IVF Medication Cost For The MicroDose Lupron Flare Protocol

In my last post, I explained the new IVF protocol that we are going to try this cycle, which is the MicroDose Lupron Flare Protocol. Sometimes you'll hear it called the Micro Flare Protocol, or the MDL Protocol. This is a much more aggressive protocol that many couples have success with. But being more aggressive usually means more medications! And the cost reflects that.

For those of us that pay out of pocket for all or part of our treatment, cost is pretty important! It's also one of the things that, in my research, I had the hardest time finding information about. Obviously the cost varies depending on the pharmacy and medication prices do fluctuate, but I wanted to share our costs in case anyone out there finds it helpful.

I'll list my meds from most expensive to least expensive.

Gonal-F Redi-Ject Pen

For my protocol, I needed five 900iu pens. Each pen also has 75iu of overfill of medication, which you can use. The price for each pen was $714, for a grand total of $3,570. I got lucky and had one pen left over from last cycle (thanks to being able to use the overfill in the pens for my last dose!), so that cut my cost a little bit. Plus it was nice to not waste meds that I had previously purchased! My dosage will be 450iu each day.

Menopur

My nurse ordered 24 75iu vials of Menopur, with me using 2 vials each day. So I will be using a total of 150iu of Menopur each day. The price per vial was $79.90, for a grand total of $1,917.60.

MicroDose Lupron

MicroDose Lupron is not the same as regular Lupron that is used in the Long Lupron Protocol. This medication is mixed up by your pharmacist, so it is diluted to the proper strength. The pharmacy I use mixes it in large batches, sends it out for testing to make sure the potency is exactly what they want, and then package it in individual vials. The cost for the entire vial was $125.

Pregnyl Trigger

It seems like most triggers, no matter what brand, are all around the same price. The total for the Pregnyl was $92.

Progesterone in Oil

This is the intramuscular progesterone, sometimes called PIO. My nurse ordered me 3 vials. I did not use these last cycle, so I didn't have to order anymore. The price per vial was $27.03, for a total of $81.08.

Syringes + Needles

For all the various needles and syringes I needed, the total was $36

Overall Medication Price: $5767.63

This is quite a bit more than last cycle with the antagonist protocol, but there are quite a bit more meds this time!