Medication Update

I took the final birth control pill on Friday (hopefully it is my last one for a while).  Now we just wait for the BB so I can start Vivelle Dot patches on Day 3.  My insurance only covered the generic brand and so my patches are called Estradiol.  These patches are an estrogen replacement therapy.  We have to manufacture my monthly cycle so that my body is ready to receive the embryo at some point in May.  

So far, this round of frozen embryo transfer (FET) medications has been a lot less expensive than the retrieval drugs. My retrieval drugs were $671.78.   My most expensive medication for the FET is a progesterone suppository that is taken nightly when it gets closer to the embryo transfer date.  My out-of-pocket cost for the suppository was $105.

The crazy thing to me is how expensive all these drugs are (and we have good insurance).  Thankfully I didn't throw out any of my unused medication because reusing a couple from the retrieval round saved me $280 for the FET round!  I had exactly 4 azithromycin antibiotic pills left (corresponding with the number of days needed this round) and more than half of my Lupron left.  Each of these drugs would have been an additional $60 and $240 respectively.  All I had to do was ask my pharmacy for additional needles and those are free!

Lesson Learned--Never throw out any leftover medication out!  It may save you several hundred dollars!