I usually use the Puregon Pen on the left side of my stomach and inject the Menopur with the regular syringe on my right side. Here is a link to an excellent illustration about the Puregon Pen http://www.ivf-worldwide.com/education/ivf-drug-in-use/ivf-guideline-for-drug-administration/instructions-to-inject-of-puregon.html. As instructed by the nurse I made sure to keep to the area two fingers below and away from my belly button. Apparently the area right below your belly button is very sensitive and will hurt a lot if you puncture it with a needle.
The Puregon Pen has a dial on the right side to
gauge the amount of medicine going in through
the replaceable cartridge.
I found it interesting and different from our previous ART (assisted reproductive treatment) regimen is that even though day one of injections which we did at the clinic started around 3pm in the afternoon on Day 1, I was told to continue the daily injections the next morning at around 8-9am. Previously, I was asked to have the daily injections at the same time every day the first time I had it which was around 5.30pm. I can't remember why the current doctor advises me to do the shots in the mornings as I was nervous (about the needles, remember?) when I saw him on day 1. Must ask DH about the explanation as he is a better listener than I am and most likely will remember the doctor's reasoning. More on that later.
So, back to the self-jab process. DH is so proud of how resolved I am to do them myself knowing about my ongoing phobia of needles since childhood. I am sharing this for any newbies to IVF who may benefit from this information or if you were just curious about it. FYI there are lots of helpful instructional videos on the Puregon Pen, such as this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLE5ra84u4Y. I obviously prefer the Puregon Pen compared to the regular syringe for the Menopur because it's just more convenient to use, but the doctor prescribed to use both so I just had to suck it up and do them.
Make sure to pinch the injection area
before inserting the needle. Then release
once it is all the way in and you are ready
to administer the medicine.
I would look at my tummy and establish the area to inject, swab it with an alcohol pad and pinch it. This is the time when I thank the heavens above for the extra fat in my tummy! I make sure the syringe is at a 90 degrees angle from my pinched skin and then I insert the needle all the way. The needle is so small and thin it doesn't hurt much going in. When I am sure it is all the way inside and stable then I push in the medicine with my thumb. As instructed by the nurse, once the medicine is in I would wait for 5-10 seconds before taking out the needle to make sure that none of it will seep out from my skin since it is very expensive and we wouldn't want to waste any. I make sure to clean the area again with an alcohol swab and lay down on the couch for a while since both injection sites on my left and right belly will start to sting for a while as the medicine starts going into my body.
I am currently prescribed 375ml of Puregon and 75ml of Menopur and will be seeing the doctor on day 5 to see how my ovaries are responding to the stimulants, which will be adjusted accordingly if needed. Another interesting difference I noted this time around by the way -- the doctor starts with a higher dose then will decrease if needed as opposed to our previous IVF where the doctor started low and then increased the dosage after a week of stimulants.
Two more days to go till my follow up visit on day 5 to see how my body responds to the treatment. In the meantime, I hope that the side effects won't be as bad today as they were yesterday.
3 days worth of empty medicine containers, used
needles and syringes. We're collecting all of our
medical waste and prefer to bring it to the clinic
and dispose of it there rather than combine it with
household garbage.
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