The medicines that women take as part of their IVF and ICSI treatment may cause temporary side effects, such as: hot flushes, change in mood, night sweats, nausea, headaches and restlessness. Usually, these symptoms disappear after a short period, but if they do not subside, we will be more than happy to discuss them and offer help and advice.

The biggest worry with fertility drugs is that they may do their job too well and produce an over response. This is rare, but causes nothing more than some mild pain and discomfort in the abdomen. However, there is a condition known as Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS). In OHSS, too many eggs are produced in one cycle, which results in body fluids accumulating in the abdomen.

This is usually accompanied by a feeling of ill health, abdominal distention, nausea and vomiting; in this case, you will be admitted to hospital for observation. This condition is life threatening, but the chances for this are, we stress, extremely rare – and we continually endeavour to ensure that should you begin to develop OHSS, we will detect it at the earliest possible time and you will be monitored and treated accordingly.

If at any point, you do begin to feel unwell; either during or following your treatment, you should contact your unit immediately:

If you are a Liverpool patient, please call 0151 702 4123 or 0151 702 4249, between the hours of 8am and 5pm from Monday to Friday, or between the hours of 8am and 1:30pm on Saturday. For Out of Hours services, please contact the emergency room at the hospital on 0151 702 4140.

If you are a Knutsford, Manchester patient, please call 01565 635000, between the hours of 9am and 5pm from Monday to Friday.

If you have to visit a doctor or hospital during the course of your treatment, it is imperative that you inform them of the fertility drugs you are receiving.