Egg Donor Medications: What to Expect & How to Deal with Injections

What medications do egg donors have to take? Being an egg donor means your body will have to mature more eggs than your body would during a normal monthly cycle, which is why you’ll need some help from fertility drugs. Medication can vary between donors in terms of types, dosage, timing, and frequency.

• Your case manager will go over all your medications with you and answer any questions.
• Most medications are injections, which may cause mild side effects.
• It is rare, but donors may experience Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS).
• Injections are used because some medicine cannot be taken as pills.
• Prepare for your injections by eating well, drinking water, getting plenty of sleep, and avoiding caffeine.
• Make yourself more comfortable by having ice on hand, doing some deep breathing, and rotating your injection sight each day.
• The donation cycle lasts around three months.

An Overview of the Different Types of Egg Donor Medications

Your medications may include:

Birth control (the oral contraceptive pill)

This stabilizes your hormones and helps to synchronize your cycle with your recipient’s.

Lupron (leuprolide acetate) injection

Lupron stops the production of LH and FSH, allowing other medications to keep your hormones balanced throughout your cycle.

Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) injection

FSH tells your ovaries to grow more follicles, which contain the developing eggs. FSH helps the eggs to mature faster, so there will be plenty available for retrieval. Your fertility doctor will monitor the growth of the follicles with blood tests and ultrasounds, and increase or decrease your dosage as necessary. FSH is usually taken for 7-12 days.

Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) injection

HCG “switches off” your own natural cycle, which prevents premature ovulation and allows your eggs to mature. [Text Wrapping Break]Your last shot of hCG will kickstart a cycle of development that triggers the egg to mature and allows it to be collected from the follicle wall.

Oral antibiotics (post retrieval)

Antibiotics help to reduce the risk of infection after the egg retrieval procedure.

Things to Know Before Taking Medication

Medication is an essential part of the egg donation process, so there’s no way around it. Most fertility medications are administered via subcutaneous injection. The injections are inserted just underneath the skin into the fatty tissue above your muscle.

Higher amounts of hormones in the body can cause similar effects to PMS. You may experience mood swings, a little weight gain, tender breasts, bloating, and headaches.

In very rare cases, fertility drugs may lead to Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS), in which too many eggs develop in the ovaries, but once you stop taking the medication your body will flush out the excess hormones naturally.

Why are Injections Needed?

Injections deliver drugs readily into the bloodstream, which is much more effective than oral medication.

Also, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is a protein, just like insulin, so it can’t be taken orally. Proteins are broken down in the digestive system, so it’s not possible for them to be taken as an oral medication.

Preparing for Your First Injection

The best way to prepare for your course of fertility treatment is to look after yourself!

For the best chances of a successful donor cycle and retrieval, be sure to:

• Eat a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and omega-3 fats
• Avoid alcohol, caffeine, smoking, and other stimulants
• Stop any exercise other than walking
• Get the proper amount of sleep
• Drink plenty of water

Things you may want to have on hand:

• Ice packs to help reduce swelling
• A heating pad for post-retrieval cramping and bloating
• Salty foods and drinks rich in electrolytes can help drain the fluid that builds up in the empty egg sacs left after retrieval and may help to prevent OHSS
• Tylenol

How to Make Injections Easier

Injections aren’t painful, but they can be a little uncomfortable. Here are some tips on how to make the shots a little more bearable:

• Staying extremely hydrated helps to reduce injection pain because the skin is tighter, making it easier for the needle to puncture.
• Ice the area for 15 minutes beforehand. This will help numb the skin.
• Pinch the skin and angle the needle at 90 degrees to prevent injecting into the muscle.
• Rotate injections around it each day. This way you will never inject in the same place twice in a row.
• Breathe deeply and visualize something happy.
• Get someone to help! Your partner or a family member or friend may turn out to be a great nurse.

What You Can Expect During Your Cycle

The egg donation process takes around three months, including the time for all your clinic tests and consults with your agency and doctors.

Here’s a quick overview of what your cycle will involve:

Before your cycle

You might need to start injections before the official ‘treatment period’ begins in order to control your cycle. This will either mean injecting a GnRH agonist once a day for a week or taking birth control.

The stimulation phase

The next phase is 8-12 days of fertility injections, once per day.

The trigger shot

Your last needle (yay!) is the hCG trigger shot. This is usually an intramuscular injection given 36 hours before the egg retrieval process.

Need More Information?

If you’ve still got questions, don’t panic! Our egg donor coordinators are ready and waiting to hear from you! Many of us have already been in your shoes, so we know exactly what’s going through your mind. Get in touch!

Related Blogs

• 5 Common Questions About Becoming Egg Donor
• 5 Reasons Why People Need Egg Donors
• How to Choose the Right Egg Donor Agency
• Rewards of Being an Egg Donor
• What to Expect During the Egg Donor Screening Process