MEDICINES TO STIMULATE YOUR OVARIES
Hormone treatments that help your ovaries produce eggs, supporting the key stage of your IVF cycle before egg collection.
Understanding stimulation medications in IVF
During the stimulation stage of your fertility treatment, you may be prescribed medicines to help your ovaries produce multiple follicles, each containing an egg. These stimulation medications are an essential part of IVF, giving you the best possible chance of a successful egg collection.
On this page, we’ve outlined some of the most commonly used stimulation medications. Each section explains what the medicine does, how it’s taken, possible side effects, and when to contact us if you have concerns.
Your exact prescription will be tailored to you, and you’ll find your personalised schedule and instructions in the Care Fertility companion app, Salve. If you’re ever unsure or worried about how you’re feeling, our team is only a call or message away.
Gonadotrophin injections
Ovaleap
Active ingredient: Follitropin alfa
Available form: Prefilled multidose pen
Ovaleap contains follitropin alfa, a hormone that stimulates your ovaries to produce follicles, each containing an egg. It helps your ovaries produce multiple eggs during IVF, improving the chance of collecting enough eggs for treatment.
Keep in the fridge (28°C). Do not freeze. After opening, the pen can be stored at room temperature (below 25°C) for up to 28 days.
Ovaleap is injected under the skin of your abdomen. Follow the timings and doses in your Salve schedule.
Pain or swelling at the injection site, headaches, bloating, nausea, breast tenderness, or ovarian cysts. See the leaflet for full details.
Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS):
Contact your Care Fertility team immediately if you notice lower abdominal pain, nausea/vomiting, rapid weight gain, or difficulty breathing. These may be symptoms of OHSS.
Gonal F
Active ingredient: Follitropin alfa
Available form: Prefilled multidose pen
Gonal F contains follitropin alfa, a hormone that stimulates your ovaries to produce follicles for IVF. It encourages multiple follicles to grow, increasing the number of eggs available for collection.
Inject under the skin of your abdomen or thigh at the times shown in Salve.
Pain or swelling at the injection site, headaches, bloating, nausea, breast pain, or ovarian cysts.
See the leaflet in your medication pack for the full list of possible side effects.
Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS):
Contact your Care Fertility team immediately if you notice lower abdominal pain, nausea/vomiting, rapid weight gain, or difficulty breathing. These may be symptoms of OHSS.
Keep in the fridge (28°C). Do not freeze. Once opened, the pen can be kept at room temperature (below 25°C) for up to 28 days.
Meriofert (75/150iu & 900iu)
Active ingredient: Human menopausal gonadotrophin
Available form: Powder and solvent for injection
Meriofert contains a combination of hormones (FSH and LH) that stimulate your ovaries to produce follicles. It encourages the growth of multiple follicles, improving the number of eggs that can be collected during IVF.
Inject under the skin of your abdomen at the times shown in Salve. Your clinic will advise on preparation.
Pain or swelling at the injection site, headaches, bloating, nausea, breast pain, tiredness, or ovarian cysts.
See the leaflet in your medication pack for the full list of possible side effects.
Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS):
Contact your Care Fertility team immediately if you notice lower abdominal pain, nausea/vomiting, rapid weight gain, or difficulty breathing. These may be symptoms of OHSS.
Keep below 25°C in its carton. Use immediately after mixing.
Bemfola
Active ingredient: Follitropin alfa
Available form: Pre-filled multi dose pen
Bemfola contains an active substance called ‘follitropin alfa’. This belongs to the family of hormones called ‘gonadotropins’, which are involved in reproduction and fertility.
Bemfola is used to stimulate the ovaries to produce follicles (which contain eggs). Within a typical IVF cycle Bemfola would be administered over a course of 9 to 14 days.
Bemfola is given via subcutaneous injection into the abdomen at the times and doses given by your clinical team.
Before you start your injection wash your hands and assemble everything together in a clean area.
Please watch the following video instructions on how to administer Bemfola.
Like all medicines, Bemfola can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them.
Very common (may affect more than 1 in 10 people):
- local reactions at the injection site such as pain, itching, bruising, swelling or irritation
- headache
- sacs of fluid within the ovaries (ovarian cysts)
Common (may affect up to 1 in 10 people):
- diarrhoea
- breast pain
- feeling sick or vomiting
- abdominal or pelvic pain
- abdominal cramp or bloating
Please refer to the patient leaflet found inside your medication for a full list of side effects, contra-indications, and further information from the manufacturer. Contact your Care team if you have any concerns about taking this medication.
Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS)
Contact your clinical team immediately should you experience lower abdominal pain together with nausea and vomiting, rapid weight gain, difficulty breathing. These may be the symptoms of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). Your ovaries may have over-reacted to the treatment and formed large sacs of fluid or cysts.
Store in a refrigerator (2 °C - 8 °C).
Do not freeze.
Keep the cartridge in the outer carton in order to protect from light.
Before opening and within its shelf life, you may remove this medicine from the refrigerator, without being refrigerated again, for up to 3 months. Do not store above 25 °C. You must discard this medicine if it has not been used after 3 months.
Once opened, the cartridge in-use in the pen may be stored for a maximum of 28 days. Do not store above 25 °C. Write down the date of first use in the patient diary, which will be provided with the Bemfola Pen.
Put the pen cap back on the Bemfola Pen after each injection in order to protect the cartridge from light.
The outer packaging can be disposed of in general waste. Please refer to the packaging for recycling options.
Bemfola products (pens and needles) must be disposed of in the provided sharps bin. A full sharps bin must be sealed, signed, and returned to the unit for disposal.
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