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Fertility Drugs

What You Should Know About Medications That Could Help You Conceive

By Michele St. Martin

Clomid is generally taken in dosages from 50 to 300 milligrams for five days per month, usually beginning on Day 3 to 5 of your menstrual cycle. The cost ranges from $30 to $75 per month. Clomid is used in cycles with timed intercourse, sometimes in concert with IUI, seldom with IVF. About 35 to 45 percent of women will become pregnant while using Clomid. About 5 percent of these pregnancies will be twins, with triplet pregnancies being rare.

While most women in fertility treatment begin with Clomid, those who move quickly to ART may never take Clomid. Instead they start with injectible medications. Since the introduction of the first injectible fertility drug, Pergonal, these drugs have gained popularity. While some women take injectibles in concert with timed intercourse, their usage is generally limited to IUI and IVF cycles.

The most serious potential side effect of injectible medications is ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), which occurs when a woman's estrogen level skyrockets and she produces many eggs. Though OHSS occurs in less than 5 percent of women who use injectibles, it is a serious and potentially fatal condition that causes the ovaries to swell to several times their normal size. Symptoms of OHSS include sudden pelvic pain, weight gain, nausea, vomiting and dizziness. The doctors of women who have developed or are in danger of developing OHSS generally cancel their ART cycles to avoid it.

Not all women who develop OHSS are in grave danger. It is normal for stimulated ovaries to be slightly swollen and a little painful – they don't call it superovulation for nothing!

Kelli has been through two injectible cycles as part of the protocol for two IVFs. She has used three different injectibles. "I experienced no bad side effects from the drugs," she says. "There is a certain full feeling involved when your ovaries begin to swell. It's certainly bearable."

Want to see more?

• Dollars and Sense: Affording Infertility Treatment
• Decisions, Decisions: Which Path Is Right for You?
• Myth Busters: 10 Not-so-true Statements
• Check out our Article Library.
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