How will my irregular periods affect my ability to get pregnant?
Irregular Periods
Menstrual cycles that vary more than a few days in length from month to month are considered irregular cycles or periods. Most menstrual cycle intervals occur about every four weeks, with the normal range between 24 and 35 days. To measure your menstrual cycle, start counting from the first day of your last period and stop counting on the first day of your next period. Don't worry if you have one or two irregular cycles because occasionally all women have variations in their periods. True irregularity persists over several months. So if you do notice wide fluctuations in your cycle, speak to your doctor about it.
Irregular periods and getting pregnant
Irregular periods can be troublesome when trying to get pregnant. Irregular or abnormal ovulation and menstruation accounts for 30% to 40% of all cases of infertility. Irregularity, per se, is not necessarily a problem if you learn how to chart your fertility signs, especially cervical fluid, to determine when you are approaching your short window of fertility. But, if cycles are very long, it means by definition, that ovulation is not occurring as often as it would with a typical monthly cycle, a condition known clinically as anovulation.
There are numerous factors that determine how fertile a woman is, such as her age, whether and how often she ovulates, whether her cervical fluid is wet enough to sustain sperm, whether her fallopian tubes are open, etc. But the most important of all is the release of the egg itself. If you don't release an egg, meaning you don't ovulate, you don't have as many opportunities to get pregnant.
Treatment for irregular periods
Women with irregular periods are often prescribed fertility drugs like Clomid to increase the number of ovulation periods. But if you would rather try a more natural approach, you might want to see a naturopathic doctor first to see if they can prescribe a less harsh treatment.
Although anovulation can usually be treated with fertility drugs, it is important to rule out other conditions that could interfere with ovulation, such as liver disease, diabetes, problems with the ovaries, and abnormalities of the adrenal, pituitary, or thyroid glands, which produce important hormones.
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Cervical Mucus - How it Relates to Your Fertility Cycle
What is an Anovulatory Cycle, what causes it and how to prevent it?
How does Clomid help with ovulation?
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