Saturday, February 27, 2016

The steroid of choice: methylprednisolone

Did I mention that (for the first time) I am on a steroid this time around?  After our conversation about “Hail Mary” protocols, my doctor agreed to use a steroid.  Initially he wanted to proscribe dexamethasone, but I’d read a lot more good things about prednisone. 


We split the difference (?) and went with methylprednisolone (Medrol).  I’m on a 16mg oral tablet once a day at night, right before bed.  I started on day 10 of my cycle (so before my transfer) and will be on it… well, we’ll see.  If this does not work I’ll go off of it right away.  Otherwise I think he was thinking I’d be on it sometime through the first trimester.

Via blogs, I’ve read about a lot of IVF clinics putting patients on Medtrol around their transfer, especially in situations where the patients used ICSI/assisted hatching.  It seems that many patients only go on it for a handful of days before transfer. 

The side effects sound similar to other corticosteroids, although I’ve read some may be more minor.  A friend who was on a similar dosage (during her egg retrieval) said she had insomnia, so started taking it during the day.  I have not had any problems falling asleep, but I have been waking up a little early recently…. Maybe just a coincidence. 

Other than it’s a corticosteroid (like prednisone/prednisolone/dexamethasone), I don’t know much about methylprednisolone.  I just don’t have the energy to read about methylprednisolone versus prednisone (or prednisolone) versus dexamethasone right now.  If this does not work, I’ll look into it some more.

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