You have been trying to conceive for a long time. You are also getting your menstrual period every month. But you are not getting pregnant. You are frustrated about why you are not getting pregnant. You never realize that you have a major problem of anovulatory cycle.
So What Is An Anovulatory Cycle?
It simply means, your ovaries are not releasing the ripened egg each month during your menstrual cycle. Because of this, you can’t get pregnant with anovulatory cycle.
About 40% of infertility in women is caused by an anovulatory cycle. Anovulation is one of the major menstrual cycle disorders affecting the woman all over the world.
By the way!
Anovulatory cycle is common:
Most women experience anovulatory cycles at some point in their lives. Here are some phases of life in which anovulatory cycles are common.
- 2-3 years after a woman’s first period.
- 2-3 years leading up to menopause.
- Women who are breastfeeding
- Women who have recently come off the Pill (Some cases)
Trouble is…
If you experience anovulatory cycle other than these four phases of life, you must realize that something is going wrong in your body. This will affect your fertility and also cause other chronic diseases.
Take a look…
In this article, you are going to learn what is the underlying cause of anovulatory cycle, what are its symptoms and what’s the best treatment for this problem. Before we get into details, first you need to understand what exactly anovulatory cycle is and how it differentiates from a normal cycle.
Anovulatory cycle vs Normal cycle:
The average monthly menstrual cycle for women is 28 days. This can vary, depending on what is “normal” for each individual woman, but in general – you experience 4 phases each month. Those phases include:
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The Menstrual Phase: The duration of your period, starting with day one of bleeding.
The Follicular Phase: When the lining of your uterus begins building up and follicles start maturing in preparation for ovulation.
The Ovulatory Phase: When a mature egg is released from your ovary.
The Luteal Phase: The days following ovulation when your body prepares for fertilization and implantation, or the start of a new cycle. Learn more…
And like I said…
During the ovulatory phase, if the matured egg is released from the ovary, we call it a normal cycle. In case, if the egg is not released from the ovary for whatever the reason, we call it a anovulatory cycle.
Now, you clearly know what is an anovulatory cycle. But the question is how to distinguish an anovulatory cycle and ovulatory cycle (Normal cycle).
How do you know if you have anovulatory Cycle?
Many women often doubt whether they’re having anovulatory cycle. And, therefore, ask questions like “Am I having an anovulatory cycle?” “Did I have an anovulatory cycle this month?” “How to tell if I have an anovulatory cycle?” let us find answers to these questions.
Short or long cycles: Some women who are anovulatory have really long cycles and light, infrequent periods, while others have short cycles with heavy periods. If your cycles are shorter than 21 days, or longer than 36 days, that may be a sign that you are anovulatory.
Charting your basal body temperature: The first step is to find out for sure whether you are ovulating or not. Charting your basal body temperature will clue you into this. If you don’t experience a clear, sustained temperature shift during your cycle, it’s highly unlikely that you ovulated. If you do experience a temperature shift that is sustained for at least three days, then you can confirm ovulation.
Tracking your cervical fluid: Tracking your cervical fluid can also help you determine when you are approaching ovulation. However, keep in mind that it is possible for women with hormonal imbalances to experience ‘false peaks’ in which their cervical fluid builds up from infertile to seemingly fertile and then back to infertile again, but ovulation does not occur. That’s why it’s important to keep track of your BBT and your cervical fluid – so you can know for sure if and when ovulation occurs! Learn more…
So, based on these three factors you can figure out, whether you’re having anovulatory cycle or normal cycle. However, in some rare cases, women will have what we call as silent anovulation. Let me discuss a little bit about silent anovulation.
Anovulation with regular periods (Silent anovulation)
Women who have regular, normal-length periods do not always ovulate. A 2015 study found one-third of all seemingly normal menstrual cycles may be egg-less, known as “silent anovulation.” This occurs when a woman appears to have a regular cycle, but the ovaries release no egg. This can threaten a woman’s fertility, increasing her risk of boneless, early heart attack, and breast cancer. Stress is linked to silent anovulation, and researchers believe this is the body’s evolutionary response to stop us from getting pregnant when we’re amiss. Read more…
So far we have discussed what is anovulatory cycle, how to know whether you’re having anovulatory cycle or not. If you have an anovulatory cycle, you may want to know the symptoms of anovulatory cycle.
Symptoms of an anovulatory cycle:
Since women with anovulation can also continue menstruating, it can be difficult to detect the symptoms of anovulation. However, when no ovulation takes place, the following symptoms may appear:
- irregular basal body temperature (BBT)
- heavy or excessive bleeding during menstruation
- no menstrual period (amenorrhea)
- irregular menstruation (oligomenorrhea)
- decreased symptoms of PMS
- no PMS symptoms Read more here…
Going by these symptoms, you might have realized that anovulatory cycle is a sign of a major menstrual disorder. Something is messing up with your ovulation, egg health and your fertility. You must understand the cause of anovulation or anovulatory cycle so that you can fix this problem effectively. So let’s dive into the causes of anovulation.
Causes for the anovulatory cycle
Ovulation is a natural process. If you have had an anovulatory cycle, it means something is going wrong in your hormonal system. Remember, your reproductive system is regulated by the pituitary (LH and FSH) and ovarian hormones (Estrogen and Progesterone). When these hormonal Systems get disturbed, they will naturally affect your reproductive system and thereby your fertility also.
So, the main cause of anovulation is a hormonal imbalance. Two other apparent factors like PCOS and early menopause also causes anovulation. Let us discuss them here…
Signs of an anovulatory cycle
PCOS: One of the most common causes of anovulation is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. But, there are LOTS of other factors that may cause you to have anovulatory cycles – such as being overweight, underweight, exercising too much, thyroid dysfunction, stress, illness, extended travel, and other hormonal imbalances – to name a few! Learn more here…
Early menopause: In an older patient, over 40, the reason for not ovulating may be related to the fact that she is undergoing early menopause, and the eggs that remain are few. Ovulation medications like FSH can be given to maximize the pregnancy rate as well. Learn more here…
The root cause of anovulatory cycle
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You already know hormonal disorder is the main culprit of the anovulatory cycle. But the question is why your hormonal system getting disturbed. It is here you need to pay your attention. If you can grasp this, you can easily deal with anovulatory cycle.
Anovulation can have many causes. Stress, some types of drugs, anxiety, hormonal imbalances, excessive exercise or weight loss might lead to anovulation.
Vigorous exercising can affect ovulation, and therefore, disrupt the menstrual cycle. The pituitary gland translates this activity as an inopportune time to stress the body with reproduction, inhibiting the signal to the ovary to promote ovulation. Extreme exercising could also affect implantation, or the egg’s ability to attach itself to the inside of the uterus. Emotional, social, or physical factors can cause changes body-wide, affecting our cycle. Learn more…
So what is the root cause of your anovulatory cycle?
The answer is simple. Stress and wrong food choices. Knowingly or unknowingly your food choices and lifestyle is causing a hormonal disturbance. And as a result, you are suffering from anovulatory cycle and infertility.
Now, you know the root cause of your problem. It is time to discuss various treatment options for the anovulatory cycle and what is the best treatment for it…
Anovulatory cycle: Three treatment options
An anovulatory cycle is a sign of deteriorating reproductive system and hormonal systems. It is like a warning signal. Addressing the root cause should be the focal point of your treatment.
Three treatment options are available to you. You can consider all or two or one of the following treatment options, depending on your condition.
1. Anovulatory cycle: How to treat anovulation
Most treatment for anovulation falls into one of two regimens: clomiphene citrate (clomiphene citrate (Clomid) human menopausal gonadotropins (human menopausal gonadotropins (hMG) or follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) with or without clomiphene. Read more…
Depo-Provera is another medication that may be prescribed for the purpose of regulating menstruation. Read more…
Efficacy & side effects of Clomid:
Clomid cannot solve poor egg health, PCOS, amenorrhea, etc. It is once a month stimulation drug, which you must go back for each cycle, in the hope that the stimulation will make you ovulate.
The use of Clomid comes with the possibility of the following common side effects:
- multiple births
- enlarged ovaries
- pain and bloating in the abdomen/pelvis
- headache
- nausea
- mid-cycle spotting
- heavy menstrual bleeding
Other side effects include mood swings, headaches, fatigue, and breast tenderness.
In approximately 30% of women taking Clomid, their cervical mucus will become hostile to sperm, thereby preventing conception. Read more…
So in conclusion, modern treatment try to correct the hormonal imbalance through various hormone stimulating drugs. This may set the right anovulatory cycle and bring back natural ovulation in some women.
Why prescription medicine doesn’t work for many…
Modern treatment can correct hormonal imbalance temporarily. But it can never fix it permanently. Because your hormonal problem is dietary and the lifestyle problem and therefore, you can correct this only through diets and lifestyle changes. That is why prescription medicine works for some women but doesn’t work for others.
Now you know the pros and cons of modern treatment. The 2nd option to treat your anovulatory cycle is natural methods. Let’s discuss this.
2. Anovulatory cycle: How to treat anovulation naturally
Fertility herbs are the safe and effective way to treat anovulatory cycle. Unlike prescription medications healing herbs do not cause any side effects. Here are some of the proven herbal remedies to treat anovulation naturally.
Tribulus may normalize ovulation in infertile women when used prior to ovulation. One study performed on 36 women who were not ovulating, showed that 67% realized normal ovulation after only 2-3 months of consistent use. Tribulus has also been found to be a nourishing tonic for the female reproductive system as a whole, especially concerning the ovaries.
Vitex supports hormonal balance in the body by having an effect on the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis (hormonal feedback loop), correcting the problem at the source. Vitex has been used to reduce Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) with great results. This herb takes time to be effective but works to normalize the entire menstrual cycle, not force ovulation.
Shatavari is a supportive female reproductive health tonic. Shatavari’s main constituents are steroidal saponins, suggesting its use as an estrogen regulator, the estrogen modulating in turn, may contribute to menstrual cycle regulation. This plant has shown to protect the body from stressors, including stress-related infertility issues. It also supports healthy cervical mucous production. Read more here…
3. Anovulatory cycle: How to treat anovulation with home remedies
Either the prescription medications or fertility herbs stimulate the hormonal system and help in the restoration of hormonal imbalance. However, they can’t completely root out the source problem. Changing the lifestyle with home remedies is the only way to fix the anovulatory cycle problem permanently. Here are some of the tips that you can use for treating your problem.
- Research indicates that diet can adversely affect ovulation. However, proper diet and exercise can effectively solve these issues and benefit women trying to conceive. Below listed are diet tips for women with ovulation problems.
- Steer clear from French fries, fried food, margarine, doughnut and other trans-fat high foods.
- Avoid refined carbohydrates like white bread /pasta/ rice, potatoes. Also, foods which are high in sugar like soda or breakfast cereal (with high sugar content).
- Consume carbohydrates which get digested slowly, for example, whole grain bread, brown rice, brown pasta etc.
- Have more of proteins from vegetables, rather than animal proteins. Example, have more lentils and beans and less meat, chicken, turkey etc. Fish and eggs too are a better choice than red meat.
Other Tips
- Reduce stress by indulging in activities like walking, yoga or listening to relaxing music.
- Avoid alcohol, cigarettes and tobacco. Read the details here…
So far we have discussed 3 treatment options for treating your anovulatory cycle. You may have confusion as to which treatment is best for you. Let’s discuss this now…
What is the best treatment for the anovulatory cycle…
Every woman desires to have a baby. For certain woman, this happens naturally without any problem. But for others, trying to conceive becomes a nightmare.
Why a normal process of conception becomes complicated for you?
You need to ask this question yourself…
Look!
When you don’t understand the problem the solution appears to be difficult. Conversely, if you can understand the problem, fixing the problem becomes easy. The purpose of this article is to help you understand the root cause of the anovulatory cycle.
For your easy understanding, I wrap up what we have discussed so far.
- Incorrect lifestyle is causing your hormonal imbalance.
- Hormonal imbalance is causing you anovulatory cycle.
- Anovulatory cycle is causing your infertility.
This is the essence of what we discussed so far…
Prescription medications or herbal remedies may restore hormonal balance temporarily. But they can’t fix the hormonal imbalance permanently. The permanent solution lies in changing your food choices and lifestyle.
So the best treatment for an anovulatory cycle is combining herbal treatment and lifestyle changes. This is the best treatment because you are fixing the root cause of the problem. i.e the hormonal imbalance caused by incorrect lifestyle. And that is how you can fight your infertility caused due to anovulation.
Conclusion: How to get pregnant with anovulation
Anovulation is not just a fertility disorder. It is a signal of deteriorating overall health. Doing the same things like Clomid cycles and checking charts does not bring any luck. The delay could damage reproductive organs irreversibly and put your health at serious risk.