5 Common Fertility Drugs To Get Pregnant And Their Side Effects

Every female is unique. And hence, their effort to expand their family or conceive is different from others. Some females conceive soon as they plan their pregnancy while some have to struggle a lot. They visit a fertility clinic such as Archish IVF when their conventional methods to get pregnant do not work for them. At the clinic, the doctor prescribes fertility drugs or medicines after having interaction with females willing to be moms and the results of the recommended tests/screenings. 

Medicines or drugs that help women improve their fertility and facilitate them in having conception fertility drugs. These fertility pills usually stimulate or regulate ovulation and help women to get rid of their ovulation disorders. In general, these drugs work as natural hormones - FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone), and LH (luteinizing hormone). They trigger the ovulation process. In ART treatment, experts use these drugs to stimulate a female’s ovaries for better and extra egg production. Here are some fertility pills to get pregnant:

1. Gonadotropins 

Gonadotropins are injectable hormones. Reproductive health experts prescribe these pills to stimulate ovaries for the production of multiple eggs. These pills have menopur, or human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG), and FSH. Experts also recommend injectable hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin for maturation of eggs and trigger their release during ovulation.  

2. Clomiphene Citrate

It is an oral fertility pill and stimulates ovaries by making the pituitary glands ready for the release of LH and FSH. These two hormones, LH and FSH, facilitate the development of an ovarian follicle that contains an egg. Medical experts recommend this fertility pill to women under 39 with no PCOS.     

 

3. Metformin 

Medical experts advise Metformin to women with insulin resistance, which is a potential cause of female infertility. They advise it usually to females with PCOS. This fertility drug enhances insulin resistance and facilitates ovulation chances.     

4. Letrozole 

It has an association with a group of medicines that expedical experts call aromatase inhibitors. After consumption, it works as Clomiphene Citrate. Females under 39 with PCOS are the right candidates for this fertility pill.   

5. Bromocriptine 

Reproductive health specialists suggest Bromocriptine (Parlodel, or Cycloset), a dopamine agonist, to females with ovulation disorders caused by excess prolactin production in the pituitary gland. 

Risk associated with fertility drugs 

Like other medicines, fertility drugs cause mild to severe risks. As a candidate of fertility drugs, you might have:

• Multiple pregnancies - Oral fertility pills have a lower risk of having multiple pregnancies and most of them are twins. The risk is lower than 10%. If you take injectable fertility drugs, your chances of having multiple pregnancies go up to 30%. Injectable fertility drugs can make you have triplets or more babies. And you could experience premature delivery, low birth weight, and development issues in your baby.     
• OHSS (Ovary hyperstimulation syndrome) - Injectable fertility drugs could make ovaries have OHSS, which is very rare. If it occurs, you could experience painful and swollen ovaries, bloating, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhoea, and vomiting. In a severe case, you can experience enlarged painful ovaries, unusual rapid weight gain, breath shortness, and abdominal fluids.    
• Ovarian tumours - As per many studies of the use of fertility drugs, a few women have a long-term issue such as ovarian tumours. You have a higher chance of ovarian tumours if you consume fertility drugs for more than 12 months without any successful pregnancy. Your chance of having ovarian tumours is higher if you have had no pregnancy earlier. It is an underlying problem, but not as a treatment result. 

Conclusion 

Fertility drugs are helpful and effective for females willing to be moms or get pregnant. As they carry some risks as other medicines, you need to be very careful while taking fertility drugs. You should avoid taking them without consulting your doctor. Further, you and your doctor should evaluate the effectiveness and make an effort to lower the associated risks.