Lubion Injections - do I really need them?

I increased my utrogestan to 5 x a day (2 + 1 + 2) to raise progesterone

@Laura thank you! I might suggest this if my progesterone levels are low. I think I would deal better with this option.

I’ve had lubion daily with passeries- it is painful but it on stumach and u can use ice pad before to numb it. It’s worth it!

@Rukhsana I'd be interested to know what they say, would you let me know? As I don't understand why people use Lubion at all when there's this option!

Lubion provides more stable release of progesterone compared to utrogestan and ultimately increases your chances of success (according to my nurse). My protocol includes lubion twice a day till week 10. Injections themselves are not painful as the needle is tiny. You get used to it quickly enough. Unpleasant part that an injection site stays painful for longer period (because of slow release I suppose).

Thanks everyone @Laura I will let you know what my nurse says

@Laura lubion is proven to be give more success rate compare to passeries. I had to pay lubion privately as my clinic don’t cover it due to high cost.

ASDA sells lubion without a markup, it’s £56/7 vials

I was in a very similar position to you when I had my last FET. I was a borderline case, but they did end up giving me Lubion for I think it was six weeks afterwards. Do not be worried about the injections - the needles are *tiny*. So small I barely felt them. I would warm the vials up a little bit on a heat pad (just for few minutes) and that would help the liquid to flow through the needle. They were the least painful injections I had to do out of all the ones I did during my 18 months of IVF. A lot of people say progesterone injections are super painful so you may have heard some horror stories, but in the US in particular they tend to use progesterone in oil (PIO) which is an intramuscular injection (big ass needle in your butt). Lubion is different - little teeny subcutaneous injection in your belly. That’s the trade off for the extortionate price.

I didn’t find lubion painful at all and hardly had any bruising. It’s just crazy expensive

I’m on lubion until week 16 of pregnancy and I’ve been absolutely fine with them. Some mild tenderness after wards but nothing to stop me taking them. This was our 4th FET and 1st one on lubion and successful.

Thank you everyone! That’s really re-assuring. I just kept reading so much about the horrendous side effects and how painful they were. Thank you! 💖

I have used lubion for 3 of my FET, I never found them overly painful unless I hit a blood vessel.

@Maria might be a silly question, but how do you get Lubion from Asda? My clinic has quoted £118 for a pack of 7 vials, which feels extortionate compared to £56. Do you just pay the clinic for the prescription free (although mine upped it to £200!), and then take it to Asda and hope they can get everything?

@Jen you need to ask your clinic for a prescription, they can’t force you to use their pharmacy. Call ASDA to check availability. I personally buy only lubion, clexane and utrogestan from them, they don’t always have everything and lubion usually takes up to 5 days to get, so plan accordingly. Literally in a queue is ASDA right now for my hopefully last batch 😄

@Maria no, they can’t force you, but charging £200 to give you the prescription if you want to take it elsewhere is forcing a lot of peoples hands! Will they allow you to get half the drugs from them, and half the drugs from Asda? I’m not sure my clinic will. And if I’m lucky enough to get pregnant can I get Lubion from the GP?

@Jen what?! it’s crazy, it must be free. My clinic don’t charge me anything and my previous clinic never did either. You should demand it for free. Tell them that CRGH and LWC don’t charge and question why exactly you have to pay for it. You may want to consider asking Citizens Advice whether this practice is legal. My bet would be it is not.

@Jen Not sure how NHS works in this regard, I’m doing it privately.

@Maria Yep, it’s crazy isn’t it!! They said it’s because some women has got the drugs themselves, and ended up with the wrong things, so they want to discourage people from sorting it themselves. Just feels like money making to me!

@Jen this is nonsense, a prescription states what medication should be prescribed. This is a daylight corruption. I’d fight.

I had to pay lubion privately but it was nhs cycle tho- they send it to hospital private pharmacy. They break the price down but some place charge ridiculous high.