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One of the unfortunate necessities of an IVF procedure is needles -- lots of them!  It's really not that bad until you get to the progesterone shots.  With progesterone, the injection sites can become very sore because the medication is dissolved in oil and because you have to use it throughout your first trimester (that's roughly 90 shots).


A tray with everything needed for a Decapeptyl injection.

From our experience, the needle types and sizes listed below seemed to be the easiest to work with and caused the least amount of pain.  The Decapeptyl (subcutaneous) and Gonal-F® (intramuscular for us) shots were really not that bad.  You can ask your doctor for his/her recommendations on needle size.

In addition to the needles, you'll also need a supply of alcohol and cotton balls (we recommend pre-packaged alcohol preps for convenience), sterile gauze, and adhesive bandages in assorted sizes (we found the small, round ones to work perfectly).

Note:  the container on the left is a vial; the one on the right is an ampule.

 

Trade Name
(Medication Name)

Type of Injection

Needle to Draw Medication

Needle to Inject Medication

Decapeptyl
(triptorelina)

Subcutaneous.

Must mix medicine.  Comes with glass ampule of sterile water and vial of powdered medicine.

21G, 1 ¼" 

Do not use anything less than 1 ¼" because of the depth of the vial and ampule.

26G, ½"

Gonal-F®
(follitropin alpha)

 

 

Intramuscular (it can also be administered subcutaneously -- depends on the doctor).

18G, 1 ½" 

Do not use anything less than 1 ½" because of the depth of the ampule.

23G, ¾" 

This worked, but we probably should have used at least 1" or possibly 1 ¼" since Gonal-F® and Profasi® are intramuscular injections. 

Profasi®
(hCG)

Intramuscular

 
Must mix medicines.  Both Gonal-F® and Profasi® come in glass ampules -- one with sterile water and the other with powdered medicine.

Prontogest
(natural progesterone in oil)

 

Intramuscular.

Comes in a glass ampule.

20G, 1 ½" 

Progesterone is dissolved in oil and is therefore extremely viscous, making it difficult to work with.  Do not use anything smaller than 20G to draw.

22 or 23G, 1 ½" 

Must use a 1 ½" because the oil must reach deep into the muscle.  You may be able to use a 1 ¼" but if there is too much leakage, go with the longer needle.

Although the ¾" worked with the Gonal-F®, it did not work with the progesterone.  (It seeped out after the injection).

 


Various needles (click to enlarge).

 

We made medicine charts to track our daily progress.  The example below is a portion of one of our charts for the second cycle of medications (note that times are in 24-hour format).  Our embryo transfer was not done at this time because of ovarian hyperstimulation.  Our embryos were frozen for transfer on the next cycle.

Medicine Mon, 28 Oct 02 Tue, 29 Oct 02 Wed, 30 Oct 02 Thu, 31 Oct 02
  x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Ginoxil®
1 douche every night from 26 Oct to day before embryo transfer.		     1800         1800                  
Ambramicina (tetracycline)
250mg
1 tablet every 6 hours for 4 days from 28 Oct 02		 0600 1200 1800 0000 0600 1200 1800 0000 0600 1200 1800 0000 0600 1200 1800 0000
Medrol® (metilprednisolone)
16 mg
1 tablet a day for 4 days from 28 Oct 02.		   1200       1200       1200       1200    
Prontogetst  (progesterone)
100 fl.
Half a vial for 15 days from 29 Oct 02		         0600       0600       0600      
aspirinetta (baby aspirin)
.100 cpr.
1 tablet a day for 15 days from 29 Oct 02.		         0600       0600       0600      
  Scheduled Egg Retrieval   Scheduled Embryo Transfer  

 

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