If growing your family is taking longer than expected, you may be considering fertility treatment to help you on your journey. It is common for fertility specialists to use medication that helps with hormones and ovulation, either alone or in combination with other procedures like IUI or IVF, to improve a patient’s chance of getting pregnant.
Join Dr. Elie Hobeika, a double board-certified reproductive endocrinologist, as he explains how and why fertility medications are prescribed, and what to expect when you take medication for fertility treatment.
The Fertility Medication 101 episode discusses questions such as:
- What are the most common medications for women during fertility treatment? Do they differ based on what treatment you are getting?
- How do you determine what medication patients should be taking?
- Do you use certain medications for specific diagnoses like PCOS or endometriosis?
- Are subcutaneous medications only used for IVF patients?
- Are there trainings on how to inject subcutaneous fertility medications?
- What is the typical medication protocol for an IVF cycle? What medication is needed at each stage of an IVF cycle and how long does the cycle last?
- How do fertility medications affect you physically and mentally? What can you do to reduce the side effects?
- What is ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome? Are there ways to prevent OHSS?
- Are there other potential dangers of fertility medications like increased risk of cancer or birth defects?
- Do fertility medications increase your chances of having multiples?
- What kind of monitoring is done for patients taking medications?
- Are there medications for men with infertility?
- Can your OB prescribe fertility medications, or do you need to see a reproductive endocrinologist?
- How do patients order medication? Can they go through their regular pharmacy?
- What are the costs associated with medications? Are there resources to help with the costs?
The Time to Talk Fertility podcast releases new episodes monthly and is available on Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Tune In, Google Play and Spotify.
Medical contribution by Elie Hobeika, M.D.
Dr. Hobeika is board certified in both Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. He has studied with world leaders in PCOS and recurrent pregnancy loss and is fluent in English, French, and Arabic.
