What Is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
PCOS, short for polycystic ovarian syndrome, is a common condition related to hormones in which the ovaries dont always release an egg at the end of the menstrual cycle . It can lead to difficulty getting pregnant.
It is thought to be very common, affecting about 1 in every 5 women in the UK.
If you have polycystic ovaries :
- Your ovaries are slightly larger than normal
- you have many more follicles
Having polycystic ovaries does not mean that you have PCOS. PCO means your ovaries are slightly different from most women’s ovaries, while PCOS is disorder linked to having hormone levels that are not balanced.
/6when Is The Right Time To Seek Help
Like any medical problem, the earliest intervention makes way for timely help and treatment. Having a baby with PCOS is tricky, but not impossible. A little help from a guiding doctor, making lifestyle changes and controlling weight can go a long way in promoting fertility and good health.
Frequent intercourse, managing stress levels and last of all, being optimistic will help you conceive and have a baby of your own.
Consider seeking help if you face conceiving naturally six months after trying naturally. If you get very few periods in a year or have heavy bleeding, or are over 30, consulting a doctor can prevent problems.
How Does Pcos Affect Your Fertility
While it can be difficult for some women to become pregnant with PCOS, plenty of people do it may just take longer to conceive naturally. x
Even so, PCOS is one of the
That said, studies show that 1 in 4 women with PCOS still have regular periods and ovulate as usual. But even if this isnt the case for you, its still possible to get pregnant either naturally or with medical assistance.
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How Does Retroverted Uterus Get Pregnant
It just means that your uterus is tilted backward toward your spine rather than forward. A retroverted uterus has no effect on your ability to get pregnant. And it very rarely has any effect on pregnancy, labor, or birth. Most often an inverted uterus will correct itself by the second trimester, as it grows.
Pcos And In Vitro Fertilization
In vitro fertilization is the most effective fertility treatment available for PCOS patients. IVF treatment offers the highest success rates and quickest time to pregnancy of any Assisted Reproductive Technology . Research has shown that clinical pregnancy and live birth rates are similar for PCOS patients and women who ovulate normally without PCOS . Fertility specialists recommend IVF treatment to patients who have tubal blockages or severe male factors during their initial assessment, are of advanced age, or have failed other lesser treatments. IVF can also be used for patients who have undergone tubal ligation surgery.
IVF involves a multi-week/month process in which eggs are removed from a females ovaries, fertilized with sperm in a petri dish, grown inside a lab for several days , then transferred into the females uterus to develop for the remainder of gestation. IVF is used in conjunction with a multitude of medication protocols for PCOS patients to induce ovulation and produce more and higher quality eggs, embryos, and a receptive uterine lining.
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Nutrients Vitamins And Nutritional Facets
Here is a list of some the key nutrients, vitamins, and nutritional facets you need to make sure you are part of your diet regularly:
Water Drinking water helps support organ function, supports hormonal balance, and helps carry out toxins from the body. Collectively, this helps support your fertility.
Complex Carbohydrates Eating vegetables, whole grains, and fruits help you get nutrients that support your fertility and provides the fiber that works with water to help remove toxins from your body.
Protein Eating protein supports your fertility by providing nutrients that contribute to hormone production. However, red meat should be lean and limited. High red meat diets can lead to problems with endometriosis.
Fatty Acids Eating oily fish like mackerel and salmon, along with nuts and seeds, is a great way to get fatty acids that support your fertility and the development of your baby once you conceive.
Whole Milk Drinking whole milk is related to your fertility. A study by Chavarro and Rosner found that women who drank 3 or more glasses of whole milk a day were 70% less likely to be infertile due to failed ovulation.
Zinc Zinc deficiencies have negative effects on fertility for both men and women. Taking 15 mg of zinc daily help both men and women enhance their fertility. Zinc can be found in vegetables, eggs, whole grains, peas, onions, beans and more.
Getting Pregnant With Pcos: Why Is It Harder
Its true that for some people with PCOS, getting pregnant can take a little longer. Thats because PCOS a common hormonal disorder that affects between 5% and 10% of reproductive aged women can make some people ovulate irregularly, or not at all. As ovulation is a vital part of getting pregnant, this irregularity can make things tricky but more on that below.
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Will You Need An Egg Donor
It’s highly unusual for women with PCOS to require an egg donor, unless there are additional fertility issues at hand, like advanced age. However, women who have had procedures such as ovarian drilling or ovarian wedge resection to treat PCOS may have lower ovarian reserves. In this case, an egg donor may be necessary. This is one reason why surgical treatment for PCOS is not recommended.
Lifestyle Changes And Natural Fertility Supplements For Pcos
The chances of getting pregnant with PCOS are roughly the same as they are without PCOS, with the added caveat that irregular menstrual and ovulation cycles make it significantly more difficult to track and monitor optimal times to try to conceive. Age could further complicate things, with many women finding that getting pregnant with PCOS after 30 is a bit trickier than getting pregnant at the same age without PCOS.
Of course, tricky does not mean impossible. Here are three things that you can start doing today to help regulate your cycles and increase your chances of conception with PCOS.
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How I Got Pregnant With Pcos Naturally And Quickly
Are you trying to get pregnant but have PCOS? It may seem like it is a difficult or impossible situation but its really Not!
In fact, many women with the condition get pregnant on the very first try. You just have to educate yourself so you can get to where you want to be quicker.
Im going to tell you how to do it and what works for other women with PSOS so you can get that bun in the oven asap.
But just so you know, theres never any guarantee for anyone and Im not a medical professional. I am just telling you what worked for me and many, many others. Always discuss any decisions you decide to make with your doctor.
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Can Women With Pcos Get Pregnant
PCOS is a common fertility issue that makes the whole ovulation process a complication. During ovulation, the ovary releases the egg. In the presence of sperm, the egg might get fertilized. After the fertilization process, the egg travels to the uterus which then develops into a pregnancy.
In the absence of sperm, the fertilization process does not happen and that is when you get your periods.
For women to get pregnant, ovulation is of key importance. Thus, women having PCOS can conceive naturally but the stability of that pregnancy is a prevailing question. Furthermore, the quality of the egg is also compromised, and thus even if a woman is pregnant, the chances of sustaining the pregnancy are highly finite.
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If You Still Have A Negative Result
Sometimes, life doesnt go according to plan. You might try to get pregnant for a long time and keep getting disappointing results from pregnancy tests. You might wonder whether youre trying the right sex positions for conception, or if it just isnt meant to be.
Many people have to try for several months before getting a positive pregnancy test result.
If you think your partner may have some fertility issues or health concerns, you still have several options for growing your family.
Measure Your Metabolic Health
No one should ever feel ashamed of their weight. But the harsh reality is that both obesity and insulin resistance reduce fertility in women with PCOS . Because of this, your metabolic health can tell you a lot about your reproductive potential.
Obesity has many negative effects on reproductive processes. This includes reduced egg quality , disrupted embryo development, and impaired receptivity of the uterus . For overweight women with PCOS, reducing body fat is one of the best ways to improve fertility and pregnancy outcomes . Even modest weight loss of 5-10% can help .
Insulin resistance is one of the primary causes of both weight gain and infertility in women with PCOS . This means that it can tell us a lot about our reproductive health. Physicians will often use fasting plasma glucose and A1C as indicators of insulin sensitivity. For women wanting to conceive, changes to these biomarkers can be monitored for progress over time.
Overweight women are often insulin resistant. But this diagnosis is often missed in normal-weight women with PCOS. Excess stomach fat is a common sign of insulin resistance in otherwise lean women. Having a waist-to-hip ratio higher than 0.85 is also used to assess this problem.
This was also my own experience after transforming my diet. Following over four years of failed fertility treatments, I was able to regulate my cycle and fall pregnant naturally.
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Further Reading For Getting Pregnant If You Have Pcos
My doctor suggested the book Making Babies: A Proven 3-Month Program for Maximum Fertility by Sami David, MD and Jill Blakeway, Lac. You can pick up a copy here.
I havent read it, but for those of you who like to research, this is a doctor recommended resource that just might help.
This is one of the studies I read about the effects of myo-inositol on PCOS.
Use a planner like this one to keep track of your temperatures, cervical mucus, sex, doctors appointments and more:
If youve managed to get pregnant with PCOS, PLEASE share what worked for you in the comments! I get tons of comments and emails from women who just want so badly to carry and hold their own baby. You never know whose life you may touch by leaving a piece of advice that someone out there desperately needs to hear.
The Need For Medication
Healthy ovulation is affected by high levels of androgens. A healthy egg should be released during ovulation for successful conception. Hence, many women have to rely on medication for ovulation. These medications help you to ovulate regularly so that you can get pregnant. Approach your doctor or a fertility specialist to find out the best medicine and dosage for yourself.
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So The Question Becomes: Can You Get Pregnant If You Have Pcos
Despite having such a high infertility rate, women with PCOS can get pregnant naturally. In fact, many women with PCOS have seen improved fertility through the proper diet and lifestyle changes. So there is no need to immediately jump ship and go the route of different fertility treatments to cure your PCOS infertility. Get Pregnant with PCOS is a course designed to address ALL the changes you need to make to optimize your fertility and get pregnant. PLUS, it includes a weight loss option if youre looking to add this to your journey.
What Is The Best Medicine For Pcos To Get Pregnant
A medicine called clomifene is usually the first treatment recommended for women with PCOS who are trying to get pregnant. Clomifene encourages the monthly release of an egg from the ovaries . If clomifene is unsuccessful in encouraging ovulation, another medicine called metformin may be recommended.
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Is It Possible To Get Pregnant With Pcos Quickly
When you decide you want to have a baby, its normal to feel like you want it to happen immediately. With a condition like PCOS, things can be a bit more complicated, but it is possible to get pregnant with PCOS quickly if you manage your health properly. Having said that, theres no real metric for what quick is, apart from your own personal timeline, so try to keep that in mind if you decide you want to start trying.
Probably 60% plus can achieve spontaneous ovulation through improved lifestyle and weight loss over a span of a few months, says Pal. In that instance, provided you have one egg and your partners sperm is good quality, success rates go back to what they are for an ovulatory woman .
This was the case for Stephanie, who is now a very proud mom to her two-and-a-half-year-old son. When I did conceive, it was a complete and utter shock. It took four pregnancy tests and a scan to make me believe , she says.
Since managing her symptoms, Stephanie now has a more regular cycle and a lighter flow, and her ovarian cysts have shrunk. Increasing the amount of exercise she did, along with steady weight loss, also had some part to play. I looked at it like a lifestyle choice, she says. I changed my eating habits, and they have continued to change. I do a lot of walking Im up to 10 km a day sometimes, and walking also helps mentally, as well as with weight loss.
Start Taking Folate Supplements
Also known as vitamin B9, folic acid is incredibly important if you are trying to conceive. Folic acid supports the neural tube formation of your baby, ensuring proper brain development.
Doctors recommend taking at least 400 micrograms of folic acid a day leading up to conception and for the following 12 weeks after conception.
Why should you start taking folic acid before youre pregnant? The neural tube begins to develop quite soon after conception and is usually complete just four weeks into your pregnancy. Therefore, it might start to develop before you know youre pregnant.
Start taking a prenatal vitamin with folate as soon as you start trying for a baby. You can also get folate from eating beans, green leafy vegetables, and whole grains like brown rice.
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Artificial Insemination Or Iui
The second line of medical treatment in getting pregnant with PCOS is Artificial insemination, which is sometimes called intrauterine insemination . The medical procedure involves inserting the male partners sperm into the womans uterus at or just before the time of ovulation. If the woman has irregular menstrual cycles, IUI needs to be performed in combination with ovulation induction , else it can be done during a natural menstrual cycle.
How To Get Pregnant With Pcos A Struggle Between Hope And Infertility
I am not waiting for my stars to align
Just my hormones!!!
PCOS also known as polycystic ovarian syndrome is a medical condition that affects a million women worldwide. It is an infertility issue that is becoming more and more common in society. Women nowadays are rarely educated about their health and wellbeing and thus they often tend to suffer from such mishaps. The major issue that needs to be highlighted here is we as a society are not welcoming female reproductive education or the concept of fertility.
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Fertility Supplements And Vitamins
Many of the vitamins and nutrients found in fertility supplements can also be obtained by eating different foods. It is nearly impossible to ensure your body is getting all of the vitamins and minerals it needs to reduce PCOS symptoms and support reproduction through food alone.
Fertility supplement popularity continues to rise as new research emerges in support of different vitamins and minerals for overall and reproductive health. Studies have shown that certain supplements can have beneficial effects on PCOS-related symptoms such as immature oocytes, hyperandrogenism, and increased BMI .
Inositol
Inositol is a type of sugar that plays an essential role in many different bodily functions. Inositol is a significant component of cell membranes, it influences insulin production, and it affects chemical messengers in the brain. Poor ovarian response, a symptom of PCOS, is reported in 9-24% of all IVF cases.
Gonadotropin fertility drugs are commonly prescribed to PCOS patients undergoing fertility treatment to increase their ovarian response. Women are considered poor responders if their ovaries dont increase production after taking gonadotropin fertility drugs. Studies have shown that inositol can significantly improve ovarian response in women being treated with gonadotropins . Inositol is especially recommended for low responders and PCOS patients undergoing IVF treatment.
Carnitine
Vitamin D
Others
Reverse Any Insulin Resistance
Women with PCOS have problems with insulin resistance, which means that your blood sugar levels are elevated, as is your insulin level, this increases your risk of having trouble conceiving. Doctors can prescribe Metformin to help, but there are many side effects to this drug to consider. In the first instance, try cutting out sugar and refined carbs from your diet and making sure you get enough protein, fibre and healthy fats and you will see your blood sugar levels and your insulin level drop. Myo-inositol has been proven effective in treating insulin resistance in some PCOS women. The new InofolicAlpha, which contains both myo-inositol and alpha-Lactalbumin, can help reverse insulin resistance even more effectively.
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