Is the IVF process physically painful for the woman?
IVF is done in stages. Firstly you have to take medication to stop your own menstrual cycle (“down regging”). These may be sniffed but are usually injected, so a bit of pain. They’re very small needles though- they go into either your stomach or thigh and not your uterus! Once you’re down regged you’ll take a new set of Drugs to stimulate the ovaries (the “stimming” phase). Again these are usually injected, as above. No uterine injections! Once a scan has confirmed the egg follicles are mature you’ll take a final shot of a HCG-containing hormone to trigger ovulation. At this time you’ll also have your eggs collected- this is done under either a general or local anaesthetic so whilst a needle is inserted into the ovary to drain the follicles you won’t feel it at the time, and it’s uncomfortable rather than painful afterwards. When it comes to embryo implantation a very fine catheter draws up the embryos, is inserted through the cervix via the vagina and the embryos expelled. Most women
I promise you it is not that bad. Plus you will be sedated during that part. Yes the egg retrieval (ER) can be the worst part but it is really a lot like having menstrual cramps after ER. For me the worst part was getting the IV put in. I have gone through 4 IVF cycles. The 1st one I was in no pain after retrieval. The 2nd on they got more eggs out of me that the 1st and I was crampy after for a few days. The 3rd and 4th cycles were not bad at all for me. I didn’t even take a painkiller. As for the injections, they are a piece of cake. I never do but if you ice the spot for the abdominal injections you won’t feel a think. The butt shots are not too bad either. Get some ELMA cream to numb the injection site, warm the oil, inject, rub rub rub, and set on a hot water bottle for 10 minutes to disperse the oil. You may not even be on the progesterone injections but be on suppositories instead. To be honest, I prefer the injections. When you are on the medications before ER you may experienc
