Minimizing med cost?

[Anonymous]

I ran out of pharmacy benefit for the year but I still have insurance benefit for IVF procedures. I am very close to the max OOP for the year so more IVF this year would be almost free except for medications. Any idea how to minimize med cost? Does any clinic in NoVa/DC area offer mini-IVF?

[Anonymous]

Dominion offers Natural cycle IVF, OOP drug is under 100, procedure starts at 5500. no stim, just one egg per cycle. Took me three cycles but I was 40.

[Anonymous]

I'm part of a shady Grove FB group and there are usually quite a few people having "garage sales" or donating meds. Also, there are some tricks to get your meds cheaper. For instance, Follistim cartriges have overfilled, and it's roughly the same for each size. So if you order 300s, you'll get an extra ~115 unites free. Also, I hear people have good luck with ordering the meds overseas. I don't know about how temperature control is, but it might be OK for Menopur since it's never refrigerated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dominion offers Natural cycle IVF, OOP drug is under 100, procedure starts at 5500. no stim, just one egg per cycle. Took me three cycles but I was 40.

This, but worked on my first cycle.

[Anonymous]

I don't know whether I can ovulate with no med. Do they let you take Clomid while doing natural cycle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know whether I can ovulate with no med. Do they let you take Clomid while doing natural cycle?

I believe you do take it so it’s controlled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know whether I can ovulate with no med. Do they let you take Clomid while doing natural cycle?

You should talk to them since clomid takes 3 month to work.

[Anonymous]

Now that I think about it, basically the only criteria for bc I’ve was you have to ovulate on your own. So, probably not the best route if you aren’t ovulating.

[Anonymous]

Try looking on FB. I'm part of a shady Grove group and people are always donating meds or having "garage sales". There's also always ordering meds overseas. It's risky, but I've only heard good things from the people that have done it. Also, consider getting the 300 cartriges of follistim. I've read that they have an extra 115 units of overfill, which means you're effectively getting 25% of your meds for free.

[Anonymous]

I order meds from overseas, it's always been just fine and based on response there's been no issues with quality or heat from shipping (including Gonal-F last month). Free meds from trustworthy sources (friends and friends of friends) are also really helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I order meds from overseas, it's always been just fine and based on response there's been no issues with quality or heat from shipping (including Gonal-F last month). Free meds from trustworthy sources (friends and friends of friends) are also really helpful.

Hi - which website do you order meds abroad from?

[Anonymous]

I think there is one company based in Israel and another one based in the UK. (I haven't ordered from either one of them but checked the UK company's website a while back, and felt that basic information on the company was lacking -- but it seems others have ordered from it without a problem). Check previous posts in this category, you should be able to find the names. Brexit may affect the UK company, since they seem to source drugs from other EU countries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I order meds from overseas, it's always been just fine and based on response there's been no issues with quality or heat from shipping (including Gonal-F last month). Free meds from trustworthy sources (friends and friends of friends) are also really helpful.

Hi - which website do you order meds abroad from?

I use ivfmeds.com and integrity rx (domestic pharmacy) for what's not available from ivfmeds.com. Even without expedited shipping, I've always had orders arrive in around 5 days from shipping. No issues with customs or quality. I've actually called the pharmacy in the U.K. that the meds are filled through with specific questions and they've been very helpful. The only thing to note is that meds are shipped at room temperature, so things like Gonal-F have to be used in 3 months and aren't good through the printed expiration date. Happy to answer any other questions!

[Anonymous]

What is the average cost for one IVF cycle for these websites?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the average cost for one IVF cycle for these websites?

When I was on max stims, ivfmeds.com was about half the price of MDRx or Mandells. It depends on your protocol, but usually it's about 40-50% less.