How Many Injections are Needed for IVF Treatment?

16 Nov, 2021
IVF and Infertility
infertility
Medically Reviewed By: Dr. Nishi Singh
Author: Prime IVF Centre

In-vitro fertilisation (IVF) is the medical process of fertilising an egg by sperm in a test tube. IVF is a nexus of multiple procedures assisting fertility and child conception. IVF has been labelled as the most efficient form of assisted reproductive technology (ART). IVF can be done using a couple’s own eggs and sperm. Other ways include using eggs, sperm, or embryos from an anonymous or a known donor. It is best to seek guidance from a fertility specialist to achieve your goal of family planning. Consult doctors, communicate, and discuss the prospects with experienced IVF partners to help you set your tasks before undergoing the procedure. Doctors prefer to use IVF injections for pregnancy to stimulate ovaries and treat infertility in women who have problems ovulating on their cycles.

Prime IVF Fertility Centre is the leading infertility treatment centre located in Gurgaon and Delhi-NCR. It has an experienced team which will provide you the best medical care in infertility.

Feel free to skip ahead if one topic catches your eye

What to Expect from IVF Injections?
How Many Injections are Required for IVF?
How to Make IVF Injections Easier?
Which Time is Best for IVF Injections?
What are the Side-effects of IVF Injections?

Takeaway

1. What to Expect from IVF Injections?

IVF injections for pregnancy are injectable drugs that help stimulate ovulation. These medications help your doctor to control ovulation from the beginning of the treatment cycle. During this entire period of ovulation, the doctor will monitor the ultrasound and blood work, primarily estradiol levels and growth of the oocytes till maturation. This will help the doctor to adjust the dosage as and when required. You can perceive the following observations while undergoing this procedure:

Changes in body and increase in appetite: Hormonal injections can affect the weight and basal metabolic rate (BMR) of your body. You may also notice an increase in your hunger and satiety levels. This might be due to the effect of some medications taken during the treatment. If you gain weight at a rapid pace, seek medical advice at the earliest.
Changes in behavior like feeling emotional and distracted: Hormonal injections can affect your emotional quotient leading to an emotional outburst suddenly. IVF treatment can be overwhelming for some parents. They may feel emotional and distracted from their usual activities.
Gastrointestinal (GI) related side effects: Constipation and diarrhoea are the frequently observed side effects of hormonal injections. You should consume a healthy diet that includes fibre and drink plenty of water.
Psychological effects of stress and anxiety: Hormonal injections and fertility treatment as a whole can be frustrating and you start observing symptoms of stress and anxiety. Regular consultations with your practitioner and doing stress-relieving activities like meditation and yoga are proven highly useful in alleviating the symptoms.

2. How Many Injections are Required for IVF?

IVF treatment requires medications that are usually given via injections either subcutaneously (directly into the fat just under the skin) or intramuscular (directly into the muscle). Depending on the course of specific treatment and cycle, a patient may receive up to 90 shots per cycle with a frequency of 1–2 injections per day. These medications might include gonadotropins, i.e., follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), which stimulate the ovaries to develop mature follicles and ultimately eggs. Another hormone, progesterone is naturally produced after ovulation in usual cases. In some patients undergoing IVF, insufficient levels of progesterone are observed and hence, supplementation is prescribed. The supplementation starts around the time of egg retrieval or ovulation and continues until the pregnancy-produced progesterone maintains the levels itself.

3. How to Make IVF Injections Easier?

The process of IVF poses multiple challenges and injections are one of them, especially in women with low tolerance to pain. Various methods and practices can be adapted to ease any pain and related discomforts.

Educate yourself about the process, related side effects and how you can manage them symptomatically.
Talk to any specialist that conducts cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to overcome the phobia of needles and injections. This is because it includes up to 90 injections during the entire treatment. Learn the tricks of pinching the skin or pulling it tight to experience the similarity with the injection pinch.
Use an ice pack application or heating pad to numb the site. For the subcutaneous shot, 15–30 seconds of icing is enough to numb the nerves; however, for the intramuscular shot, using a heating pad for approximately 10–15 minutes will relax the muscles and make them more pliable for the injection.

4. Which Time is Best for IVF Injections?

IVF Treatment in Delhi process includes stimulating injections of gonadotropins to stimulate the ovaries. Recent studies have shown that specific time is not a dependent factor for stimulation injections and there is no difference in the delivery rate when they are taken either in the morning or evening. A clinical trial observed the difference in certain aspects of hormone levels of peak estradiol or progesterone, endometrial thickness, number of mature oocytes, fertilisation stage, or blastocysts obtained when the gonadotropins were administered in AM (morning) and PM (evening) groups. There was no difference in the initial or baseline vitamin D levels and the quantity of gonadotropins used in the medicine. The trend of higher implantation rate, higher chemical pregnancy rate, and higher clinical pregnancy rate was observed in the AM group. In addition to this, you must take into account the duration of injections, i.e., injections at the same time slot every day. This practise may vary depending on the combination of injections that are prescribed to you and menstrual cycle variation.

Fertility injections take approximately 8–14 days from the initiation of hormonal medications until eggs are mature and ready to retrieve. Once the process of IVF injection begins, you must maintain a healthy lifestyle and avoid vigorous exercise to ensure better egg quality.

5. What are the Side-effects of IVF Injections?

Like with any other medicine, IVF stimulation injections also may cause some common side effects which are listed below. It is important to understand and discuss these with your doctor before the treatment is initiated. Seek professional help if you need any assistance in monitoring and managing them.

Headaches, night sweats, and hot flashes
Abdominal pain, bloating, and nausea
Upset stomach and discomfort
Changes in cervical mucus
Temporary visual disturbances (blurred vision)
Dizziness and frequent mood swings
Tenderness in the breast
Skin redness, soreness, or bruise at the injection site
Irritability and restlessness
Overstimulation of ovaries termed ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS)

Every drug may or may not cause these side effects and experiencing these will be different for every patient. Some of the effects may be witnessed as mild symptoms. The symptoms might be temporary and may subside without causing any further complications. Nevertheless, seek immediate medical assistance if the symptoms persist for a longer duration and do not resolve within a few days with your discomfort level increasing on a daily basis.

Takeaway

Fertility treatments provide an amazing opportunity for those couples who have infertility problems. Once you start the IVF treatment, it is recommended to maintain your journal or calendar to record all the scheduled shots, appointments, blood tests work, etc. Prepare notes to help your brain retain even the minutest details which might be important later on. It is of utmost importance to pamper yourself to stay more relaxed and positive during the entire duration of IVF.

Prime IVF Centre, the Best IVF Centre in Delhi is an established centre with a team of highly experienced, and committed doctors which provides infertility solutions comprehensively to every individual couple. The centre offers multidisciplinary care with dedicated teams of fertility, nutrition, and lifestyle experts. In addition to this, the centre offers the latest technologies in understanding and scanning the requirement. Visit the website https://www.primeivfcentre.com/infertility-treatment-centre for more information on facilities and services. Schedule your consultation and meet with your fertility counsellor and nutritionist to prepare you for the road ahead and to help you make smooth decisions. Feel free to contact or book an appointment with us to experience the remarkable gift of parenthood.

FAQs

When do you take an IVF injection?

On the starting of the menstrual cycle, the female partner will have to visit the IVF centre for the “baseline” check, usually on the day 2 or 3 of her period. This visit includes ultrasound and blood testing. After this visit and tests the patient will start hormonal injections.

Why are injections given for IVF?

These IVF injections are required for stimulation of your ovaries to produce more mature egg.

Which injections are given for IVF?

Usually, gonadotropins are used during fertility treatment. The gonadotropin injections are given during the earlier phase of the menstrual cycle, resulting in multiple eggs growing into mature eggs.

How painful are IVF injections?

The IVF experts believe that IVF injections are not painful. But may cause pain because of the handling while giving injections. The IVF treatment experts' experience also affects the IVF injection pain intensity. Thus it is advisable to consult with the specialist only.