What is a Trigger Shot in IVF?

Define Trigger shot in IVF?

The trigger injection, also known as ‘trigger shot in IVF’, is a hormonal injection which is used in different fertility treatments including IVF and ART.

A trigger shot usually contains a hormone named as human chorionic gonadotropin, or HCG. It is hCG hormone that triggers an ovary to mature and release an egg.

Why does one need a trigger shot during IVF?

Egg quality in IVF plays an important role. Women undergoing IVF treatment does need a trigger shot so that their eggs are matured for further retrieval. Once a woman gets the injection, their ovaries are sent into a cycle of development which allows egg maturation for retrieval at a specific time which will be outlined by their fertility team.

When should one take the trigger shot & how?

You will be given a careful guidance about how to take the trigger shot and the importance of egg quality in IVF by our expert team at Indira IVF. It is important to follow the timing instructions precisely as delaying for just a few hours can cause problems with your IVF treatment cycle.

In most of the cases, the trigger shot needs to be taken 36 hours prior to egg retrieval, or a day and a half before. So basically, if you have an afternoon appointment for egg collection on Wednesday, you would take the trigger shot at midnight on the Monday prior. There are a certain variations to this time window and your Doctor will surely inform you if your case is among one of those cases.

The trigger shot timing is administered well and matched with the development of the follicles, which the medical unit will be keeping a track on. This process tends to be carried out when a good number of follicles have grown to their optimal size. Under or overdeveloped eggs have a lower chance of conception success so an optimal size is the most preferred choice here.

Do one inject trigger shot themselves?

Preferably yes, especially as the 36 hour window from injection to egg retrieval often means that the shot is mostly taken in the evening time and sometimes late in the evening. We ensure that an Indira IVF consultant is available at the time of the injection in case you have any last minute doubts or queries.

Missed trigger shot! What do one need to do?

If you are late getting your trigger shot, it is imperative that you let your Indira IVF consultant or clinic know as prior as possible, as there may be things that they can do to try and manage the situation. It is not possible to collect an egg after the ovary has already released it, so it’s very significant to try and resolve this as soon as possible. In certain conditions, it may be feasible to adjust your egg retrieval time so as to improve egg quality IVF.

Is the trigger injection painful?

In fact, there are two ways of observing &administering the trigger shot. It can either be given into the muscle or under the skin, which is considered to be the most common route. An intramuscular injection will feel the same as getting a vaccine shot and can cause more bruising than when injecting under the skin. To improve egg quality IVF is an important point to be considered here.

Possible Trigger shot side effects-

Most of the women do not feel any discomfort or suffer any side effects post the injecting of trigger shot, apart from may be some irritation at the injection point, which is generally transient. At this phase of your treatment, it is not unnatural to have been already facing some abdominal discomfort or mild bloating due to the combined effect of the treatment hormones and the increased size of the ovaries.

Continuing the trigger injection, these signs can sometimes inflate. As this is not intended to be an exhaustive queue of side effects, one must not hesitate to seek advice if they are concerned about any new signs.

Make sure to monitor any abdominal discomfort or bloating as this can sometimes be related with Ovarian Hyper stimulation Syndrome (OHSS). Contact your Indira IVF consultant if you have any concerns regarding the same.