Part 24: Let the Crazy Begin!

I had read about some people calling it Loopy Lupron.  They weren't kidding.  But before I get into that, here's a pic from our vacation:

 Those are happy toes on the beach in Sarasota, Florida - one of several stops on our road trip!

Vacation was fantastic and a much-needed break.  We had planned it around attending a friend's destination wedding in Florida.  Incidentally, I was scheduled to begin Lupron the night of the wedding.  The ceremony was on the beach, followed by a fancy schmancy reception on the outdoor patio of a nearby resort:

Ceremony on the beach at sunset.

Fancy schmancy cake at the reception.

The reception wrapped up shortly before midnight.  There was apparently an after-party somewhere else, but we needed to get back to our resort so I could shoot up.  That and I was pretty tired from all that laying around on the beach!  I had packed the supplies I would need in a shoebox for the trip:

1. Sharps container
2. Alcohol swabs
3. Vial of Lupron
4. Needles & syringes

Paul had done my trigger shot injection for the IUI, but I knew I needed to be comfortable doing my own subcutaneous injections.  There were going to be a lot of them and with his work schedule, he wouldn't be able to do them all the time at home.  So, while he sat on the bed and watched, I swabbed the area, drew up the prescribed amount of Lupron (10 units), pinched the skin as directed, and braced to stab.  I'm more of a get-it-over-with-as-quickly-as-possible type of person, so I only hesitated briefly before sticking the needle into my belly.  As with the trigger shot, I barely felt a thing.  There was a slight sting when I pushed the plunger to inject the medication, but it wasn't bad at all.  I removed the needle (and exhaled) and smiled at Paul.  Our IVF cycle had officially begun!

I continued with the Lupron injections, 10 units every evening.  By about the third day, I started to feel the effects.  We were on our way home, our last day of the road trip, and I felt like crap.  I had actually felt crappy on the pill as well - random bouts of nausea, some dizziness, hot flashes, weird fuzzy headache-y feeling.  That surprised me - after all, I'd been on the exact same pill for years before and never had any problems.  One of my friends, who is also an IF patient, said that she thought it had to do with age and decreased tolerance for it.  Who knows.  In any case, the Lupron was much worse.

Lupron (leuprolide acetate) is gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist.  In the IVF setting, it is used to induce a temporary menopause-like state by shutting down the ovaries and thus, preventing premature ovulation.  I read the drug information sheet from the pharmacy on the drive home just to see if what I was experiencing was to be expected:  constipation (a little), dizziness (a lot), general body pain (yup), headache (check), hot flashes (oh yeah), loss of appetite (yes), nausea or vomiting (no vomiting but definitely felt nauseous), stuffy nose (nope), trouble sleeping (for sure), weakness (definitely).  I had 9 of the 11 most common side effects!  The best way I can think of to describe how Lupron made me feel is that I felt slightly drunk all the time with a touch of the flu.  But I'd heard that things would get better once I switched to stims, so I figured I could tough it out for the time being. 

We arrived home from vacation and I continued to wait for AF.  My last dose of the pill had been the night of the wedding, the same night I started Lupron.  On the following Monday, I had started to spot, which was the new "normal" for me while on IF treatment.  Therefore, I expected that AF would arrive in full force on Tuesday.  Tuesday came and went with just more spotting.  On Wednesday I continued to spot.  It was a heavy sort of spotting, but not what I would have called full-on flow.  Nevertheless, I decided to call to let them know what was going on and see if this was normal.  Brownie said that Lupron (and the BCPs) could have changed the characteristics of my period and that it sounded like it had probably started.  She scheduled me to come in on Thursday for my IVF baseline tests.  If all went according to plan, she said I could probably start stims the next day or so...!!!