Buying your own IVF medication

[GlummyMummy]

As this will be our last cycle of IVF, in an attempt to keep costs down I'm wondering about getting my own buserelin nasal spray and Menopur. Always just got the drugs from the clinic so not sure where to start?

Suggestions?

[justtheonethen]

Apparently Asda is the place to go!

[justtheonethen]

Sorry posted too early. They sell the drugs at 'not for profit' prices.

[AhWoof]

I got mine from Asda, the prices were cheaper (think they do IVF drugs at cost price?). However, beware - it ended up costing me more in the long run as the consultant prescribed too much. I had drugs for e.g. 16 days (can't remember exactly how many days) but responded quicker than expected so had the trigger after 13 days and was left with around £500 worth of unused menopur and cetrotide.

[JoJoSM2]

I've had mixed reviews of the Asda prices, i.e. That they claim 'non profit' but aren't always the cheapest.

My entire package purchased through the clinic was under 1k (including all meds, needles etc absolutely everything) so not sure if it would have been cheaper elsewhere but didn't actually shop around.

[GlummyMummy]

Thanks folks. How does it work if buying your own, does clinic give a prescription? Is it asda online?

[AngelicaSchuyler]

Hi there, I'd definitely recommend shopping around as it depends on which drugs you have. I'd do a couple of online quotes first (try stork fertility and pharmasure) so you have a benchmark and then try Asda.

We used Asda for our last round - you need to take in a printed out prescription with you (original, not a copy) and ask the pharmacist nicely to get prices for you. It took a few minutes as they have to ring up so I did a bit of shopping. If you want to go ahead and order they can normally get the medication in the next day for you to pick up.

The only pain with the online ones is that you need to send them your prescription in the post before they'll dispatch your meds. They also usually add on a service charge whereas Asda don't.

Good luck!

[AngelicaSchuyler]

Sorry yes, clinic will give you a precription ( we were with Care Fertility and had to pay £65😒).

Ooh and remember to ask for a sharps bin and all the needle kits as well.

[EarlGreyT]

If I remember rightly, healthcare at home was cheapest for menopur when I bought it.

[Crayfishparty]

Do the clinic give you a clear price of what they are going to charge and then time for you to go and check prices elsewhere?

I have visions of paying for a prescription, looking around and finding out they aren't cheaper and going back sheepishly to the clinic!

Do you think the clinic mind you trying to get meds cheaper?

[GlummyMummy]

We've had an invoice with costing for the drugs on it, though obviously this may vary if more needed. Anyone any idea how much roughly they might have saved getting meds yourself as opposed to from clinic?

[Scottishgirl85]

Fertility2u were much cheaper than Asda for us. You can get an online quote from them. Very friendly and easy to deal with online or over phone. Definitely worth shopping around. Good luck xx

[Garethuk81]

According to our clinic "Create Fertility" it is now against the law for them to issue prescriptions and we need to order through them directly (oh and the type of drug they use has changed and oh the price has gone up for them) - Anyone else heard about this new law? i sent a message to HFEA

[430West]

Fertility2u were much cheaper than Asda for us

Opposite for us, ASDA nearly £600 cheaper than Fertility2U

[Garethuk81]

Have spoken to HFEA who have come back to suggest this is not the case and they are aware of no law stating this. So dont take anything like that from your fertility clinic and challenge them as it is not true.

[GlummyMummy]

How do you know how much to buy? How much did you save sourcing them yourself as opposed to from your Clinic?

[hopefulmom88]

I bought my meds from Fastivf.com . Saved me a lot of money and the ladies were very helpful. I highly recommend!

[Sunnyshores]

6 years ago there was an online chemist that was considerably cheaper. Look on Fertility Friends website

[GlummyMummy]

Thanks both, that's really useful. To be honest, I've been struggling to find what I will need online and work out how much I would need to order as I don't have a prescription yet - just searching speculatively at this stage to see how much I might save. Menopur is a tricky one too because I see you have to mix it yourself? I've previously been on Gonal F.

[EarlGreyT]

How much to buy depends on how long you’re likely to be on stims for and the dose you’re on. If you’ve had a previous round with Gonal F, that should give you an idea of roughly how long you’ll need to stim for and whether you’ll be on a normal or a high dose.

I think I saved around £500 by shopping around, but having said that I was on a high dose of stims (450 units/day) and needed to stim for anything between 17 and 21(!!) days. If you’re a better responder than I was then you’re not likely to save as much, but it’s still worthwhile shopping around.

I was on a combination of menopur and fostimon and I think healthcare at home was cheapest for menopur and pharmasure was cheapest for fostimon (but it might have been the other way round). They were definitely significantly cheaper than Asda and a whole load of the other chemists mentioned on fertility friends.

Mixing the menopur is pretty straightforward and you mix the dose you need each day, just before injecting it.

[GlummyMummy]

Thanks EarlgreyT. I'm struggling to find anything on healthcare at home website, maybe I should give them a call. £500 is a good saving!!!

[Wispa80]

I have just bought mine from Healthcare at Home and saved myself about £700! (They were hundreds of pounds cheaper than Asda, fertility2u etc). This was for nafarelin, gonal f, cyclogest and ovitrelle. They are really quick to respond and very helpful - just fill in the form on the website or email them.
(Does anyone know how they manage to be so much cheaper than any other supplier?!)

[Sunnyshores]

just remembered it was West Town Chemist in Peterborough, but as I said that was a while ago

[GlummyMummy]

Thanks folks! Wow Wispa, £700!!! That would pay for a couple of endo scratches at least!!!

[AniSL]

I knew someone who bought the drugs from Asda and then popped down to the nearest needle exchange to pick up the needles/syringes and sharps bins they needed

[barnacles2020]

Hi all just got my prescription can I please check if you get the needles also along with the drug?