Full Body Allergic Reaction

The day continued to get worse. I have a full body rash so, I let the IVF nurse know.

I was thinking that this would be from the Medrol (anti-rejection med), because I was told that med could cause facial flushing. Well, the nurse says it could be from my progesterone. So, I am asked to drive ALL THE WAY over to the REs office in mid-day traffic to an office an hour away. This can be a real feat in a retirement community where the traffic lights are poorly timed. I get to the drs office, and of course everyone sees the rash. It wasn't a figment of my imagination. I was sent to a compounding pharmacy in "Timbuktu," otherwise known as some obscure area of the city that I had never visited before. The map I was given was pathetic. I had to call my husband, who is much better with both the city and directions, to help me sort things out. When I finally accidentally stumbled across the proper street that the pharmacy was on, I drove the full length of it and DID NOT SEE THE PHARMACY. (I was about to scream at the time.) So, I turned around. Miraculously on my way back down this practically deserted street I noticed a BROKEN sign for the compounding pharmacy. Apparently it was never fixed after Hurricane Ivan. There was no sign on the building.

So, I went in to pick up my med. Of course, my primary insurance will not pay for any meds from this pharmacy, and I have to wonder how much my secondary insurance really helped. I paid $140 dollars for this new progesterone oil. (My copay for the old was about $32.) Trevor was still on the phone with me most of the way home trying to help me calm down. I was almost home when I saw my new progesterone is in COTTONSEED OIL!!!! The horrors of the trials for a male contraceptive from Gossypol, a toxin found in cottonseeds, raged through my head. (I learned this lovedly tidbit of info in a class called Sociology of Family class.) In my mind I'm thinking an oil whose extract is toxic and was used experimentally for a male contraceptive just can not be a good oil to have my progesterone in for my IVF cycle. Do I really want to expose my precious little embryos to cottonseed oil!!! And this isn't even being consumed and metabolized in my tummy like the cottonseed oil in snack foods. I'm having this toxic cottonseed oil injected into my BEHIND!!! However, I talked to the IVF nurse and she assured me that plenty of patients have to use the progesterone in cottonseed oil and that some of them do get pregnant.

Yes, I am a frantic mess!

So, I do some more research. It seems that gossypol is removed when cottonseed oil is refined. Of course in our male worshipping American society we would ensure that known sperm toxins are removed from a frequently used oil.