Progesterone shots
- 12-31-2010, 06:14 PM #9Registered User
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- Dec 2010
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- Hong Kong
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Hi Alfa, Thank you everyone for being so kind.
It's right what you say about having a doctor who matches the patient.
I asked for a progesterone test and he said it was useless. He didn't give me one. Then he went into technical mumble jumble (at least to me) and said I couldn't possibly understand all the details.
The injections are expensive. His nurse had me buy a week's worth in advance, for more than HK $1,000, not covered by insurance. Over 2 months, that would be more than HK $8,000.
If I felt it was necessary to keep my baby safe, I would do it. But I'm not sure, since I'm already taking two 400 mg progesterone pessaries a day. On top of that, he wants two capsules (100 mg) injected at a clinic a day.
On the bright side, I've booked another doctor next week. Gotta love Hong Kong -- they even answer the phone on NY Eve! And I'm still happy to be pregnant. I just hope it turns out OK.
Jayjay -- Good luck to you, your wife and your two boys. What a lovely Christmas present!
- 01-01-2011, 10:38 AM #10Registered User
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- Dec 2010
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- Hong Kong
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For all the expectant mothers (and fathers) out there:
I found out that my doctor's statement that progesterone has "no side effects" is not true. The FDA's list of side effects is as long as my arm. Nothing serious, but stomach upset (which I have) and other unpleasantries. I don't mind, but I mind that my doctor was not entirely upfront.
Another study, citing the FDA, said prog. shots should be used for women with a history of MC (3 or more in the past) or current MC symptoms.
According to Wikipedia, citing a medical study, in normal healthy pregnant women, "no study has shown that general first-trimester progesterone supplements reduce the risk of miscarriage."
Hmmmm.
- 01-03-2011, 11:34 AM #11Registered User
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- Oct 2010
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- Hong Kong
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- 46
I'm suddenly reminded of the first time our doctor prescribed my wife with progesterone shots. We communicated in Cantonese and the phonetic term he used for "progesterone shot" was "b-oh toy jum" which literally translates to "protect womb shot". My first reaction was skepticism because it just sounded too good to be true. There's no way that there exists a drug that protects the womb with zero side effects (as the Chinese name suggests). So I asked him exactly what this "b-oh toy jum" consists of and that's when I found out that it was progesterone.
I guess the lesson here is to just be aware of all the medical stuff. I'm not saying don't trust your doctors, but just be involved and try to understand what you are being prescribed. If you communicate in Chinese, be extra careful because a lot of the medical terms sound more magical in Chinese than they really are.
- 01-08-2011, 12:23 AM #12Registered User
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- Dec 2010
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- Hong Kong
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Thanks, JayJay. I wouldn't be fooled by all that fancy talk because I barely speak one word of Chinese! :)
I hope your twins are well.
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