Trying to save money on FSH drugs? How many vials do you need per month?

[Anonymous]

I was told that the best bang for your buck is to get a 90 day supply. I asked my nurse what constituted a 90 day supply and she said it depends on the person. Does anybody have an approximation of how many vials you go through in a month span?

[Anonymous]

The nurse was right...It all depends on how your body reacts to the drugs. My RE had to significantly increase my med levels mid-cycle to have a successful cycle. We bought "3 cycles" worth of meds and ended up used 1 and 1/2 cycles worth for one IVF. We were lucky it worked. I gave my left over drugs to a girlfriend to use in her IVF cycle. Some REs have unformal programs were successful families turn in unused meds that are given to other patients. Ask at your REs office if they do this.

[Anonymous]

What are you ordering? I researched pharmacy prices pretty extensively and never found that buying more at one time would save money. The larger Gonal-F and Follistim pens may save you a small amount, but you get more savings by taking advantage of the overage that is in the pens (by not pre-loading the pens and using a syringe to extract the amount you need). You can save even more money by ordering from IVFmeds.com, which is based in Europe (Gonal-F is made in Italy, so you get the exact same thing whether ordering from a U.S. pharmacy or European). That assumes that you have enough time to get the order by non-overnight shipping; otherwise, the express shipping charge may eat up your savings if you are not ordering much (true for my IUIs, not my IVFs). Bravelle is even less expensive and my docs were fine with me using it.

In any event, your nurse should definitely be able to calculate for your what your supply should be given the protocol that your doctor ordered. It may be true that you may need more (or less) than anticipated, but she should be able to help you calculate what you need for an initial order.

BTW - I knew there was a high likelihood that I would be canceled, so I never ordered more than a 5-7 day supply to start with. As long as you don't get caught short on a Sunday, you should be able to get on overnight order from a U.S. pharmacy or borrow some from your RE's office until your order arrives.