No "down-regulation"? Please help? Ghost?

[DandMe]

Hi there... I hope someone can help.

When I first got to my clinic they said I was to do a round of Follistim but after my tests were reviewed and DH's 'availability' was considered, they are keeping me on BCP until January 12th, then baseline on January 15th and stims Bravelle and Menopur (sp?) on the 15th.

Am I missing something by skipping the Follistim before we start the stims? Are my chances lowered?

[poohgirl]

I think I might be missing something, follistim is the drug to make you grow follicles not to down reg. I used Lupron to down reg is that what you mean?

[Ghost]

Hi there... I hope someone can help.

When I first got to my clinic they said I was to do a round of Follistim but after my tests were reviewed and DH's 'availability' was considered, they are keeping me on BCP until January 12th, then baseline on January 15th and stims Bravelle and Menopur (sp?) on the 15th.

Am I missing something by skipping the Follistim before we start the stims? Are my chances lowered?

Bravelle, Menopur, and Follistim (and Gonal F and Repronex) all do the same thing. They are FSH products for stimming follicles. You can stim with any one or more of them.

You probably refer to Lupron for down-regulation. Lupron is used to prevent a premature LH surge.

Your doctor almost certainly has another drug in mind for you, probably ganirelix acetate, for that same purpose. With a GnRH antagonist like ganirelix, you don't need to start it until the LH surge threatens, around the 5th day of stim or so. It directly suppresses the pituitary immediately.

With a GnRH agonist like Lupron (agonist is the opposite of antagonist), you must start many days in advance because it initially causes an LH surge, then continued use prevents an LH surge by keeping the pituitary depleted or desensitized.

The two families of drugs achieve the same end result in opposite ways.

[DandMe]

I did mean Lupron and yes, that's what my clinic assured me was happening. Thanks so much for the answer, sorry for my mix up on the meds!