I’ll take my heparin shots belly up please!

 

This little fiery shot(s) of molten hot lava and I have a love/hate relationship. For this FET cycle I will be taking one in the morning and one in the evening. It is funny how when you first start taking injections for your infertility, any added medication whether a common vitamin or the threat of a shot can send you running or consulting Dr. Google. Here I am 5+ years later like a battle scared veteran. More shots, sure! Now Mr./Mrs. RE don’t forget to add on some additional hormones to my already fully packed hormone casserole I have going on. Chris absolutely loves it when at any given unprovoked moment I RAGE out on him like a rabid spider monkey. Point is, this is our last ride on the infertility treatment coaster, so I am ok at going full bore with treatment methods this round.

 

After 5 rounds I can say with complete confidence that a large part of my infertility problem is implantation. Here is my scenario from my previous rounds: wildly high and spot on hormones- check, follicles bountiful-check, rockin’ embryos impressing our embryologists- also check. The problem is, I have a hostile uterus!  This is the part of the puzzle we cannot seem to find the right fit to complete.  That’s where heparin steps in (1 piece of the trifecta of new protocol-more on that soon).

 

What is heparin?

Heparin is a naturally derived biological molecule that works as an anti-coagulant by inhibiting the activity of thrombin.  It is often used for prevention or treatment of blood clots.  For folks in the fertility world though, the blood clots of interest are in a dynamic environment, the link between mother and infant.  So, why are we talking about this and why is Candace getting a sweet shot of this twice a day?  Well, there are some studies that suggest the use of heparin or lovenox (more on that in a second) can help with our particular issue, implantation.  These two medications are supposed to increase the vascularity in the uterus resulting in greater blood flow for early stages of implantation.  It has also been shown to be effective for women that test positive for antiphospholipid antibody disorders (ACA), an abnormal auto-immunological response.  Beyond being an effective treatment for implantation, it has been shown to be effective for women with recurrent pregnancy loss.  Coupled with baby aspirin, heparin treatment has been shown to result in live birth rates from 60-75%.  The increased vascularity and reduction in blood clotting both result in more nutrition for the developing fetus, i.e., more excuses to eat that second cheeseburger. There are some side effects of heparin, so beyond the links already shown, check this out too.  Easy bruising is the most prominent thing that we have noticed. And the shots burn, F%&K!  Alright, tons of info, back to how we fit into all this malarkey.

 

Heparin vs lovenox

So, you may be thinking, “But C & C, what about lovenox?”  Wait, you weren’t?  One reason you may have been curious about lovenox is that the same treatment prescribed for heparin can be satisfied with lovenox using only 1 shot a day.  Why aren’t we doing this?  Are we sadists that love pain?  Nope, just going broke with fertility treatments.  The lovenox was going to be something like $900 a month … eyes bugging out!  We might as well just pay our friends’ mortgage while we are at it.  Heparin, although requiring a second shot every day, is something like $80 a month.  Takes it from mortgage to electric bill.  Still pricey, but that’s what candles are for!  If you have the chedda’ for the lovenox though, here is some more info about it.  For C & C, we are going to stick with the el cheapo, hopefully just as effective, heparin.

 

(Check out the sweet scars from the laparoscopy!  Bikini days … gone, thanks infertility!)

 

 

This little syringe of burning love, is what helped women who have had recurrent miscarriages deliver full therm and those who have implantation problems (ME!) finally get a bun in the oven.