Using fertility drugs incorrectly can
ruin your chances for IVF success. Today, on InfertilityTV we will discuss the
right locations to inject fertility drugs. With a few exceptions, the fertility drugs
used during IVF are injections that are taken every day for a few weeks. There are two types of fertility drugs – those
that are given in the muscle and those that are given beneath the skin. Intramuscular fertility drugs are the older
type of fertility drugs. These medications contain hormones that are
isolated from the urine of older women. Because they come from urine and are not purified
very much, there are contaminants mixed in with the actual medication. Examples of these medications include Menopur
and Repronex. These contaminants can be very irritating
when they are injected into your body. The can cause redness of the skin, swelling,
itching and pain at the injection site. In order to reduce these irritating symptoms,
these fertility drugs are injected into the muscle where less irritation will occur.
Although any muscle will work, the two largest
groups of muscles are the shoulder and the buttocks The buttocks are by far the largest group
of muscles so this has been the main location for giving intramuscular fertility drugs. The medications require a longer needle to
reach the muscle. You want to make sure you avoid most of the
larger nerves and blood vessels so always give these fertility drugs in the upper outer
portion of the buttocks.
Even when you do it correctly, placing a needle
deep in the muscle is going to be more painful and may result in bruising. For more specific injection instructions,
watch this video. Many IVF fertility drugs are now able to be
given under the skin without having to inject into the muscle. These newer IVF fertility drugs do not come
from urine and are highly purified. They dont contain the contaminants found in
the older class of fertility drugs and so are far less irritating. IVF fertility drugs which can be given subcutaneously
include Follistim and Gonal F. These medications can be administered using a much smaller needle into the fatty area just below the skin. There is a rich network of blood vessels there
that are ideal for letting the fertility drugs to get absorbed into your circulation. One of the best areas is under the skin of
your abdomen. The skin here is pretty loose and easy to
inject. Try it now. Take a pinch of skin and lift it up.
See how easy that is? There is plenty of room here so that you can
give each injection in a slightly different place to avoid one area getting too sore. You may see a little bruising here and there but it will be much less than with an intramuscular injection Watch this video for specific instructions
on giving subcutaneous injections.
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