progesterone in oil reaction

[Leatha]

This is my second transfer my first was a fresh cycle in Mar 2009, everything went well, no adverse reactions.  I transferred two embies and had one baby Dec 2009.

Fast forward to now, I am currently 5dpt of a FET.  I am on 1 cc of pio, prog. sup. 3 x/day, estrace 2x/day and medrol 2x/day.

My problem is that in the last few days I have had issues with the pio, a hard ball forms at the injection site, usually goes away but today it hasn't and the site is red, inflammed, sore and itchy at the same time.  Obviously a reaction to the pio.  This is both sides.  I do this every morning and I do not want to do this tomorrow if the injection site is still inflamed.  I have warmed oil before injecting to make it less viscous, I'm wondering if this has changed the chemical reaction when injected ?????

Has anyone experienced this or would you have any ideas of how to calm the site or my reaction to the injections.

I'm not looking forward to the next injection and if I get my BFP I have 10 more weeks of this :(

[Leatha]

hahaha oh yes, how true it is.

[AnnieBrooke]

I'm surprised anyone even does progesterone in cottonseed oil.  Glad you figured out what it was.  Suppositories are so messy, get a whole lot of pantiliners.  Good luck!

[Leatha]

And I forgot to say thanks Annie, I really appreciate the time you took to answer my concerns.  Nice to know that I don't have to go this alone :)

[Leatha]

Okay here is the update.  The vial that I am reacting to post transfer is in cottonseed oil,  the oil I was using pre transfer was in sesame oil.  So it is a localized allergic reaction.  They have switched me up to 4 suppositories a day and once I am able to start the injections again I use the sesame oil and chuck the cottonseed oil.  And here I was hoping to get out of the the daily poke :)

[AnnieBrooke]

If you are giving yourself shots with oil that seems bad, call their after-hours line and get it taken care of today, don't wait for them to read your email.  My pharmacist said he gets this kind of call and does go in, even late in the night, and my RE once told me that the reason they even have after-hours on-call doctors is for this very kind of thing.  Problems with the meds are one of the most common late-night or weekend problem there is.

[Leatha]

Hi Annie,

Yes to both.  I figured the oil must be bad, here's why.  For five days before my transfer I was using oil from my local pharmacy.  One the day of transfer I got another vial of oil from my RE's office and started using that.  I did not have the reaction before the transfer only after, so I'm pretty sure it had something to do with the vials.

To heat the oil I put it in a small dish of warm water before taking the oil out  Now a splash of water may have gotten on the vial opening but I'm not sure that is the issue as the "bumps" started earlier in the week.

I didn't think this reaction was normal as I had clear sailing through my last 12 weeks of injections.

I put in an email to the nurses station at the RE's office but so far no reply when they open up in the morning I am going to give them a call.

Thanks for your response.

[AnnieBrooke]

I am also thinking about your comment that you were heating the oil.  Is there any way the method you have been using to heat it, has inadvertently contaminated the needle?  I assume you have thought of that but figured it was worth asking.

[AnnieBrooke]

Call your doc.  He or she might want to call in a new prescription, either with a different kind of oil base or just with a new lot.  (They might also have some progesterone on hand for this kind of problem.)  I've done IVF six times and have had weeks and weeks of progesterone shots, and never once have I had the reaction you are describing.  My guess is that the oil is impure in some way, but let the doc and the pharmacist puzzle that one out.  

ps -- Pharmacies also do emergency service, I've had one open the drugstore for me on Sunday morning at 7 am, so don't give up just because it is a weekend.