IVF injection tips and advice from our patients

It is not as bad as you think and partners are a great help… was the response when we asked our patients on Facebook for their IVF injection tips and advice. Here are some of their comments.

Michelle Rose: My Husband did my injections the first round, for two reasons, i wasnt that confident doing them myself but also so he could be involved more. I did do them the 2nd time round tho, just cos i wanted to be more brave lol and they werent bad at all, after all that x

Gemma Boyce: My husband and sister gave me mine x

Julia Morelli: I was brave and did all mine myself on both my ICSI cycles, I’ve overcome my fears in the process. Wasn’t as bad as I thought xx

Nikki Bailey: My husband done my shots on my 1st Ivf and 2nd, there’s no way I could of done it myself X

Laura Hall: This is great it’s such an information overload I found it hard to remember everything, so having a video will be really useful I had to email the nurses quite a lot with questions, my coping strategy was to take myself upstairs where it’s nice and quiet take a few deep breaths and just try and stay calm while your injecting xx

Harika Marlow: I found the thought of doing it far worse than the actual doing it. I also beat my needle phobia by doing ivf.

Sarah Morri Bunting: I made myself do it as i was paranoid about having someone else do it for me in case they somehow did it wrong. I just told myself ‘your desperate for a baby Sarah and some children and adults have to inject themselves to keep themselves alive so stop being a wuss and just do it’; you get used to it and I’m one of the lucky one’s, three ivf attempts blessed me with an amazing now 5 year old daughter and my fab twin girls are nearly 8 months. God bless those jabs and all that treatment, for me it was all worth it and i just wish everyone could be as lucky as us xxx

Kelly Sadler: I hate needles, but doing it myself was better than the anticipation of my husband about to do it. It’s not as bad as you think- you just have to switch off for a minute and think it’s all worth it for the end result X

David Nicholls: It sounds much worse than it is in reality. People’s fear are much worse than it is in when you have to do it and as others have said when it comes down to it its amazing what you girls will and can do to become mothers.
I did the vast majority for both cycles including 13 weeks clexane for the 2nd cycle. It gives you a purpose and makes you feel a real part of the process.
We added them up and including the one after c section for blood clots we reckon it was about 200 injections overall……
Everyone of them was worth it for the special gift you get at the end of it

Sharon Dorree: I did all shots myself, the first one I was most terrified of doing but seemed so easy once you get over that first time, and I agree with above the thought is worse than how it feels! xx

Vicki Hibbert: Seriously, it isn’t as bad as you think! I was really worried but when I did it it was fine…

Georgina Murrell: The anticipation was far worse than giving myself the actual jab itself. Good idea to have a video to refer to.

Claire Stenning: I was very nervous about the injections but i kept telling myself that every one was a step closer to holding a beautiful baby xx

Stacey Hawes: My husband also administered my injections xx

Rebecca Purdy: I found the injections to be bearable

Cheryl Livesey: Having IVF helped me overcome my needle fear. I can now have a blood test without passing out!

Lynsey Salmasi: My husband was going to give mine but once I saw him nervously coming towards me I grabbed it and did it myself. I had 4 fresh cycles and in the end I was doing it in restaurants and everywhere. After 6 attempts we now have our 2 little miracles who are now 15 months old

Kate Scott: I insisted my hubby did mine too – not only because I have an insane fear of injections but because the guys miss out on so much and I was desperate for him to play more of a bigger part of getting our miracle

Caroline Jobson: My husband administered mine too

Michelle Wishart: My husband did every injection for me with every IVF treatment (7 in total) and my chocolate labrador growled at him every time as he knew I was so nervous. Even after all of those injections I still haven’t got over my phobia but was worth it for my 3 babies!!

Charmagne Wells: My husband did my injections so he could b involved & i hate injections. I really couldn’t do it to myself.

Lisa Read: I’ll never forget the injections…an ice pack to numb the skin did the trick

Tess Brooker: I remember the first one i ever did, it took about 3 hours to finally pluck up the courage to go through with it, after that they were fine. They became second nature. A day or so after i had my girls i had to have an injection in my leg when i was in hospital. The nurse was really busy and was called away just as she got to me, i offered to do it myself (she let me as she knew i’d been administering injections before) i thought it was totally normal, it was only as the 3 other ladies on my ward nearly fainted that i realised it probably isn’t for most people! Maybe i should have pulled the curtain round… Lol

Helen Shepherd: I am petrified of needles and it took hours to do the first one but it really was nothing to be scared of and totally worth it…..Lily is 11 now!

More information

We have also answered some of the questions that we are frequently asked by patients about down regulation, buserelin and the injection process, which you can read on our FAQ page.

If you have any other queries or concerns please contact the nurse coordinators at the clinic where you are receiving your treatment. They will be able to answer any questions you may have.

Take a look at our Facebook page.

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