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it is an injectable and i actually liked it better than clomid. while it wasn't fun giving myself the shots nightly, it wasn't bad at all. no pain. while clomid gave me headaches, hot flashes and terrible moodiness and emotional things.....the follistim really only gave me severe bloating and some cramping. The follistim is better because it will not thin your uterine lining like clomid does. that is a benefit right off the bat. it can work better for some people too- in producing more eggs and higher quality eggs at that. but it is different for everyone. If your insurance doesn't cover the drugs cost, it can be expensive. they offer a 300, 600 and 900iu (intl units) cartridge. depending on your dose, will depend on what size cartridge you should order/dr. order. I think i was on 100iu per night for like 5 nights. so I used a 600 cartridge and had 100 leftover. once a cartridge is used/punctured, i think it is only good for a month. i think a 600iu cartridge can run anywhere from $500 up. I used the follistim for 2 straight IUI cycles, and had 3 follicles/eggs both times. but BFN. I used the follistim again with my first IVF cycle- i was on much higher doses (225) for up to 10 days. and I did finally get my BFP with IVF. good luck.

btw- i realize you were the same one i chatted with about being afraid of the side effects. again, it is different for everyone. but it was much easier for me on the follistim than it was on the clomid. clomid is the devil!! i don't think it gets worse than that. so if you did the clomid, the follistim won't be any worse, it was much better for me.

yes we have chatted before. I do feel alot better about the follistim then the clomid, as i said before the CLOMID made me so scared i thought i was going to die on it, it was TERRIBLE and i only took it 2 days. i just keep praying that this is the right thing to do and that GOD is leading me the right way. I have twim boys and they were concieved naturally .....complete surprise. the Dr and the phamacy have told me side effects are very low and since i am being monitored very closely i have no worries, i have be at the dr every other day once i start. THANK GOODNESS for health insurance they have perscribed the 900iu for me and it is only 125.00 so i am very greatful for that, without insurance is was almost 900.00. i will keep you updated on my progress, i have never in my life wanted my period so BAD, like i do now so i can start this :-) Thank you for chatting with me, i am a worrier and worry about things i never did before, now the smallest things make think the worst.

Hi There, I have such a long story....I found out I was pre on 7/31/2007 NO MEDS, this is after I was told I was going to have to take Follisium, well I was in shock last Saturday and I was spotting brown then Sunday I started dark red and brown and then by Monday I was bleeding like a normal period I went to the dr Tuesday and he said my lining still looked thick, and he saw what he thinks was the start of a gestational sac, but the only way to know if to take my HCG, so I started with my HCG being 81 on 8/1 and the on 8/3 it was 158 and then when it came back Tuesday It was only 320 (low) so they told me just to wait till Friday and come back in for blood work in the meantime, I had cramping, I felt like I was soooo bloated and I was passing some nasty nasty stuff, it was terrible. So I go to the dr Friday, still bleeding… now mind you this is just like a normal period, and I am not even going through a pad a day so to me this is not so bad. Friday I get the call my hcg is 600….I was in such shock that I cant even tell you the exact number, so they want me to come for an ulta sound Saturday and that is when this dr tells me, there is definitely no baby in my uterus and there are some things in my left tubes, not sure if it is a baby or some corpus letums but they are not sure what they are yet because I am not far enough along to tell, they say at 7 and 8 weeks is when you tell an eptopic pregnancy because the egg grows so big by then that it starts to hurt the tubes, So I have to wait till tomorrow (Monday) to get my blood drawn and when I do if the hcg has gone up again that is another sure sign of a eptopic pregnancy and they are going to give me a shot of some kind of drug so that my body takes care of it on its own THIS IS ALL A COMPLETE MESS TO ME, I am not sure if I am coming or going these days, I think I am still in shock at everything, I am cleaning my house like crazy and will not talk to anyone, I just want to get past this and the days and nights are not coming fast enough for me. Then I worry what so I do next, do I just start trying again, how do we avoid another eptopic if that is what has happened, do I do the meds like the dr told me and have her follow me to make sure I make some good eggs, do I leave this up to GOD or is this GOD trying to tell me I need to use the meds MY HEAD IS GOING TO BLOW UP !!!! so now after all that here is my main question, I am going to wait to see what my HCG is tomorrow and if it is going down I will be happy but also upset if it is going up I am going to be beside myself, anyway I want to know about follisum it is in my refrigerator just waiting for me, I have been avoiding it because I am sacred to death of side effects, can anyone tell me about what side effects they have experienced on this if any at all.

Dear HaveFaith- I am so sorry for your ordeal, you are in my thoughts and prayers. i hope everything will turn out okay tomorrow at your apt-
As far as the Follisin- I took it with 2 iui cycles, and 2 IVF cycles. I have been blessed in the fact i havn't had a lot of side effects from these meds. I will say that I did experience bloating, that is my biggest complaint- other than that I felt good! No problems at all! I am wishing you all the best with everything. I know this road can be very challenging, as well as draining. I have had my own battles and am just getting my body back on track after a m/c in April, and a D&C, and having no AF for almost 4 months, and just having a Hysterscopy surgery to remove scar tissue, that formed an obstrution in my cervix. I got my period on friday, and I feel like my body is finally back. I too have that fear as you described. we know we will try IVF again, but i am so scared and nervous about everything. I have gone through a lot the past few months...not knowing what the heck was wrong with my body etc...and the thought of going through all of that again terrifies me, yet I know I have to try.
I'll be thinking of you...hope everything will be okay, and again, as far as the follisitn, every one reacts, and responds differently to things, but i had no problems. take care!

I am off to the DR, hopefully my numbers are down and I can get off this roller cooster ride and just thinking towards the future...If anyone has any other Follistim information PLEASE post

I used this for one month and experienced no side effects that I can recall. It was successful that month in combination with Robitussion therapy.

Oops sorry. I didn't use the Follitism. I used another drug similar to it.