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Fertility Drugs

Fertility drugs are available to treat many of the conditions that cause infertility, and many are known as "ovulation inducing" drugs.

Most patients should undergo a fertility workup prior to beginning any fertility drug treatment. There could be many causes of infertility in addition to ovulatory disorders, including endometriosis, tubal disease, cervical factor and others.

Also, fertility drug treatment should not be initiated until the male partner has undergone a semen analysis.

Clomid

Clomid is often a first line treatment for infertility. The goal of Clomid therapy in treating infertility is to induce ovulation. Once ovulation begins, there is no benefit to further increasing the dosage. Numerous studies show that pregnancy usually occurs during the first three months of infertility therapy with Clomid and treatment beyond six months is not recommended. Clomiphene is marketed in the United States by Aventis Laboratories as... Read more

FSH

Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) containing drugs are used to stimulate a follicle (egg) to develop and mature They are also used to stimulate the development of multiple eggs for in vitro fertilization (IVF). Serono Laboratories first introduced FSH containing products in the United States under the trade name Pergonal. These first products were "natural" in that they were derived and purified from the urine of postmenopausal... Read more

Ganirelix Acetate And Cetrotide

Ganirelix Acetate and Cetrotide also suppress FSH and LH production; however, the suppression is more complete than with Lupron. Because the suppression is so complete these drugs can be used during in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment for shorter periods of time. How Ganirelix Acetate and Cetrotide Work These fertility drugs are gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists meaning they block the action of GnRH at the pituitary, which... Read more

Lupron

Lupron (leuprolide acetate) is often prescribed for endometriosis because it dramatically lowers estrogen levels by regulating the body's production of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). The uterine lining is highly dependent upon estrogen for growth. It is also prescribed in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles. In IVF treatment, when a patient is on the "luteal Lupron" protocol she usually starts Lupron... Read more

Metformin

Metformin reduces blood sugar levels and is approved by the FDA for treatment of type 2 diabetes. In women with infertility due to polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), trials found metformin plus Clomid to be more effective than Clomid alone in ovulation induction. Continued metformin treatment may establish regular menstrual cycles in women with PCOS.  Metformin may also decrease the miscarriage risk associated with PCOS. These findings... Read more

Other Fertility Drugs

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) The placenta produces HCG during pregnancy. It sets up the series of events that causes production of progesterone by the corpus luteum. hCG levels are measured to confirm pregnancy. HCG can also be used to trigger ovulation in women who are undergoing stimulated IUI or IVF. In a normal ovulatory cycle, a surge of LH triggers ovulation and release of the egg(s). The body responds to hCG in the same manner as... Read more

Fertility Drugs and Cancer

To date there have been no studies that identify a link between fertility drugs and cancer. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends only selective ovarian cancer screening in women. They state that annual ovarian cancer screening is justifiable only for a small well-defined segment of the population: women who have two second-degree relatives or one first and one second degree relative who have had ovarian cancer. The NIH, however,... Read more

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