Infertility Support Group

i am sorry but i have never used this prodect or hearded of it. i really hope it works for you though. GOOD LUCK

Hi Joe, I am really interested in your experience with the GnRH pump. I have hypothalamic amenorrhea meaning the brain is not telling the ovaries what to do and the pump is apparently able to replace the gonadotrophins i am missing. I would like to conceive sometime in the next 6 months if possible. How did you go wearing it? I guess having a needle in you for an extended period is quite tricky. Does the pump make a whirring noise? How long did you have to wear it? I see that it worked a treat for you so that is wonderful! Maisey x

Hi Maisey,

I am also using the GnRH pump. Where are you located - Europe/US? Have you found someone who can set you up with a pump? Sometimes this can be the hardest part.

My first cycle with the pump, it was put in IV. This is my second cycle with the pump and I am doing it subQ this time (this is the way Joe did it as well) and it is a lot more manageable for me. I keep the pump in my pocket and it has a tube that connects to a small needle that I insert in my belly. I refill the medication, change the line and re-insert the needle myself weekly. The pump makes a soft noise for about 1 minute every 90 minutes. This changes as you change the pulses to different time intervals, but you get the idea. I have to wear it for the full cycle - from CD1 to the last day of my 2ww.

Hope that helps, let me know if you have any more questions!

~Tina

Tina, thanks so much for your reply and info!
It is so great to talk to someone who is actually going through what awaits me. I am a bit of a novice with the terminology....what is meant by 'from CD1 to the last day of my 2ww'.
A couple of other questions...how do you monitor whether it is working or not? How regularly do you need to visit the clinic for monitoring? If i was to wear the pump at work (in an office) could the person sitting next to me hear it? In my mind, I have an idea that the gnrh indirectly causes the maturation of the follicle and the release of the egg and u time sex to coincide with this...is that right?
I have had an initial consultation with my RE (when the hypolthalamic amenorrhea was diagnosed) and he said to come back when i was ready to start having kids.
Thanks so much again Tina!!

Maisey - no problem, I've been there. OK, I'm the same as you ... I didn't want anyone to know of the pump at work and no one does! Let me know what you find out about the needle and I can give you advice. SubQ is short for subcutaneous and it means under the skin. It is usually placed in the belly. IV is intravenous and is put in the forearm. The subQ is easier to cover up for work, but I was able to hide the IV method as well. As I understand it, the IV consistently works better though. No one hears the pump, it is very quiet. I rarely hear it. It goes off every 90 minutes all day and all night right now and I probably only hear it twice a day ... and my husband and I are the only ones who hear it.

Sorry about all the abbreviations, the longer you're in this the more of them you'll know. CD means cycle day and this is something your RE will use as well. The first day you start the pump is CD1. Most people on injectables, etc will start medicating on CD3. 2ww is an abbreviation used on forums like this. It stands for two week wait. After you ovulate and the egg is inseminated, you have to wait two weeks to find out if you're pregnant ... it's a painful wait for most.

As for monitoring. This probably depends on your RE and your insurance costs and your time. The first cycle you will probably be monitored most closely because they don't know when your body will start to react to things and will need to make sure your dosage is right. They can also do blood tests instead of necessarily having you in for ultrasounds all the time - they will test your estrogen to see if things are 'happening'. I usually go in 1-2 times the second week for monitoring and 1 time the third week ... then I go in for 1-2 IUIs the third week. After that you just wait. The appointments can get stressful and tricky to work around, but I've been able to manage so far.

As for what the pump does ... it gives off GnRH pulses. This simulates a *normal* person's GnRH pulses that our bodies fail to give off. These pulses create the hormones LH and FSH which in turn create growing follicles, eggs and ovulation. The pump makes you *normal* and you track your cycle and ovulation timing (and right timing for sex - or IUI) just like anyone else ... so look that up online! I take my basal temps every morning, use opk (ovulation predictor kits) which totally don't work for me and also get my LH tested around expected ovulation to see when my LH surge happens.

Wow, that was a lot of info. That should give you some stuff to work with ... I went into it fairly blindly with all your questions so I'm happy to help. It's scary at the beginning, but it gets better and more comfortable. Keep me updated on your method (IV vs subQ) and how things go for you! When's your first appointment with your RE? Are you in the US or Europe?

~Tina

Tina, Thank you very, very much for this information. It makes me feel a lot better and more confident to know someone who is managing well on this treatment. It is really good to know that it won't be heard at work and that the subQ is not too hard to have all the time. It sounds like it won't interfere with normal, daily life too much.

With CDs, could ovulation occur at anytime or is it mostly about 14 days into treatment? Yes, I can imagine the 2ww would be nerve wracking. Is the 2 week wait so called because it takes that long for the 'pregnancy' hormones to show up after the cycle finishes? Then if you're not pregnant, how much downtime do you have before starting on the pump again? Or do you continue wearing the pump throughout CDs and 2ww and then carry on if not pregnant? Sorry for these questions...I know I will also be able to ask my RE these things...but you explain it very well and I won't have my RE appointment until a few weeks time and I am eager for information.

I am in London, UK and I have already had one appointment with my RE (when he diagnosed my HA) who is lovely and very experienced. He says that the gnrh pump has a 90% success rate (i guess that means at inducing ovulation).

Thanks again Tina. I will certainly let you know how I go when I see him.

M

I girls! I need your help! I have been diagnosed with Hypothalamic Amenorrhea back in March 2008. I have been getting acupuncture since Feb and still have not gotten a period. I did one round of menopur but I overstimulated and we could not do the ovidrel to ovulate. I have been told I really need to get the GnRH pump as this has great succcess in HA patients. I saw that two of you are on it!! How did you get it? My RE had been part of the trials with this a few years back but does not have it now. Who/where are your doctors? Any words on how to go about this? I am in the USA in FL. thanks!!

maisy - ovulation will be around CD14 for a textbook person. everyone has different cycles, but you're right, the average is 28 days. mine are longer, more like 34 days. it depends on your body's cycles. yep, 2ww is how long you have to wait for the hormone hcg to show up and be able to be detected. if you're not pregnant, you have your period, then go into your next cycle with the pump. i've actually never done a back to back cycle, so i'm not totally sure, but i'd imagine you would never get off it until you're pregnant. best of luck to you!

krissy - the only place in the US that is permitted to use the gnrh pump is in Massachusetts. Mass General Hospital does studies using the pumps and has a license to get the medication. i'll will pm you with contact information. ~tina

Hi there, just found this while searching the subject. I have just finished my first cycle with the pump. I have had a good experience with it so far. I found it a bit hard to hide at first - then started wearing it on the small of my back with looser shirts and that solved that probelm. It started working right away. I got one folicle growing really well and ovulated once it hit the ideal size. The wait is horrible. I was actually given HCG shots to give my body a boost after I ovulated. With the HCG I had to wait 17 days before taking a pregnancy test. Unfortunely I got my period on day 16... had my hopes up getting so close to the end. Oh well - it was the first cycle so I would have been extremely lucky for it to have worked on the first try. If you have any questions I would be more than happy to try and answer them.
As for location, I live in Canada. My doctor actually got a pump sent overseas for me from Zurich. They are not available in Canada anywhere.