even the gonal that did it. I know my hormones were off the chart though.
16 is great!! I only ever have about 7 at baseline so hopefully you respond well again. It's always such a guessing game isnt it 🙄
Thanks yes expecting a call today with my new amh results as I'm worried about the 2 follicles result last month. So once I know that, we can decide drugs and dosage x
I feel like every cycle (menstrual&IVF) also protocol is different. It’s hard to keep with with what’s happening. Have you had a break between your cycles? I’ve waited over 6 months since my last cycle to give my body a rest and to prepare my body with the pre conceptions vitamins. I’m even trying IVF hypnotherapy.
Fingers crossed with your AMH results and protocol, keep us all updated xx
No I haven't taken a break at all and I dont know if it's good or bad! I'm 42 in April so I just don't feel like I have time? X
Although my last egg collection was March 2022, and this recent one was March 2023. But had fet in between
ahhhh ok that makes sense xx
I know exactly what you mean, times flying too fast and then it’s your birthday again xx
I used Gonal F twice and had a very good response in terms of egg numbers (17-18 eggs) each cycle. I was on a high dose. I was 39 and 40 at the time of stimulations
Hi! I’ve also swapped from menopur to gonal F. This is my first cycle, I’m 32 but have blocked tubes due to surgery when I was 5 weeks old 🤦🏻♀️
I actually found out that the menopur shortage is because one of the factories had changed the ingredients slightly and the manufacturer shut down production to ensure that the final product was still as advertised. In essence that’s a good thing, but it doesn’t half make life stressful if you were expecting menopur.
Having said that - gonal f comes in pens so is really easy to administer. I haven’t had any bruising really, just fluctuating bloating and some tenderness. I can’t speak on the effectiveness of one or the other but I’d say the doctors wouldn’t swap stimulants if they weren’t successful as that affects their clinic success rates!
I’m having my first scan tomorrow so I guess we will see!
Also - fair warning - there is also a national Ustrogen shortage!
Good luck.
Thank you for your response and for knowing the reason on the menopur shortage.
I have some spare Ustrogen from a previous round, although I think I will be on cyclogest this time.
Sorry to hear about your fallopian tubes. I had my first scan this cycle yesterday. I hope it all goes well with you xx
Hi, I’ve been on Gonal F for my last two cycles and responded well with 7 and 10 eggs collected. I’m almost 40. I also had no side effects with Gonal F. X
Hi,
I have high amh & endometriosis & was changed to gonal f for this round & responded much better than i did with menopur. I got 9 eggs this time as opposed to the 4 from last time x
Hi there, I have used menopur and Gonal F. My first round was with 300ius of menopur and that was unsuccessful though I responded well. When I changed clinics, I was put on 425 ius of Gonal F and 75 ius of menopur. The first 2 cycles, I banked embryos and was successful on my third round at 43 years of age.
My response to both drugs was good. The only thing I would say is that Gonal F is quite a bit more expensive than menopur. On the other hand, it is in a needle already prepared so no mixing required.
All the best with your cycle x
Hi, thanks for responding and giving me hope, when you feel like it’s all lost (this will be my fifth cycle) xx
I’ve done 3 cycles in total. First was mix of meriofert and another stim I can’t remember the name of, second meriofert alone, third was gonal f. I understand meriofert is similar to menopur. Like you, I was worried about just doing gonal f only, but that round got us 4 blastocysts- more than the other two rounds combined, and my son after previous rounds BFNs. I never had any side effects from any of the meds other than bit of bloating. Fingers crossed for you xx
edited to add all rounds done ages 37
Hi, I was on Gonal F too. I’m also 41. I responded really well to it and had very few side effects. It was my first cycle and I’m very pleased to say, I am 7 months pregnant this week with our first baby 🥰.
Have faith, they wouldn’t use it unless they’d had success with it.
Wishing you all the very best on your journey 🤞🏻 x x
I had 3 cycles on meriofert and will start stimulations with Gonal F on Sunday. I have not used it before but if you would like to keep each other sane in this cycle PM me x
Hi,I had cycles only menopur and cycles only gonal f. Two different clinics. I always responded better to menopur in terms of numbers. My last attempt with gonal f was 10 eggs out of 15 mature follicles. Here I should add that this cycle i had 27 antral follicles (before injections)and endedup with 10 eggs. On my menopur cycles I had about 18-20 antral follicles and ended up with 14-16 eggs per time.
I felt better with menopur in terms of side effects. In terms of quality I had 7 poor to average embryos with menopur whilst with gonal I had 1 average and 1 good quality. I need to say that it's two different clinics (one only menopur protocol and the other only gonal f) so different standards in grading.
No success with either
Hi and thank you for your response. I had menopur and gonal F in the last round I had 10 mature eggs with 7 fertilising. Still after every round, I had two reach day 5 blastocyst with the last round being the best round (grading wise). I hope the same can happen this round too, even with the different drugs. Fingers crossed 🤞for the both of us xx
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