Intralipid Therapy During IVF

It’s one of those topics that affects more people than we realize, and yet, we rarely talk about it: infertility. It’s a personal issue that often includes great emotional, physical and financial burdens as couples seek ways to address it.

Today, we’d like to talk about Intralipid IV Therapy, and how it may impact your journey with trying to conceive.

What is IVF? 

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is an increasingly common medical procedure, responsible for the birth of more than 6 million babies each year. It is a scientific, data driven field, and has treatment applications for nearly every issue which may affect male or female fertility. However, it is also expensive, costing anywhere from $5,000 to $30,000 per cycle. Most insurance plans do not cover IVF, leaving the burden of payment on the couple who are trying to conceive. With most success rates only at 50%, this can create a large burden on the couple going through the process. Therefore, it is advisable to do everything possible to improve chances of success with each cycle, to minimize these negative effects and improve chances at success.

Intralipid therapy is one option that helps maximize chances for successful implementation during the IVF process.

What is Intralipid Therapy?

Intralipid is a 20% fat emulsion which is comprised of soybean oil, egg phospholipids, and glycerine. Initially used as IV nutrition, it was incidentally found to have immunosuppressive effects when patients receiving it were found to have elevated rates of bacteremia. The intralipid was thought to reduce the immune system’s ability to fight bacteria, leading to an increased amount of bacteria in the blood, called bacteremia. Since this discovery, it has been implemented in several protocols to help immunosuppress the body and reduce natural killer cells, a type of white blood cell which can interfere with the transfer and implantation process. Intralipid is a less expensive, safer, and equivalent therapy to more expensive treatments like IVIG (can be $7,000 to $14,000 for a single treatment, and carries with it a risk of anaphylaxis).

Scheduling your IV Intralipid Therapy

It is recommended that you receive intralipid therapy 1-4 days prior to your IVF procedure, and weekly throughout your first trimester.

IV Intralipid Therapy is available through all of our clinic locations, for both at-home and clinic appointments.

You can read more about Intralipid Therapy here; please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions!