Oral Medicated Cycle

Our expert team guides this simple and common form of IUI treatment. It’s often the first method we use when you have trouble ovulating or when there is unexplained infertility in your couple. It’s a three-step process: taking medications, injecting gonadotropin, and getting an IUI.

Treatment steps for oral medication with gonadotropin

1. A baseline ultrasound is performed before starting oral medications to check for ovarian cysts.
2. You will take an oral tablet of clomiphene or letrozole (to increase your fertility) for five days. Your fertility doctor will determine the medication that is most suitable for you.
3. Another ultrasound is performed mid-cycle to check for developing eggs.
4. When your eggs are mature (this usually happens when the lead follicle size is about 20 mm or greater in diameter), you will be instructed to get an injection of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). This hormone will help stimulate your ovaries.
   The timing of the hCG is critical, so it is crucial that you receive it at the time instructed. This injection is administered subcutaneously similar to the one used to administer insulin and the method to administer the injection is covered in our orientation class.
5. Within 36 to 41 hours after you receive the gonadotropin injection (hCG), your IUI is performed.
6. Two weeks later, we perform a pregnancy test to see if the IUI was successful.

Medicines and possible side effects

Clomiphene and letrozole are two commonly used oral medications to increase fertility. Most women do not suffer any side effects with these medications. However, some women experience mood changes, bloating, breast tenderness, or hot flashes. It does come with a risk of multiple pregnancies, depending on the number of oocytes developing and your age. Talk with your doctor about how to manage this risk.