What are the popular ways of predicting Ovulation?
Predicting ovulation is vital to successful conception. Ovulation is the release of a single, mature egg from the ovarian follicle following a Leutinising Hormone (LH) surge. When this egg or ovum is fertilized and implanted it results in pregnancy. Knowledge of the ovulation or fertile period can be very useful for women who are trying to conceive.There are various methods devised to predict ovulation. The best way to determine if you are ovulating is to pay attention to your body and learn to spot the signs that ovulation is imminent.
Ovulation Tests / Ovulation Predictor Kits
Ovulation tests work by detecting the pre-ovulation LH Surge in your body. These are very popular, can be used at home and allow you to predict, with great accuracy, your most fertile time of the month.Clearly, the dynamics of the menstruation differ greatly among women. Length and regularity of the cycle may vary between women or for a particular woman over time. However, if your menstrual cycle occurs more frequently than every 21 days – or if your cycle is longer than 35 days, your cycle can be considered a bit irregular. If it consistently lasts more than 45 days, you may want to talk to your doctor. An irregular cycle or missed period is not necessarily a sign of a medical issue and can be influenced by diet, stress, and increase in physical activity, or illness. However, prolonged irregularities can indicate irregular ovulation, or anovulation (no ovulating at all). In such cases, contact your doctor.
What is Anovulation? (Female Infertility Issues: Anovulation)
Anovulation means lack of ovulation, or absent ovulation. Ovulation, which is the release of an egg from the ovary, must happen in order to achieve pregnancy. If ovulation is irregular, but not completely absent, this is called oligovulation. Both anovulation and oligovulation are kinds of ovulatory dysfunction. Ovulatory dysfunction is a common cause of female infertility, occurring in up to 40% of infertile women.
What are the Symptoms of Anovulation or Ovulatory Dysfunction?
Usually, women with anovulation will haveirregular periods. Or, in the worst case, they may not get their cycles at all. If your cycles are shorter than 21 days, or longer than 36 days, you may have ovulatory dysfunction.Also, if your cycles fall within the normal range of 21 to 36 days, but the length of your cycles varies widely from month to month, that may also be a sign of ovulatory dysfunction. (For example, one month your period is 22 days, the next it’s 35.)It is possible to get your cycles on an almost normal schedule and not ovulate, though this isn’t common. A menstrual cycle where ovulation doesn’t occur is called an anovulatory cycle.
How Does Anovulation and Ovulatory Dysfunction Cause Infertility?
For a couple without infertility, the chances of conception are about 25% each month. So even when ovulation happens, a couple isn’t guaranteed to conceive.When a woman is anovulatory, she can’t get pregnant because there is no egg to be fertilized. If a woman has irregular ovulation, she has fewer chances to conceive, since she ovulates less frequently. Plus, it seems that late ovulation doesn’t produce the best quality eggs, which may also make fertilization less likely.
Also, it’s important to remember that irregular ovulation means the hormones in the woman’s body aren’t quite right. These hormonal irregularities can sometimes lead to other issues, like lack of fertile cervical mucus, thinner or over thickening of the endometrium(where the fertilized egg needs to implant), abnormally low levels of progesterone, and ashorter luteal phase.
What Causes Anovulation?
Anovulation and ovulatory dysfunction can be caused by a number of factors. The most common cause of ovulatory dysfunction is polycystic ovarian syndrome, PCOS.
Other potential causes of irregular or absent ovulation:
What are the Potential Treatments for Anovulation?
Treatment will depend on the cause of the anovulation. Some cases of anovulation can be treated by lifestyle change or diet. If low body weight or extreme exercise is the cause of anovulation, gaining weight or lessening your exercise routine may be enough to restart ovulation.The same goes for obesity. If you are overweight, losing even 10% of your current weight may be enough to restart ovulation.The most common treatment for anovulation is fertility drugs. Usually, Clomid is the first fertility drug tried. Clomid can trigger ovulation in 80% of anovulatory women, and help about 45% get pregnant within six months of treatment. If Clomid doesn’t work, there are many other drugs worth trying.
