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nectarine / 2192 posts
One more ordering question: how much follistim would you order? If it's in stock at the UK pharmacy, I can get it for $160/cartridge for 300 units, plus $15 for a reusable pen. Doc says 1500-3750 units. If they are out of stock, I can get gonal f 300 for $175 each. If I need to order more, I will need to get it at winfertility, and without cash discount it will be $210. So questions:
1. If follistim 300 is in stock, how Many to buy now?
2. If not, would you get follistim 600 for $320 from UK, gonal f 300 for $175 from UK, or follistim 300 for $205 from winfertility (I'd have time for the cash rice).
Thanks for putting up with my craziness!
pear / 1881 posts
@AmeliaBedilia: how much is your RE having you take/day? If it's 300IU per day, I would get enough for about 10 days. Yes, it would be great to be on meds for shorter than that to save money; however, it's been shown that if you stim for too short of a period, the egg quality becomes compromised. So, I think the average is about 10 days.
I would do them in 300IU cartridges so that you can get the most overfill for your money..
I would calculate it like this (sorry, I'm an accountant ):
# of IUs per day x number of days (probably estimating 10 days) = X
Since there is 420 IU's per 300 cartridge, take X from above divided by 420 to see how many boxes you would need. Then, probably round up to get a full box. Does that make sense?
persimmon / 1132 posts
@AmeliaBedilia: Wow, that's quite the range of stim units. You said your nurse said you might start at 300 iu/day. So if that's true, you might stim for 5 to 12 days! I would shoot for somewhere in the middle -- say, 8-9 days worth, and buy that many pens. (So 8x300 = 2400iu or 9x300 = 2700iu).
OR ... another way to think about it.
If they told you that you will only stim for X amount of days, then figure the max stim dose is usually 450iu. So then multiply that by the number of days. (So 5 days for example, 5 x 450 = 2,250iu.) It still gets you to about the middle of the amount of stim juice they said you'll need.
And you'll have the overflow on top of this so you will be fine for another dose or two at these volumes...
You may find that you have to buy more. If you do, WinRx can turn it around in two days. I had them bundled with a few pills of doxycycline (costs about $2) and paid $205, too, for each 300 pen (at the non-cash price since I needed fast turnaround). I'd personally get them from Win since they are stateside... but you have time and seem like you have looked into the logistics enought so the UK price break is nice. Win could be your backup if needed. I'd also stick with either Follistim or Gonal F and not mix it in one cycle. Some people say that the Gonal F pen is easier, but I found the Follistim pen easy. That's a hard call. I like the 300 pens because the overfill is dependably good, as others have said!
@AmeliaBedilia: agold: Thanks for the kind and supportive words about the work drama. There is more to discuss tomorrow but it seems like the old boss is out and they are going to put the new responsibilities on me. That is kinda scary good and a good step in my career ... if I weren't trying to become a mamma and going through IVF. I started this job 6 months ago with the intention of it being a comfortable situation that allows me time for my life and future kids! Tomorrow's meeting is about what they are going to offer me and how long they will give me to get on my feet and figure out how to do the job (aka "find my ass with my hands" and make them money)...
nectarine / 2192 posts
Thanks ladies. I just got a call that the follistim 300 is out of stock. I'm leaning toward getting 7 Gonal f 300 pens. My RE says it is ok to switch between the two.
@Amorini: the $205 was the credit card price?
persimmon / 1132 posts
@AmeliaBedilia: Umm, yes, that's about what I paid via credit card. (I'm just assuming based on other quotes that the doxycycline cost was negligible and the stim juice was 99.9% of the cost..)
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@AmeliaBedilia: I still can't understand why YOU are trying to determine how much of the medicines to order. Doesn't your nurse give you a prescription for X amount of vials? Why won't you order what the doctor prescribes? Also, you only need one pen. It's the vials that you need to order. And like @NorthStar: said, I would for sure round up if for some reason you are merely guessing at the amount of medicines you need. It is truly no joke to be at the doctors office and be told that you need to stimulate for one additional day than was planned. You won't be able to get meds in time if you run out because you won't have two days notice. This happened to me. If you order what they tell you to, then it's on them to help you figure out that problem. If the cost of getting the right meds in the appropriate quantity is too hard for you right now, could you delay your Paris trip a bit? It's just that I feel so badly you are having such a hard time with all this. It really is stressful. I had two full days of extreme agonizing over the same thing and you can find it a few pages back I'm sure if you want to see me have a meltdown.
@Amorini: well congratulations on what seems like a nice promotion! It's great the recognize your ability to accept the new responsibilities. What crazy timing, right??? All I know is that after years of tax, I wouldn't turn this down. Even when you get pregnant from your upcoming FET, you will still have time to get situated in your new position before you go out on leave. And it's great they give it to you now, as opposed to when you are pregnant when unfortunately job discrimination still exists in some places.
nectarine / 2192 posts
@agold: that's good perspective. We can afford it, I just feel guilty sending all this money. It's also hard when the range is HUGE and they're telling me 1500-3750 units. DH and I had a good talk and he convinced me to order more. I ordered seven pens, so with overflow should be about 2800 units, plus I have a pen with 200 that can be a backup. This is about twice what they said on the low end and I will order more the second it looks like that might be needed.
pomegranate / 3764 posts
Your med stuff is SO confusing over there. We just pay a bunch for the cycle itself and they then ship the meds over, which we pay for once we receive. I'd go crazy trying to organise myself!
persimmon / 1132 posts
@jaguar: You're so right. It is crazy. Nothing is covered for so many of us and then prices vary so much place-to-place that we're forced to bargain hunt. I totally thought it worked the way you described -- just one payment and done.
@agold: Thank you! I that you said "when I get pregnant from my upcoming FET...." I truly believe it will all work out for the best. I'll take it one step at a time. It's the craziest timing. I'm excited/scared for the meeting today. What a week!
cherry / 120 posts
@amorini: congrats on this new opportunity!! Work drama is awful...hopefully that will change very soon for you!
@agold: how are you doing?? I really hope this is it for you!!! Give me some hope about FET!
@ameliabedilia: woah. You are so patient!! January will be here soon! Very excited for you!
@jaguar: how are you doing? I saw that your beta has finally dropped. If you don't mind me asking....what are you ready to do next?
Sorry I've not been too involved. The negative beta was super disappointing and we had a follow up with my RE this week that has left me uneasy. Basically, our insurance does not allow "banking" of embryos so we have to use our frosties before a fresh IVF cycle. Also, my insurance covers 4 IVF and/or FET lifetime max (I realize that many of you ahave little to no IF coverage, so sorry for this rant). I guess I didn't realize that FETs would be considered one of those alloyed cycles (if that makes sense) so I'm bummed about that. Anyway, to maximize our coverage we'll be self paying for a FET in January where we will transfer both frosties. Yay! Decision made, right? Well, my nurse called me yesterday and let me know my FSH level is 15.6!!!!!!!!! (The only level that is elevated) but exactly a year ago it was 10.5. So needless to say, im freaking out. Clinics do not typically proceed with IVF if FSH reaches 20. My nurse said that if we move on to IVF then that just means I'll need more medication to stimulate the follicles but seriously!!! I'm 33 years old and my FSH is 15.6!
I'm searching for hope because that's a pretty devastating number. Does anyone have some hope I can borrow? Any stories of success with high FSH?
pear / 1881 posts
@AmeliaBedilia: I agree with others that it's crazy that you are the one figuring this out and your doctors didn't give you a better idea of what to order. That is such a huge range. Mine is so clear cut that perhaps I'm spoiled in that regard, but it looks like you ordered a good amount of vials.
Did you end up going with Gonal F or Follistim and who did you order from?
I also agree with what @agold: said - I had several days in a row where they were like, well, you are almost there, but not quite, so we are going to go another day. Cue the scrambling to find a clinic near my RE that I could buy the meds from (as I cannot in my local town). I would rather have a bit excess and 7 vials of 300IU seems like a good amount to start with. Will you be able to find more locally, if you need to? I never knew with enough notice to get meds from Winfertility when they told me that I had to go another day.
pear / 1986 posts
@AmeliaBedilia: I'm also so glad you've got the meds stuff figured out! I was stressing out just reading about it . I did a little shopping around, but I decided it was causing me more anxiety to try and save the extra money. I am also going to limit my initial order a little bit, but Freedom Pharmacy is literally a 25 min drive away so I can pick up more meds same day if I need to. I hate the thought of running out, but I REALLY hate the thought of wasting money in ordering too much. But I also agree with others that having a backup plan to get more meds quickly is key. I definitely think the clinics should make this all easier for us somehow!!! Hopefully now that this is mostly figured out, you can have a really relaxing trip!!
pear / 1881 posts
@Mrs. Pinky: I'm so sorry for your negative beta! I was in the same boat a few weeks ago and it was (and still is) not very fun. ugh - regarding insurance! I swear that those companies do not understand how their policies make no sense and really affect those that need the coverage most. I wish that I remembered what my FSH was..Did your nurse seem concerned at all? That would be my main concern..as long as she didn't seem too concerned, just try to focus on your next FET instead. Perhaps, you won't need another fresh cycle!
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@Amorini: Well our med stuff really shouldn't be that confusing. After all.... the doctor has to write a prescription since we are not permitted to order drugs for ourselves. Generally, a girl could just follow the prescription so I'm not even sure how Ameliabedelia has this much discretion regarding amount of meds. But what we can do is have our doctor's office send the prescription to a couple of different places so we can get quotes on the medications. I suppose it would be so nice to just pay one flat fee to the RE office and have it all done. But once you know can save a little money else where, its tough not to look. But Amelia's taking it to a whole new level! Hahaha.
@Amorini: But why would I have said it any other way? This IS going to work!! Good luck at your meeting today. report back, asap! I'm so curious about all this upward work movement for you. You must be one smart, hard working cookie!
@Mrs. Pinky: Thank you so much for asking about me! I'm doing pretty okay!! You should absolutely have hope about your FET! I'm sorry you feel you are being forced into doing the FET when you might otherwise want to do another fresh cycle. I would do the same thing as you - pay for the FET out of pocket and save your insurance coverage for another fresh cycle. How many frozen embryos do you have right now? Sorry, but I don't recall. I say just move ahead right now with the FET - maybe transfer two!! You should have hope for the frozen embryos because they are stronger than the fresh one you transferred. They made it the extra day or whatever to get to be frozen and then they will survive the thaw. So you should place you hope in having stronger embryos. And if you don't have to worry about your FSH levels for your FET, then push it out of your mind right now. Worry about if you need to have another IVF (which you hopefully won't) and just trust that the meds and doctor will do what needs to be done! So when is the FET scheduled?!?!?!
@GreenThumb: I, too, ultimately thought the anxiety of meds shopping was too much and made my purchase after two days or so of shopping around. Lucky you that the pharmacy is so close to you! My RE's office kept extra meds on hand so that was an easy fix. Are you on meds right now in prep for your early January egg retrieval???
cherry / 107 posts
@agold: @AmeliaBedilia: My meds ordering will actually be similar Amelia's. My insurance covers 5 lifetime prescriptions of injectibles at my RE's specialty phamacy- with a max of 3 per cycle.
Due of my DOR I need super high doses- 300IU Follitism and 225IU Menopur to start. My doctor prescribed the max amount she is allowed to prescribe, but this 'maximum' prescription is not even half of what I'll need for 10 days at this dose, and if I have to go higher I'll need even more.
I will use one prescription each for my first Menopur and Follitism prescription, then use my 3rd prescription for which ever one will be more expensive for me. I need to order the other myself online. I still have to calculate out whether Follitism or Menopur will be cheaper to order online and where to get it from:(
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@Aqualov: but you will have a prescription that will tell you how much you need, right?
cherry / 107 posts
@agold: not so far. I have a calendar for my cycle of approximately what I will need per day, but it's not specific. I have no idea if I will get more specifics once I start my cycle (it's my first). My prescriptions are already ordered for what I don't have to get myself.
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@Aqualov: That's so crazy. So for what you have to order yourself, are you ordering it without a prescription?
cherry / 107 posts
I'm not sure. It's on my list of questions during my next visit. I have an injections class next week so I'll ask more then.
nectarine / 2192 posts
@Mrs. Pinky: I'm in similar shoes but a little different. My FSH is fine but my AMH is terrible. RE says the best marker of egg quality is age. I've been doing melatonin, DHEA and increased my coQ10 (was daily, now twice daily), and trying to follow the guidelines in It starts with the Egg. I've also been doing acupuncture. AFC has gone from 10 to 14, 15, and most recently 20. I've seen lots of success stories online for people with bad numbers. What is your AMH and AFC? Also, for FET, it shouldn't matter. Hopefully you won't need to do another stim cycle.
pomegranate / 3764 posts
@Amorini: Oh, it's a few payments... but we don't have to source stuff ourselves *except progesterone, boo*. So we pay for the cycle to the clinic.. they send meds with an invoice, we pay that to the pharma companies. :O
pomegranate / 3764 posts
@Mrs. Pinky: We have to do the same (use up frosties before a new fresh) so I hear you there. As for me.. what's next... waiting until January. My clinic is shut over Christmas.
cherry / 107 posts
@Mrs. Pinky: I feel you. Similar situation here- I'm 33 and my AMH is 0.3. (WTF!) My last AFC was 5, and my clinic won't proceed with IVF if there's less than that. I've begun melatonin, DHEA and I've been on CoQ10 for over two years, but I've doubled my dose. Hopefully it helps! I've been prescibed crazy high meds for my first IVF cycle, which is scheduled for January. I have no hope to share here, but hopefully we're on our way to some. Wishing you luck too.
grapefruit / 4045 posts
So I texted the wife of my husband's good friend to get her new address to send her a christmas card. She responded and said "I heard you may have some exciting news to share soon." Ummmmm...... WTF? I've never talked to her about my IVF. I don't talk to her a whole lot as it is. I nearly killed my husband since he's the one who insists on not telling anyone Apparently the one golf guy who went to our same RE said something to my husband yesterday on the golf course and his good friend over heard. I really don't care how it all went down. But does anyone agree with me that the other girl shouldn't have said that to me? I wanted to respond to her something like "well statistically the odds are that no, i will never have any exciting news ever to share with you." As quick back story, she's apparently having her own issues having been TTC since she was married last december. i think she just turned 36. I fully responded by asking her about her own IUIs which my husband told me about but I would have NEVER said anything to her if she didn't broach the subject to me herself. I was just nicely writing out christmas cards and her comment just blew my mind!
ETA: I could just imagine the smugness of her texts when she was all like (not verbatim) "oh, i'm going to be doing clomid. my doctor is really good and my friend went to her and was successful." I immediately felt like a jaded b*tch but then I just tried to be so nice and wish her all of the best of luck because I absolutely was in her same place over a year ago thinking clomid would do the trick. Still... listen up chick.. don't surprise a girl with a text like that! Common IF courtesy!
persimmon / 1132 posts
@agold: Seriously! Common IF courtesy. Clearly she hasn't learned the ropes yet! Sorry she threw you off your game. I am all for telling no one (not even my mom and sister) that we are doing this upcoming FET. It's just too much! Hang in there, lady! Hugs!
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@Amorini: @Amorini: Thanks for understanding, girls! I think I just wanted to throw a tantrum last night and that gave me a good reason to do so for a bit of time.
@AmeliaBedilia: Its on Tuesday morning! I'm not planning to test early. With my fresh transfer, I tested the morning of. It was negative, I thought I would hold it together until a spider got on me in the shower. I fell apart and was a mess for about 4 hours - including crying at the REs office as I got my blood drawn. BUT - I was totally able to cope with my RE calling with the results and was able to have a normal conversation with him about what to do next. This time around, however, I have actual things to be doing at work on Tuesday (ha! as opposed to other days when I can totally half ass the whole day) and actually have to interact with clients. Such f*cked up timing but whatever. I'm going to have to keep my phone on me and take the RE's call when it happens. I don't know how I will be able to handle the day seriously. I need to leave at 4 pm if I am going to see my husband before he leaves for work. I suppose I will have to tell my boss that morning that I need to leave early. I've actually left early on mondays and tuesdays for the last three weeks without anyone noticing!
pear / 1986 posts
@agold: OMG, what was she thinking? Maybe she was trying to connect and just did it in a really awkward way? I can't believe your beta is tomorrow? It sucks that the timing is a little weird with work and all. How are you feeling? I am so excited for you!!!!
How is everyone else doing? Its mid-December today! Let's get these next cycles going! No one else is doing and ER/ET/FET in December, right? So, January it is!!! I'm on week three of BCPs and my last pill is on Christmas Day. Turns out I will miss my sister's 40th birthday party (1/9) because there is a very good chance that my ER will be right around that time and I can't see being out of town either right before or right after that. My SIL has graciously agreed to take care of LO for both the ER and ET even if they are on weekdays (she'll have to stay home from work). One huge weight off my shoulders!
ETA: for those taking DHEA, how much are you taking daily? TX!
pear / 1881 posts
@agold: holy crap?! how inappropriate and totally not ok! I'm so sorry that you had to deal with that..I agree with you - it's about time to just start responding to people with blunt answers and make them be the ones that feel uncomfortable for once! Good luck tomorrow with your beta? So, you are going to take the call or were you thinking of it going to VM and waiting to listen with your DH? I hope that you can get away if you decide to take it and hopefully, celebrate! Thinking of you..
@GreenThumb: I was going to take DHEA, but wanted to get tested first because I've read that it can do more harm than good if you take it, but don't really need it. I got my results on Friday (via my local clinic's portal) and it was 249. For my age range, the high end of the range is 230. I'm hoping my RE calls me today to discuss as I'm not sure what it means. I wanted to tell you because it's good I didn't take more DHEA on my own, as I would have pushed myself even further out of the range.
I also got my AMH test results Friday and it looks like it jumped from 1.6 in May to 2.8 via my blood test last week! I think that's good, but am curious to know why it might go up? I did start taking CoQ10 in July, so perhaps I can attribute it to that..
pear / 1986 posts
@NorthStar: Great news about your AMH! 2.8 is a really good number, right? I can't remember how old you are . Thanks for the note about the DHEA. I've never had it tested. My RE mentioned it at a consult awhile ago, but hasn't brought it up since. I think I'll call and check on it with him.
pear / 1881 posts
@GreenThumb: I'll be 35 in May I would get it tested before doing anything, just to be safe. It was an easy blood test!
nectarine / 2192 posts
@agold:
@GreenThumb: So nice about childcare!
As for DHEA, my RE didn't suggest it but didn't object when I asked. My AFC went from 10 to 20 in four months - not sure if it's the DHEA, vitamin d, melatonin, synthroid, less stress (besides IF), or acupuncture, but clearly we are going In the right direction. I'm hoping this also indicates better quality.
I'm on micronor now. DH wanted to skip it and try to get pregnant this month. Part of me thinks that would be amazing, and the practical side says we've tried so many things that why would it work now? I'm taking it but not worrying about the three hour window. I pay the remainder of the cost Thursday. First monitoring appointment is Friday, and we will also do a saline sonogram and labs for STDs. I'm going to ask about mock transfer during ultrasound. STD testing feels Ridiculous but required. I'll be on estrace about 6 days (when I get back from Paris). Then stims starting around 1/2. ER 1/13-1/15. 1/29 is our anniversary of when we met- beta likely then.
In other news, I'm supposed to get some work related news today. I had applied to be on a national committee, which would be awesome. If so, I'd be traveling about a week after I find out the results. I would be so happy to be pregnant that I wouldn't mind asking a colleague to give me a progesterone shot!
pear / 1881 posts
@AmeliaBedilia: Wow - that's a great increase in your AFC. When will your meds be delivered (I wasn't sure who you ended up ordering from)? I had a thought over the weekend - what if they get delivered while you are in Paris?! Some need to be refrigerated, but I'm sure you have it all figured out! Good look on the national committee! Sounds very exciting!
nectarine / 2192 posts
@NorthStar: yes, the increase is great- just hope quality is improved as well. I'm ordering some from IVF pharmacy and the rest from winfertility. The meds from IVF pharmacy are ordered and will be shipped to my mom in case it comes while I'm gone. She lives nearby and is home more than I am, though my dad doesn't know we are even TTC. I'm waiting to hear back from winfertility on the official quote and hopefully will have it shipped today to arrive tomorrow. I want it to arrive by Saturday so I have time there. Thanks for the thought!
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@GreenThumb: I'm trying to think she was doing what you suggested - albeit very awkwardly - so that I don't harbor any resentment towards her when I see her this upcoming Friday. She's an extreme gossip and I had to ask her to please be extremely discrete about this, and especially not tell so-and-so. Haha. I will spend all Friday night looking at these girls faces and wondering if they've been told. I'm crazy. Of course, by then, I'll know whether i'm pregnant or not. If I'm not, husband knows that he's the designated driver for that night I"m getting blitzed out of my mind! Thanks for your excitement! I don't feel anything except the pain from PIO shots. I'm hoping I can still be pregnant! I feel nothing!!!!!!
I"m so glad you have childcare taken care of for your egg retrieval! And woo hoo! January is going to poppin' in here!
@NorthStar: Thanks for sharing my same sentiment about her comments. As for the call tomorrow.. I hadn't even thought about letting it go to voice mail. I suppose I can do that. I will listen to it by myself, though, before I get home. I have been saving up a few things that I'd like to give to my husband to "surprise" him that I'm pregnant! Hahaha. The point of surprise is gone at this point. But I still want to do it. My husband is talking about taking the night off work. I told him its not necessary. But it would sure be nice to either celebrate or commiserate with someone.
I'm so glad your AMH levels jumped up! Mine were around there. My doctor said its fine. Keep taking that coq10!!
@AmeliaBedilia: Good luck with your work stuff! And so true about taking shots when pregnant. I'll do them anywhere in front of anyone if I knew I was pregnant!
@Amorini: Do you have any more work updates??
nectarine / 2192 posts
@agold: If you let it go to voicemail, make sure they know they can leave a detailed message. Otherwise, you could get a "call back" due to privacy rules.
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@AmeliaBedilia: Thank you for reminding me of that. I'm going to write a little list right now of things I need to ask at the blood draw tomorrow. I just go back to the little blood draw office and I won't actually be lead around to talk to anyone. So I will need to be prepared to ask questions. (1) if voicemail picks up, will RE leave me the info; and (2) if beta is negative, can i have an appointment in place to come back asap for a WTF appointment and to pay for IVF#2 up front before end of year to get tax benefit for 2015. I would ask that question of my RE, but he doesn't deal with setting of appointments so there's no incentive on that end to answer the call. As I type this out.. I'm leaning towards letting it go to VM if he will leave all the info I need on there. I don't think I want to talk to anyone if its bad news.
pear / 1881 posts
@agold: That's probably a good idea. You can always call them back after you get a chance to listen to it. I received my negative beta (the day before Thanksgiving), while at the grocery store. Luckily, I had only just started, but probably looked ridiculous bawling while trying to leave and get to my car. I did ask my doctor questions, but really, could have done that after I had composed myself. Good luck tomorrow and I'll be thinking of you all day. We are OVERDUE for some big BFPs on here!
grapefruit / 4045 posts
Girls who have had BETA blood tests - did you have any specific questions that you wanted to ask at the blood draw? Ameliabedlia gave me an idea to ask if the RE will leave the results in a voice message. Is there anything else that anyone can think of that I should ask about?
I"m getting very very nervous here. After I go home and get my shot and husband leaves for work, I think I may go get a manicure and pedicure, watch the voice, and go to sleep. Otherwise, I will continue to search #10dp6dt on instragram all night.
pear / 1881 posts
@agold: I didn't have any. Like how yours is done, I was just in and out. Plus, I did mine locally since my RE is a few hours away. If I had done it at my RE, I probably would have tried to set up a WTF appointment, like you mentioned. You might be able to even do that over the phone when you talk to your doctor. (that's what I did). I had a long list of questions to ask the doctor when she called, so if you want that, I can try to list them. But, I'm thinking SO positively for you that you won't need that list. How have you been feeling?
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