Pregnyl, pregnancy symptoms.

[OriginalP]

This is an old thread but as a current user of Pregnyl, I thought I'd add my comments. Pregnyl is an artificial HcG (pregnancy hormone) that is used in fertility treatment to ripen an egg. Another similar drug is Ovidrel. Patients of IVF Australia are probably familiar with using Ovidrel as the trigger injection during the stimulated cycle.

I'm currently doing an IUI process, and as I registered low counts of both eostrogen and progesterone in my first cycle, my medical team decided I needed support during the luteal phase this time. So on my IUI day I also had a lovely Pregnyl shot in the backside, and have had to go for a top up shot three times a week over the past two weeks.

The problem with Pregnyl is that if you do a pregnancy test, you're likely to get a positive result whether you really are pregnant or not. They look at the levels of HcG, and today I was told, if it's over 400, then it's probably a genuine pregnancy. What ever you do, do not pee on a stick!

As for symptoms or side effects on Pregnyl, I looked up the manufacturers product notes, and they said a swollen face, lips and tongue were common! I haven't had any of these. I have had nausea, a dry tongue, a hideous taste in my mouth, tiredness, sore boobs, cramping uterus etc. My team say this could be what we're hoping for - but we have a long way to go before we can start celebrating.

I think Ltl Panda talked about Pregnyl being used for follicle stimulation - on both IVF and IUI I was given Puregon for this which is an artifical form of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) - not Pregnyl. So check your protocol - you might have your drugs mixed up (in your mind).

On how much information your doctors and nurses will give you, I will say this: they know how desperate people on fertility treatment are for any glimmer of hope. And there are legal implications fo providing misleading or deceptive information, so they rarely tell you anything that could be open to misinterpretation. My experience is medical staff dealing with infertility have got very good poker faces, which can come across as appalling bedside manner. Our IVF doctor was so stiff, we never failed to leave his office in tears.

One thing I have learned lately is to watch your progesterone scores. They usually check this on Day 21 (or the equivalent) during your cycle. The range for gestational progesterone is 37 - 205. So if you get a good score, it's a good sign!

Well, that's about all I have to say - good luck!

Sept 1, 2008 - Further to the above, it's also worth noting that if you've been using Pregnyl as luteal support and your pregnancy doesn't make it over the line, your period will be very late. Very late. It's a bit distressing when you know full well you're not pregnant - easy to see how folks going au natural could think they were preggers and then miscarrying as a result. We're pleased we had the added insight of many monitoring tests as we knew exactly when our embryo failed. :-( Apart from a battered arm and vein, we're okay about it.