IVF Medications by Stage, Explained by a Pharmacist

One of the most overwhelming parts of starting in vitro fertilization (IVF) can be the long list of medications involved. If you’re new to infertility treatment, it might feel confusing at first, but each IVF medication helps prepare your body for the best chance of success.

Stimulation Medications

The first group is stimulation medications, which encourage your ovaries to produce multiple eggs instead of just one during your cycle. These are usually gonadotropins such as Follistim AQ, Gonal-F, or Menopur.

Follistim AQ and Gonal-F are synthetic and nearly identical, while Menopur is made from natural hormones.

Suppression Medications

Next come the suppression medications. These prevent your ovaries from releasing eggs too early, so doctors can carefully time when they’ll be retrieved. Common examples include Ganirelix, Cetrotide, or Lupron.

Trigger Medications

Then comes the trigger shot. This medication tells your body it’s time to release the mature eggs. Options include Ovidrel, Pregnyl, Novarel, or generic HCG injections.

Timing is crucial in this step. “These are really important to use exactly when your fertility team tells you to, and it might be at a really weird time of day,” says Stacia Woodcock, PharmD, Pharmacy Editor at GoodRx. “You might have to readjust your schedule around it.”

Progesterone

After retrieval, you typically take progesterone to help prepare the uterus for the embryo transfer. Progesterone is available as an injection in oil, vaginal tablets, suppositories, or creams.

“A lot of which progesterone you use depends on your age, your medical history, your insurance coverage, and what your fertility clinic prefers,” says Woodcock. Whether or not you have a fresh or frozen embryo transfer can also affect what type of progesterone your fertility team recommends.

Additional Medications Used in IVF

There are also additional or optional medications, such as Clomid, letrozole, estrogen, sildenafil, and even growth hormone. Which ones you’ll take depends on your individual health history, cycle and needs.

The key takeaway: every IVF medication plan is unique. Your prescriptions may look very different from someone else’s, and that doesn’t mean your treatment is less effective. That’s why close monitoring through ultrasounds and lab tests is essential. Your care team adjusts your medications to give you the best possible outcome.