Most fertility medications are administered subcutaneously. This means that they are applied with a very small needle that only penetrates the skin, so they are painless. Medications to stimulate egg production must be prescribed by a fertility specialist and their effects must be carefully monitored through transvaginal ultrasounds and blood tests every two to three days. If you are about to undergo an assisted reproduction treatment such as In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), you must apply medications to stimulate your egg production and thus maximize your chances of pregnancy so that you have a baby. It is normal to feel nervous before the first application. This is usually the first time that most women inject themselves and the fear of not doing it right adds to the emotions they face due to their struggle with infertility. How to apply the medications? The process of applying fertility medications consists of following simple steps: Medication Tips Normal effects of the medication. During this process, you will have to undergo transvaginal ultrasounds and blood tests every two or three days. These allow you to monitor the development of the follicles (sacs that contain the eggs) and monitor your reaction to the medications. The medications cause some effects that are considered normal, including mood changes, breast engorgement, and headaches in very rare cases. For their part, if these medications are applied without the supervision of a specialist who monitors the patient’s progress, they can cause ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, which affects less than 1 percent of patients. Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome manifests itself with symptoms such as fever, nausea, fluid retention, and abdominal distention (which usually appear after egg retrieval or follicular aspiration). You should be treated by a specialist to avoid complications. It is very important that you contact the fertility specialist if you present any of these symptoms, if you have doubts regarding the application of medications, or if you administer a higher dose than indicated. Other symptoms that may occur are irritation in the application area or infection, in which case it is also important that you contact your doctor. Most common medications Your diagnosis and treatment plan will determine the combination of injectable medications you will require in each IVF cycle. Some of the most used are: Remember that before administering any medication it is very important that you have a diagnosis from a specialist, since it is the one indicated to monitor the evolution of the medications and will be your guide during the process until you manage to have a baby at home.