Health knowledge made personal
|
Yesterday, I did my first Menopur injection for this cycle of in vitro fertilisation (IVF). I have done lots of these injections over the years. They are fiddly, involve lots of mixing and where possible, I prefer to do them at home at a table, with everything I need nearby. For those of you injecting Gonal F, they are much easier! I am not using Gonal F for this cycle, just Menopur. I have also injected in a restaurant before (I did warn the staff, in case they thought I was doing something illegal). I have often injected at friends' houses. When I begin doing the injections, they don’t hurt, as the needle is so fine. They make me squeamish though and I hate doing it. As I start to get closer to egg collection date, they start to become more painful as my skin becomes more sensitive (due to all the hormones). Same applies to the many blood tests that I have, they become more painful as egg collection day approaches. I get little bruises all over my tummy where I have been injecting (this gets worse when I inject Clexane later in the cycle). The Menopur comes as powder tablets in little glass bottles (called vials on the Menopur website ) and little bottles of solution (called ampoules). The number of vials and ampoules of solution which you mix, depends on the dose you have been prescribed. Here are the things that I lay out on the table before I start: Menopur vials Ampoules of the solution Syringe Needle for mixing Needle for injecting Cotton wool Plaster (don't always need one) Alcohol wipes Sharps container Ampoule snapper The ampoule snapper is a rubber collar that you put round the top of the little bottles of solution whilst you snap it off. I have managed withou this before but found I get tiny little cuts on my fingers. Normally ampoule snappers seem to be in short supply at the hospital so I haven't always been given one, however for this cycle, I have been given a whole bag full of them! Make sure you ask for one if the hospital don't give you one. It will save your fingers from getting cuts. Your hospital will instruct you on how to inject and of course you should follow their instructions over and above anything you find online. Hopefully some of my readers may find this video useful though. It is a video which I found on youtube which demonstrates how to inject Menopur. The first 6.5 minutes are the relevant part. As it is a bit long (and not very interesting to the general population) probably only my readers, who are actually starting or thinking of starting IVF, will want to watch it. For the rest of you, it is enough for me to say, the preparation of the injection is quite tricky. It is especially fiddly when you have a really high dose like I do, so have to keep repeating the drawing up process. You do get the hang of it though, when you have done it a few times. I found many videos of how to inject Menopur and sometimes the way it was done looked slightly different to how I do mine. This video seems to be a good representation of how I do my injections. Further information: Menopur website Description of menopur on www.netdoctor.co.uk |
Write a comment:
|
