Questioni am 26 yrs yrs.and my husband and i have been trying to get pregnant since the last 1 and a half years.i have been diagonised with endometriosis stage one.we just tried our 3rd cycle of IUI and i am still awaiting the results.hopefully it will work out this time.my question is,in this cycle i developed 7 follicles all above 15mm so my doc gave me decapeptyle 0.1mg injection for rupture 36 hours before doing the IUI.she said that would prevent multiple pregnancy.can u explain to me how that works and if a chance of multiple pregnancy still exists?.
AnswerHello Natasha,
Decapeptyl is a medication called a GnRh agonist. It is used to down-regulate the ovary. I guess your doctor was hoping that by giving this medication, it would prevent some of the follicles from ovulating. However, that doesn't work. It would downregulate the smaller follicles (maybe), but only one dose is usually not strong enough. If you have 7 follicles over 15 mms then there is still a chance of having multiple eggs ovulate and hence a multiple pregnancy. In general, in order to down-regulate the ovary, this medication would need to be taken on a daily basis starting from the beginning of the cycle. If she wanted to use something stronger that could work with only one or two doses, then a GnRh antagonist like Ganerelix or Cetrotide would be better. However, once a follicle reaches a certain threshold size (greater than 16 mms, it usually is past the point where it can be kept from ovulating.
Sincerely,
Edward J. Ramirez, M.D., FACOG
Executive Medical Director
The Fertility and Gynecology Center
Monterey Bay IVF Program
www.montereybayivf.com
Monterey, California, U.S.A.
