Infertility and Hormones
After all the blood tests, they finally let you know that it’s your hormones causing all the trouble. When it comes to dealing with infertility, hormones are always a method of treatment although there are some hazards linked with taking infertility hormones so be sure to do your reading.
You may not need to take actual hormones, but rather have medication to balance your hormones.
The medications listed below may be prescribed for the ladies:
· Bromocriptine – Prolactin is required for manufacturing milk, but not for ovulating, so bromocriptine controls prolactin and promotes the release of eggs. Side effects include nausea, low blood pressue, headaches and possibly dizziness as well.
· Clomiphene – Clomiphene encourages the pituitary gland to produce LH and FSH which stimulate the ovaries to release egg cells. It is fairly inexpensive and relatively effective, especially if you suffer from PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) or irregular menstruation, although you may experience headaches, tender breasts, nausea and insomnia while you’re on it.
· Metoformin – This is used to treat women with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) or insulin resistance as it decreases the levels of male hormones in the body and thus stimulates the body to ovulate.
Actual hormones might also aid ovulation.
· Human Menopausal Gonadotropin (hMG) – This contains LH (luteinizing hormone) and FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) which are extracted from the urine of women who have stopped menstruating and is usually prescribed if you have difficulties with your pituitary gland and the other medications haven’t worked. Regrettably they are not always helpful and are relatively expensive as additional ultrasound scans are required to check how the drug is working. Your odds of spontaneous abortion or enlarged ovaries are amplified, as are your risks of premature or multiple births which have risks of their own.
· Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) – HCG assists in stimulating ovulation and treats endometriosis by functioning together with hMG. Complications include increased frequency of ovarian cysts, increased odds of multiple births and enlarged ovaries.
· Urofollitropin (FSH) – Used if clomiphene is unsuccessful in stimulating ovulation in women with PCOS.
· Luteinizing Hormone – Releasing Hormone (LH-RH) – Endometriosis and Pituitary gland abnormalities can be treated with LH-RH. Unfortunately you may experience an elevated risk of infections and multiple births and the drug is tricky to administer.
· Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Gn-RH) – Also stimulates the body to release eggs by stimulating the pituitary gland.
· Progesterone – Encourages the uterus to produce a lining for the zygote to implant.
For the guys:
Infertility hormones don’t work for guys as well as they do for the ladies, but they can be beneficial in certain situations. Here is a list of the medications and hormones that could be prescribed for the men. You’ll see that a few of them are similar to those prescribed for women.
· Testosterone – Regulates general reproductive performance by imitating natural testosterone.
· Gn-RH – Gn-RH promotes the release of FSH by the pituitary gland which accordingly stimulates the testes to produce sperm and LH which stimulates the manufacture of testosterone.
· Bromocriptine – Testosterone will not be produced if you have lots of prolactin so Bromocriptine will help reduce prolactin levels. Just be cautious of the hallucinations.
· hCG & FSH – Encourages healthy sperm development. These are of the most helpful infertility hormones that could be prescribed for men.
Risks
Be sure that you are informed about the possible hazards of each type of medication before you take it, as you might have a condition that could be made worse by the medication. Another problem with infertility hormones is the increased risk of multiple pregnancies. I know you’re thinking, “You say that like it’s a bad thing!” As much as it seems to make sense to get two (or three or four) for the price of one, multiples are more apt to experience complications and be born prematurely, thus raising the odds of further health and developmental problems.
Once you’ve considered the risks and benefits you might decide that infertility hormones are best choice for your situation. Good Luck!
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Here is more information on PCOS and Infertility. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Infertility.
