Injection Day - Buserelin

14 May 2011

We went to the Medical Center early in the morning to get the medication, syringes and needles required to start my Buserelin jabs. Me being a super phobic person when it comes to needles and syringes will not be assign to get this 'job' done. Thus, I had passed this privilege to my dear Hubby. Since both of us are not medically trained for it, our nurse, C had given us short tutorial on how to draw Buserelin from its vial. It looks pretty easy when it was done by our nurse, C. I was barely looking when she was giving the injection around my tummy area. It does ache a bit but the pain was very minimal. Phew, super glad that my first injection was a pleasant experience. I guessed the real challenge will be coming tomorrow morning when we were all by ourselves to do the injection. We were given 1 vial of Buserelin, syringes + needles, alcohol swabs and a cooler bag to transport the Buserelin back to our home. We needed to pay a deposit of RM100 for the cooler bag where it will be refund to us once we returned it to the center. FYI - Buserelin need to be kept in the fridge. 

From Wikipedia

'Buserelin is a Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRH agonist). By causing constant stimulation of the pituitary, it decreases pituitary secretion of gonadotropins luteinizing hormone(LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH).'

15 May 2011

We (or shall I say my Dear Hubby) had successfully get the injection done today. Our nurse, C had advised us to have the injection done around the same timing daily to have an optimised efficacy. Thus, we had chosen to do the injection around 6.40 am (yeap, that early as I need to be from our house to office around 7.00am to beat the jam). There's some minor hiccups during the injection but at the end, all ends well. *Big shoulder pat to my Dear Hubby*.

On the side note, I felt more tired after getting the jab yesterday and today. I am wondering whether it's the side effect of Buserelin. Besides the tiredness, nothing much differs from my normal daily life. 

My daily companion for the next 14 days and more... 

As of now, I have officially started on my Downregulation cycle for IVF. I have google and found the following info from this website on the downregulation cycle. I am praying hard that I will be responding well to the injection. Keep fingers crossed.

GI Upset and Me

8 May 2011

My stomach had been like a roller coaster like condition which had started since 8.5.2011. I had read that one of Metformin common side effects was gastrointestinal issue like diarrhea. This is my 3rd day on Metformin and I had thought I will be 'free' from this side effects but..... sigh.. Yup.. The diarrhea episodes started kicking in from morning 8.5.2011. I had been visiting the loo for 3 times during the day and it stopped. I was kinda relieved by then and thought it had subside. But to my horror, the diarrhea came back during the night time after I took in another Metformin tablet. This time, it was even worst than the morning episodes. I had actually lost count of the numbers of times I have been sitting inside the loo till I needed to wake Hubby up to get me Po Chai Chit Kit pill (a traditional pill use to relieve diarrhea). Phew,thank God it's was working and finally I manage to grab some sleep. With all the loo 'drama', I am sorta in a zombie state condition now --- yawn, yawn, yawn........ Pray hard that GI upset will resolve soon as I had searched over the Internet and found we will get used to the medication and be free from the side effects eventually. In the meantime, I guessed I should be grabbing some diarrhea medication from the pharmacy to safeguard myself especially during night time.

Our First Step to IVF

5 May 2011 

Today marked an important day of our IVF journey. After going thru 4 cycles of failed clomid therapy, we have decided to advance further to IVF. Some background info about us, I was diagnosed with PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) and Hubby was diagnosed with Teratospermia (condition characterized by the presence of sperm with abnormal morphology that affects fertility in males) which lowers the chances of us conceiving.

"Teratospermia or teratozoospermia is a condition characterized by the presence of sperm with abnormal morphology that affects fertility in males."

"Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common female endocrine disorders affecting approximately 5%-10% of women of reproductive age (12–45 years old) and is thought to be one of the leading causes of female subfertility. The principal features are obesity, anovulation (resulting in irregular menstruation) or amenorrhea, acne, and excessive amounts or effects of androgenic (masculinizing) hormones. The symptoms and severity of the syndrome vary greatly among women. While the causes are unknown, insulin resistance, diabetes, and obesity are all strongly correlated with PCOS."

After much discussion between the both of us, we have decided to proceed with IVF in the hope for us to realize our dream to become parents. Thus, we had our discussion with our fertility specialist and comes to an agreement to start on our first (and hopefully last *keeps fingers crossed*) IVF journey.

We were briefed and explained on the protocol for IVF. I will be starting on a Metformin therapy + OCP (oral contraceptive pill) to begin the IVF protocol. I had searched and google from the internet and found the usage of both drugs were normally use for PCOS patients like myself prior to start of ovarian stimulation.

So I will be taking a course of OCP (1 tab once daily, night time for 13 days) and Metformin (1 tab daily, night time for 1 week and subsequently 1 bd, morning and night for 8 weeks). I guessed popping tablets are not that difficult but the challenging part will be the injections protocol coming in next week.

Nurse had given me both medications and asked whether we would like to take the injections as well or come again on 14 May 2011 to collect them and she can do the first injection for me. We had opted to get the injection on the said date so that she can give us a 'tutorial' on giving a proper jab. I had requested Hubby to do the injection for me as I don't really like the sight of needles and syringes.

Metformin and OCP for start.

So on our first visit - RM 3711.29 was paid. I guessed our credit card will be working extremely hard for the weeks to come. Pray hard everything will be going on smoothly.