The Lupron Effect

For the last week or so I've been meaning to post but the Lupron keeps getting in the way.

I'm back on the BC. It's called "Seasonique" - don't you love it? It sounds like a lovely pill. It's not but it pales in comparison to Lupron. The doctor started me on the BC on 7/20. OK, fine. same weepy, emotional, oversensitivity as before. I can handle that now. Started the Lupron on 8/22- while on vacation at the Outer Banks with the in-laws. How's that for a fun combination?

Let me just say that it was horrible. HORRIBLE. Warning to future Suzanne, do not attempt to mix Lupron with Anorexic Beach Week ever again! In addition to the side effects of the Lupron including nausea, lack of appetite (which isn't a bad thing during Anorexic Beach Week), exhaustion, breast pain, headaches, confusion, growing gills and webbed feet I also started bleeding.

So here's me at the beach with the entire in-law family bopping around and having fun the first day. I tell John, "Sweetie. I feel good. This is going to be the best week ever." By the end of day two I'm cramping something fierce and just want to go to bed. By day three I'm bleeding profusely and passing large blood clots all day. The cramping is so bad I can barely walk. I get a brief reprieve the next day. Still bleeding but not so bad. THEN on the 4Th day of vacation we start the Lupron injections. Things went downhill fast from there. Depression set in. I didn't want to do anything or go anywhere but to bed... or Dairy Queen.

For those not in the know, Lupron must be given with tiny insulin needles, my favorite kind of needle. Here's an interesting fact for future Suzanne. Lupron injections on the left side of the belly don't hurt at all. Lupron injections on the right side of the belly sting. Weird. So the shots are in the belly right around the belly button but not too close. It really, really hurts if you get too close. The injection site burns and itches after. Usually placing an alcohol swab over the site helps with the discomfort, which fades and is gone within the hour.

I can't do the injections myself. I've tried before. Occasionally we'll be in a rush in the morning and John will leave without giving me the injection. I can't make myself do it. It freaks me out. I usually drive into John's work to have him do the shot.

So the Lupron sucks. Now what's going to suck worse is the Lupron Estrace combo. But I'm holding on because in less than a month I get to start the progesterone and that makes everything better. Plus I might actually be pregnant which is the best thing in the whole world.

One fun thing about the Lupron is that I occasionally feel like I have a libido. I think it does something to FSH or FHS levels - forget the order of letters or what they stand for. But it also does something to testosterone levels. Go team. So while I'm intensely evil and short tempered, I also think about sex more. It could be worse.

We're praying for twins or triplets. Feeling somewhat confident about this time. Don't know why. We'll see what happens I guess. Only four more weeks until the transfer and only 7 more weeks until we find out if we're pregnant. Woo hoo.