Do You Need Fertility Help?

My Mother used to say "If in doubt - get checked out" As usuall she was right. It's far better than stressing and not knowing.

Getting Pregnant Fertility Help - Who Needs Them and When Do You Get Them?

The question now becomes, who really need these getting pregnant fertility help tips? I have identified several groups of men and women who need getting pregnant fertility help tips and treatment.

Women with irregular menses. These women include those who have very prolonged periods of bleeding (menorrhagia) and those who have no menses at all (amenorrhea). A regular monthly cycle is presumptive evidence that a woman is ovulating. Eighty percent of the time, ovulation occurs once each month in these women.

The most common reason why a woman has irregular monthly periods is because her hormones are out of whack. The hormones estrogen and progesterone, aided by the follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), follow a carefully orchestrated pattern which results in ovulation. If fertilization does not occur, our menses will come 2 weeks after.

Fertility among women with irregular menses greatly improves when their menses are regularized. A lot of synthetic hormone preparations, especially that of progesterone, are available now. If you do not wish to take these, the herb Vitex or chasteberry has been shown to stimulate hormone production back to its normal levels. Ginkgo biloba, Ladies' mantle, and Siberian ginseng are also believed to exert positive effects on our hormones.

Obese women. Obese women often have menstrual problems. Fat cells are an exogenous source of estrogen. Having too much estrogen exerts a negative feedback on the ovaries, which ultimately leads to anovulation. Women who are obese also often have difficult pregnancies. Obesity may be accompanied by hypertension and diabetes, two diseases which can adversely affect pregnancy outcomes.

Women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). PCOS is a condition characterized by oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea, signs of hyperandrogenism, and infertility. The underlying mechanism behind this syndrome is the presence of too much androgenic hormones, which hinder ovulation and disrupts the normal menstrual cycle.

Women with polycystic ovarian syndrome are usually given ovulation-enhancing drugs, such as clomiphene citrate. Because women with PCOS are oftentimes obese, doctors would also advise these women to lose weight. Metformin, a drug oftentimes used for diabetes, may also be given to these women to improve their chances of getting pregnant.

Women with PCOS will find it difficult to conceive naturally. These women are good candidates for getting pregnant fertility help.

Women with endometriosis. Most women with endometriosis will have difficulty in getting pregnant. Endometriosis may result in tubes being blocked, preventing fertilization. However, there are a lot of women with this condition who has conceived without any help. The severity of endometriosis does not correlate with the chances of getting pregnant.

If you have endometriosis and has been attempting to get pregnant without success, your doctor may recommend that you undergo hysterosalpingogram or laparoscopy. These two procedures will help your doctor assess the patency of your tubes. If there is a block, you may opt to undergo a procedure called salpingoneostomy (to open up the block) or in vitro fertilization.

Infertile couple. Couples who have been trying unsuccessfully to conceive within 12 months are also candidates for getting pregnant fertility help. In couples older than 35 years old, they should seek fertility advice after 6 months of trying unsuccessfully.