Avoiding leftover medication

[Anonymous]

I'm starting my first IVF cycle in January, and based on what I've read on this forum, I can try to save a bit of money by avoiding having leftover medication if possible. The nurse indicated that I could order 10 days worth of medication to start, but that I'd need to keep a very close eye on my supply to make sure I don't run out before I'm able to get a refill. Did anyone else order the minimum to start? Any issues getting refills on time? I'm still pricing pharmacies but may just end up going with Freedom Fertility since that's where my prescription has already been sent and others seem to have good experiences with them.

[Anonymous]

Order as little as you can. Don't bother with 10 days. You can stim for only 8 days. I usually order about 7 and then reorder every other day. You just have to be very careful about weekends/holidays. Order 300 units of Follistim/Gonal F. The last thing you want to do is pay~1000 dollars for a 900 unit pen and then only use 200 units of the medicine. If you order 300 units you only waste 100 units. Call around. Freedom Fertility may have a decent price on Menopur (I used them in the past for Menopur), but prices vary at different pharmacies. I usually found WinfertilityRx to be cheapest. Also, check your insurance. My insurance did not cover IVF or drugs, but did cover some forms of progesterone. Endometrin was never covered, but PIO or just plain progesterone pills were covered. I would ask for a prescription for those forms, especially since they are much cheaper than endometrin.

[Anonymous]

I used two pharmacies. One cheaper with some meds that I got the initial meds and one that was cheaper with others that offered same day deliveries for the extra days I needed meds.

My insurance covered endometrin but not PIO so definitely check. (However endometrin was only an option because I did natural FET so there is that factor too.)

[Anonymous]

Totally depends on your protocol. I have to take 300 follistim a day so 10 days v 7 days is one 900 pen or almost 1k.

[Anonymous]

I found ordering meds from my pharmacy, AllianceRx, fine sometimes and really stressful other times. On some rounds I would have not had enough because I had to unexpectedly stim for 13 days and my doctor kept increasing my dose (but I'm over 40). On a few occasions, AllianceRx said they would ship but didn't so I got the meds a day or 2 later. For me this process of managing meds and the possibility of not having enough meds at the end was very stressful.

[Anonymous]

If you run out, you can always ask your nurse to place a prescription in a local pharmacy and pick it up same day.

[Anonymous]

There was a pharmacy in DC mentioned in this forum, where you could return unused IVF meds for a refund.

[Anonymous]

If you really want to save some bucks, order the smallest pens and find youtube videos on how to get into the overflow. My clinic did it for me.

If you have high AFC and high AMH 10 days may be too much.

[Anonymous]

The nurses always tell you 10 days, but you’re the one paying. I had a lot of Menopur left over once. I’d order for 7 days and make sure you can buy locally if you need extra.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you really want to save some bucks, order the smallest pens and find youtube videos on how to get into the overflow. My clinic did it for me.

If you have high AFC and high AMH 10 days may be too much.

This. Every pen is overfilled. Three 300 pens have 3x the overage of one 900 pen.