More pills & the possible benefits of DHEA

Friday was CD 1 (woot!), I promptly called the RE's office, left a message on the nurse's voicemail and waited for a callback. She called me back and gave me a list of dates/times/details to put on the calender and called in a prescription for BCP for me. Yesterday I started the BCP, Loestrin, which by the way cost me around $75!! Walgreen's kindly informed me my insurance saved me $4.17. I'm assuming the cost was astronomical because it was brand name or something. The nurse also told me to get thee to GNC and purchase a bottle of DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), found in the Men's Section. Since the prenatal and the fish oil pills I take are gigantic I was relieved to find the BCP and the DHEA are minuscule.

I was though a little concerned at some of the side effects listed on the bottle of DHEA. They include: For example, masculinization may occur in women, including acne, greasy skin, facial hair, hair loss, increased sweating, weight gain around the waist, or a deeper voice.

and my personal favorite: increased aggressiveness - WTF!

I've done a little online research about the use of DHEA in women with Premature Ovarian Failure (like myself). What I found seems to be somewhat promising - it can improve egg counts and increase the egg and embryo quality. This article from the Oxford Journal on Human Reproduction agrees that DHEA has positive effects when used during an IVF cycle. I can only hope it'll help me this cycle...

Waiting

So last Tuesday my RE's nurse called with my protocol, it's going to be a different one than last time, thankfully. He's going to have me on DHEA and Bravelle and something else I can't remember, but no Lupron. On Thursday AF shows and I call the RE's office to let the nurse know so I can get my BCP prescription and start the 21 days of that. Well, later that afternoon the nurse (same nurse from earlier this week) calls me back to tell me the lab will be shutting down for two weeks during my cycle period so we'll have to delay starting the IVF cycle until my NEXT cycle in a month. The nurse was very sweet but OMG I *just* talked to her on Tuesday and she knew my cycle was about to start could she have not mentioned the lab shutting down then? Is this the end of the world? No. But is it aggravating to have to wait another month? Yes. Especially since they already have their money. Sigh. 

It seems like with infertility you're always waiting, waiting on blood test results, waiting for AF to show, waiting to have an ultrasound, waiting, waiting, waiting....