Please share your hCG experiences...

In My Humble Opinion
1

On Thursday I received my first hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) injection of 10,000 units. For the next 7 weeks I will self-inject 5000 units on Mondays and Thursdays.

The only thing is, no one has told me what hCG will actually do, or any reactions to expect. Googling brings up tons of sites, but I’ve not found anything useful - yet.

Reaction so far: the injection area is red, slightly inflamed and a bit sore.

If you (or GF/wife) have had this treatment (for whichever reason), what was your experience with it?

Medical types are also very welcome to comment.

Any information is greatly appreciated.

Thanks :slight_smile:

2

Mercy, Washte!

I’m afraid I know nothing about hCG, but just wanted to say good luck to ya ! :wink:

3

Off to IMHO.

Cajun Man ~ SDMB Moderator

4

Not sure the purpose of the injections. But i’m guessing any pregnancy test you’ll take will be positive

5

Well… umm…congrats. When do you have your transgender surgery scheduled?

6

Washte is pregnant. This treatment is to try and help her carry a baby to full-term after suffering six miscarriages previously.

7

Wow. i wish ya luck.

astro: insert foot into mouth

8

I’ve only done it as a one-time thing (not repeatedly), but I had to respond to the above. Whoever is prescribing this for you should be answering any and all questions you have! My MD’s office had nursing staff to answer any of your questions and promised a call back from a doctor with 24 hours if you did not have all your questions answered by the nurses. This is your body, honey, don’t let them make you forget that.

Have you tried looking around or asking at INCIID?

Good luck.

9

Side Effects
Headache, stomach pain, irritability, restlessness, mood changes, fatigue, acne or swelling of the breast in males may occur. You may also experience pain or irritation at the injection site. If these symptoms continue or become bothersome, inform your doctor. Notify your doctor if you experience: swelling of the ankles or feet, leg pain, chest pain, breathing difficulty. If you notice other effects not listed above, contact your doctor or pharmacist.

Precautions
Tell your doctor if you have: heart disease, kidney disease, asthma, migraine headaches, seizure disorder, cancer, any allergies. This medication must not be used during pregnancy. If you become pregnant or think you may be pregnant, inform your doctor immediately. It is not known if this medication passes into breast milk. Consult your doctor before breast-feeding. Use of this medication may result in multiple births (e.g., twins, triplets).

Interactions
Tell your doctor of any over-the-counter or prescription medication you may take. Do not start or stop any medicine without doctor or pharmacist approval

From medscape.com on hCG
Cyn, OB/GYN RN

10

Uh, astro, hCG is not part of any hormone replacement regimen I’ve ever encountered. Where in the world did you get such a ridiculous notion?

11

Cheers NinetyWt and n2o - gonna need all the help we can get.

After our last round, the consultant mentioned using the hCG. I wish their office was as nice as yours Lily. Let’s just say the last time I was actually in the office the woman was so rude I left the office in tears and never went back. There’s no one with whom I could discuss this, unfortunately. I’ve not even seen the consultant since last September when I lost our last twin.

Did you have any problems with it Lily, the one time you used it? How did it make you feel? Did you notice it working?

Thank you for all the info Cyn. Funny thing is, the precautions say to inform your GP if you become pregnant… I am pregnant. As Kal says, we are hoping it will help this baby come to full-term.

From what I have been able to gather, the hCG acts to better the blood flow through the uterine arteries somehow. The hCG, along with the asprin (75mg) that I’ve been instructed to take, should increase blood flow to the uterus thus supplying the baby with adequate sustinance.

Astro, besides infertility, hCG is also used to treat obesity. I’ve never heard of it being used for trans-gender hormone regimes usage either.

Is there anyone else who has actually used it? Enquiring mind wanna know… :smiley:

12

Just like PMS.
I have been wondering how the two of you were doing with all the tremendous disappointments you have both suffered.

I figured if we hadn’t seen you guys around that you were off humping like rabbits.

Amazingly accurate, I see.

I will keep you and your little one in my thoughts and prayers.

13

Actually, surprisingly, just like pregnancy.

Did something similar during infertility treatment, as it was guessed that I could conceive, just didn’t produce the necessary hormones to tell my body I was pregnant. So they supplemented the homones and the side effects were…I felt pregnant.

As you are pregnant (congrats and best wishes) you probably feel more pregnant.

Watch the mood swings. Wicked. (Or perhaps Kal should watch the mood swings).

Didn’t help me, but we were just doing it to try for implantation (and would have remained on it for some period of time had we managed to get pregnant). However, we did adopt a beautiful child and shortly thereafter had a surprise pregnancy that resulted in my daughter - with no need for hormone therapy (I kind of missed the whole being pregnant for most of the first trimester - when hormone therapy would have been most useful).

Self injection BTW wasn’t a big deal for me. A lot of people are, however, squeemish about sticking themselves with needles, which turns out to be what husbands are good for in this whole process.

14

::comes into thread to post nonserious question about why you’re interested in my human chorionic gonadotrophin experiences, and wondering what modern popcultural thing with same acronym you were actually referring to::

Oh, you do mean human chorionic gonadotrophin!

:o

haven’t done that, haven’t been there. But best of luck!

15

I now call the bedroom Valhalla, for I am sure that a thunder god lives there.

16

Hi Washte…

I am so sorry that your doctor’s office is so bad. Some people are very insensitive about things they’ve never experienced.

I took the hCG shot to trigger ovulation, so it wasn’t for the same thing at all. I don’t remember much except being astonished that all that powder could dissolve in such a small amount of liquid! However, I’ve been on daily IM shots for almost 10 weeks now (yowza), and I’ll tell you, they get to be quite routine. I’m 10w4d pregnant, and I’m currently doing progesterone in oil supplementation (Today’s my last day! Yay butt!). If you want any tips or moral support, let me know and we can chat on IM or email (err…IM=instant messenger, not intramuscular…I refuse to talk to your butt! :wink: )

17

You weren’t joking Shirley Ujest. Very much like PMS. I’m cranky, moody, boobs hurt…

As for making like rabbits… Darn tootin’ baabbeee :smiley:

However, this pregnancy is an oops. We certainly had not planned this. I was supposed to go back to nursing school in September. Also needed to go back to the US to scatter my dad’s ashes. Lots of things we needed to do, but not if I’m preggers, though.

Thanks for the prayers. Need them. I am really dreading the scan today. I’ve been having bad dreams since Sunday, so have a bad feeling about things. Very scared.

Did you catch Kal’s comment Dangerosa? Mood swings aplenty here.

The injection itself wasn’t bad. Painless in fact. What did hurt like a bugger are the cuts I gave myself opening the ampoules. The first one snapped open like it should, no problem. The second one was a pain. Don’t think it had been weakened properly cos it wouldn’t snap. So, I grabbed it and made it snap… The top of the glass ampoule slipped across the top of my first finger and middle finger of my left hand. Thought I had just scratched it - after all, they are glass. Well, then the blood started dripping. Oh joy.

The gouge goes from the side of the index around to the other side. Looks like I stuck my finger in a guillotine, or tried to filet the damn thing. Then there is another slice on the knuckle of my middle finger - which has only bled a bit.

Ran my hand under the tap to get out any glass that may have gotten in there… OOOOHHH purdy rivers of red… :rolleyes:

Next time the hubby opens the dumb thing.

Thanks Lily. Congrats to you and best of luck for a happy healthy ickle one :slight_smile:

But it occasionally talks back :smiley:

I’m lucky in that my jabs are done in the thigh. Yay - backside doesn’t become a pincushion.

Now, if you’ll all pardon me, need to dink a few more pints of water before my scan in a couple hours. Fingers crossed, I’m not looking forward to this today.

18

Yeah, I did. We got off the fertility merry go round because after one particularly moody month I looked at my doctor and said “I may end up with a baby after this, but I’m not sure I’ll have a husband.”

My hubby was very supportive of the whole thing. Although once we were done, he has mentioned that I was a little bitchier than usual. Usually when I tell the above story, he says something about how horrible it was. But he does know it was no picnic for me either.

I’d forgotten about breaking open those darn little bottle. That whole thing was much less fun than I’ve allowed myself to remember. (Now labor, that was fun, I’m sure of it!)

Good luck.

19

I give myself an HCG shot every morning in the gut. It only hurts if I don’t have the needle at a 90 degree angle. I notice it also gets red if the needle is not at the right angle. (maybe that is your probelm)

I am also on an 800 calorie diet a day in conjunction with the shots. I did this a few years ago and dropped 20# in like a month. I am looking to drop 40# now

I never had any side effects. I never heard of giving shots only twice a week. WHy are you on it may I ask?

20

I am using hCG in hopes of increasing blood flow to my uterus and producing sufficient progesterone ane estrogen to sustain my baby (we’ve lost 6 babies in the last 2.5 years).

When I gave myself the injection on Monday it was painless and has not gone red or inflamed (thank the gods). Hopefully the rest will go that way as well.

I do have the option to inject in the tummy as well, but just out of personal preference choose my thigh.

Out of curiosity, are you doing it to lose weight? I’ve only heard of one person doing that years ago and only recently came upon the site linked to above. I’m really curious to know how that works. Care to share if this is why you’re using hCG?

Oh, BTW, the scan went well. They were even able to detect her heartbeat today :slight_smile:

Very thankful my dreams did not come true.