Menopur
Menopur is naturally derived from the urine of menopausal women, who characteristically produce excess levels of gonadotropins because their bodies are desperately trying to stimulate follicle growth. Menopur contains luteinizing...
Menopur is naturally derived from the urine of menopausal women, who characteristically produce excess levels of gonadotropins because their bodies are desperately trying to stimulate follicle growth. Menopur contains luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and is given to you for the purpose of stimulating your ovaries to produce more eggs than they do during a regular cycle. Menopur is a type of medication called a gonadotropin. Gonadotropins are hormones produced by your pituitary gland naturally that stimulate the gonads, a fancy word for testes in men and ovaries in women. Medications like Menopur simply add to your body’s regular supply of these hormones in order to stimulate your ovaries to produce more eggs during a single cycle. You are likely taking multiple gonadotropin medications during your cycle in order to provide hormones of many different chemical structures so as to provide maximum stimulation to your ovaries. Your ovaries will be stimulated at different rates, depending on the chemical structure of the hormones provided. Your doctor might prescribe multiple vials of powered Menopur per injection. Be sure to always check your inventory for your next injection to ensure that you don’t need more powdered Menopur vials.
Administration
Step 1: Gather your supplies, and wash your hands
2 minutes
- You should have: Alcohol pads, a sharps container, a syringe, a needle for the injection, a needle for mixing the medication, the vials of powdered Menopur, and your vial of 0.9% Sodium Chloride.
Step 2: Mix your dose
2 minutes
- Take the caps off the Menopur and diluent vials and you're going to wipe off the rubber stoppers on top of both vials with alcohol pads and let them dry.
- You’re going to take the syringe and attach the 22 gauge 1 and a half inch needle to the top by twisting it on. Then you can take the plastic cap off the needle. Insert the needle into the vial of Sodium Chloride and draw at least 1 ml into the syringe before taking the needle out of the vial. If you draw up more than 1ml, no big deal. Just push on the plunger until the syringe reads 1ml. You'll have plenty of Sodium Chloride to last for your treatment.
- Now push the needle into the first vial of Menopur powder and inject the liquid.You’ll see the powder dissolve rather quickly but if it doesn’t, just swirl the vial gently. Once it’s dissolved, tilt the vial and draw up all of the liquid with the needle tip at the bottom portion of the vial. Remove the needle from the vial.
- If your doctor told you to use two Menopur powder vials, repeat the process by injecting the liquid into a second vial of Menopur dissolving the powder using the solution in the syringe, and drawing back the full amount of liquid into the syringe. Keep doing this until you have dissolved your prescribed number of Menopur vials in the liquid.
Step 3: Prep your needle
1 minutes
- Use the cap to twist off the mixing needle and twist on the 27 gauge half inch needle.
- Once you have all of your mixed medication in the syringe and your administration needle attached, you need to get the air out of the syringe. Usually this is done best by holding the syringe with the needle pointing upwards. Tap the syringe to get all the air bubbles to go to the top and then you can push on the plunger until a little bit of the medication comes out of the tip of needle.
Step 4: Pick your injection site
1 minutes
- Measure 1-2 inches below your belly button and off to the right or left. Switch sides with each injection to help relieve any tenderness that develops. Using an alcohol wipe, wipe off your chosen spot and let it air dry.
Step 5: Administer the injection
2 minutes
- Using your thumb and index finger of one hand, take a pinch of skin at your chosen spot. Using the other hand, hold the syringe and needle at a perpendicular angle to your belly. When ready, confidently and firmly push the needle into your stomach all the way. Once done, push the plunger down steadily, making sure it's all the way down.
- Once empty, pull out the needle and release your pinch of skin. If any bleeding happens, use a piece of sterile gauze to apply pressure. Don’t rub the injection site. If discomfort continues, you can use an ice cube to numb the injection site.
- Throw the needle and syringe away in the sharps container. You did it!