# What exactly is the difference between Gonal F and Menopur?



## Bomochick

Hi there

I have just had a meeting with my consultant about our 1st attempt with ICSI. Last time we had IVF with no fertilisation. This time he is prescribing Menopur instead of Gonal F. I asked what the difference was, but he said they essentially were the same  and went on to change the subject. I was a little miffed at this because I do like an explanation for everything.  
Are you are able explain more about why Menopur would be more suitable for this occasion and is it likely to produce the same sort of side effects e.g hot flushes and headaches?
I have tried to investigate but cannot seem to get a conclusive answer? 
Is it that Menopur gives a slightly better quality of egg?

Thanks
Bomochick


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## mazv

Hi Bomochick,

Have copied a reply from a few years ago for info that might help explain (or not  )

_Menopur, Gonal-F and Puregon are all types of gonadotrophins used to stimulate follicle growth but there are subtle differences between them. Menopur is a combination of FSH & LH, Gonal-F is follitropin alpha and Puregon is follitropin beta (human FSH is made up of 2 units of follitropin; an alpha and a beta) Basically thay all do the same thing and there have been various trials and reviews over recent years comparing these drugs to see if one is better than another. A lot of recent research has focussed on drugs that combine FSH & LH (Menopur is an example) to see what difference the addition of LH has to stimms response. There is some evidence that women (especially older >35) may respond better to this in terms of numbers of eggs and also some evidence that some aspects of embryo quality improve. Problem with the trials though is that numbers tend to be small (for obvious reasons) and the variables are so great that it's hard to eliminate bias and proove statistically that one drug is better than another __ Bottom line in all the trials is that although egg numbers or quality might seem to be better the end result of live pregnancy rates do not appear to be much different (otherwise clinics would all use the best one ). Probably need another few years of research and higher numbers of trial patients before there are enough numbers to crunch to see staistically if there really is a difference.

Hope this is helpful 

Maz x
_


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