Fertility drugs to support your treatment
Depending on your diagnosis, our fertility medical team may recommend using fertility drugs alone, or you may be offered them with other treatments such as Intrauterine insemination (IUI) or In vitro fertilisation (IVF).
The doctor may recommend using fertility drugs alone or as part of other treatments if:
- You have a very irregular cycle, and your ovulation is totally unpredictable.
- You are producing few eggs or none.
- Your infertility is caused by failure of the pituitary gland, which controls your hormone production.
There are a number of different types of fertility drugs that may be recommended by your clinician. Have a look over our list of the most common fertility drugs to see what each one is prescribed for.
Clomifene and Letrazole Therapy
These are taken in tablet form between days two and six of your cycle. Both medications can indirectly stimulate the ovaries into producing eggs and are also used to stimulate and/or regulate ovulation - for example, if you have polycystic ovary syndrome - PCOS. When taking one of these drugs, you must be monitored in the clinic with regular ultrasound scans to check how many follicles are growing - and hence eggs developing. Because your ovaries are artificially stimulated to produce more eggs than would be released naturally, it increases your risk of multiple pregnancies.
Once starting on one of the above therapies, you will be asked to telephone the unit when you start taking the tablets to book in for ultrasound scanning. This can be done at either Calderdale Royal Hospital or at Pinderfields General Hospital - Mid Yorkshire Trust.
Metformin
Taken in tablets two to three times a day, Metformin is used to treat PCOS. It helps to stimulate ovulation.
Gonadotrophins
Hormones containing follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinising hormone (LH) or a combination Used to stimulate the ovaries to produce eggs before cycles of IVF treatment, or to treat PCOS when Clomid hasn't worked, these hormones are also used in cases of infertility due to pituitary gland failure and in some forms of male infertility. They are delivered through daily injections and can be followed by an injection of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) to trigger the final stage of egg maturation.
