Infertility Hormones
After doing all the blood tests, they finally informed you that it’s your hormones causing all the trouble. When it comes to managing infertility, hormones are always an option although there are some hazards associated with taking infertility hormones so make sure you do your reading.
Some medications can regulate the amounts of hormones in your body to help your body to sort itself out.
These are for the ladies:
· Bromocriptine – Prolactin prevents ovulation and promotes breast milk production, so bromocriptine controls prolactin to stimulate ovulation. Side effects include nausea, low blood pressue, headaches and possibly dizziness as well.
· Clomiphene – LH (luteinizing hormone) and FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) are required to help the ovaries release healthy egg cells and this drug stimulates the pituitary gland to manufacture LH and FSH. It is relatively inexpensive and quite effective, especially if you have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) or irregular menstruation, although you might experience insomnia, nausea, tender breasts and headaches while you’re taking it.
· Metoformin – This is used to assist women with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) or insulin resistance as it lowers the levels of male hormones in the body and thus encouraged the body to ovulate.
If you (presuming you’re the woman) aren’t producing eggs then some infertility hormones can make life easier.
· Human Menopausal Gonadotropin (hMG) – These are given if you experience pituitary gland trouble that don’t respond to other medication and contains FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) and LH (luteinizing hormone) taken from the urine of postmenopausal women. HMGs are relatively costly and success rates vary. The extra ultrasounds to check how the drug is working will also increase the expense. Complications include an increased risk of enlarged ovaries, spontaneous abortion, premature births or multiple births.
· Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) – These work in partnership with hMGs to stimulate ovulation and could also help for endometriosis although possible side effects include cysts on the ovaries, elevated chance of multiple births and enlarged ovaries.
· Urofollitropin (FSH) – Given if clomiphene is ineffective in encouraging ovulation in women suffering from PCOS.
· Luteinizing Hormone – Releasing Hormone (LH-RH) – Endometriosis and Pituitary gland abnormalities can be treated through the use of LH-RH. It is rather tricky to administer and it raises your chance of multiple births and infections.
· Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Gn-RH) – Also stimulates the body to ovulate by stimulating the pituitary gland.
· Progesterone – Encourages the uterus to form a lining for the fertilized egg to implant.
For the guys:
In general, infertility hormones are hardly as successful for men as they are for women; although they may be recommended in some cases. Below are some of the hormones that could be given to men, and it is interesting to see that a number of them are quite similar to those administered to women.
· Testosterone – Imitates natural testosterone to aid efficient sexual function.
· Gn-RH – Gn-RH stimulates the release of FSH by the pituitary gland which in turn tells the testes to manufacture sperm and LH which stimulates the manufacture of testosterone.
· Bromocriptine – Testosterone will not be made if you have too much prolactin so Bromocriptine will help reduce prolactin levels. Just beware of the hallucinations.
· hCG & FSH – Encourages healthy sperm development. These are considered to be two of the most helpful infertility hormones for men.
Possible dangers
Make sure that you are informed about the possible hazards of each type of medication prior to taking it, as you could have a condition that could be made worse by the medication. A possible hitch with infertility hormones is the increased risk of multiple pregnancies. You’re probably thinking, “You say that like it’s a bad thing!” Having multiples involves far more complications than single pregnancies including an elevated risk of premature birth and the complications that follow.
Once you’ve examined the benefits and risks you might decide that infertility hormones are best choice for your situation. Good Luck!
Here is more information on PCOS and Infertility. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Infertility.
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