Getting Pregnant With PCOS

PCOS or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome – also referred to as Polycystic Ovarian Disease or PCOD – is a common hormone disorder affecting women in the reproductive age bracket. Simply put, it is a disease characterized by excesses – excess of follicles, excess of sugar, excess of body fat, excess skin pigmentation, excess body or facial hair, and excess of male hormones. Improper ovulation triggered by PCOS can often lead to infertility in women or at least reduces the chances of natural conception.

Challenging as it may be, getting pregnant if you have PCOS is not impossible. If your maternal instincts have been making you yearn for baby-making, here is how you can do it despite (or with) PCOS:

The Natural Way

The infertility rate in women suffering from PCOS is relatively high. The condition has been identified as the cause of infertility among 10 percent of women globally. Even though there is no cure for PCOS, the good news is that medical experts believe it is possible to regulate this condition with a certain lifestyle and dietary changes. Once the excess production of follicles or insulin or other common effects of this disorder are brought under check, the chances of healthy ovulation improve automatically. This means it is possible for women living with PCOS to get pregnant naturally by following these few simple measures:

• Follow a PCOS friendly diet that is high in fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, nuts and whole wheat, while limiting the consumption of sugar, processed foods, fried foods, meats, carbs, milk and dairy products.
• Include a workout regimen in your routine to maintain a healthy body weight and alleviate stress – which is considered to be a common trigger for this hormonal disorder.
• Women affected by PCOS grapple with weight issues. Being overweight or obese anyway slims down your chances of conception, so weight loss should definitely be on the agenda.
• Quitting smoking and use of recreational drugs, and cutting back on alcohol is a must for regulating the hormones.
• Certain multi-vitamin supplements can help regulate PCOS by supplying the body with a required dose of essential nutrients
• According to 2014 published in the American Journal of Obstetrics; Gynecology, a teaspoon of cinnamon a day can help in regulating the various ill-effects of PCOS. Similarly, use of herbs such as evening primrose, chaste berry, and red raspberry leaf can also improve your chances of natural conception.
• Several acupuncture practitioners swear by the effectiveness of this Chinese form of medicine in effectively managing several problems associated with PCOS, including infertility.

With Medication

In certain cases, these lifestyle changes may take a long time to prove effective and a lot of women feel nervous about the wait because the biological clock is ticking. In that scenario, you can also rely on mainstream medication to get pregnant. Some of the popularly used procedures include:

• Insulin controlling drug Metformin is often used to stimulate conception, as it has been proven to help with fertility.
• A patient may be put on medicines, such as Clomiphene citrate, that stimulate ovulation.
• You can also be prescribed a course of hormone shots to get your body to start ovulating.
• Letrozole may be used to increase FSH (or follicle-stimulating hormone) levels in the body while blocking out estrogen production.
• Ovarian drilling is used as a last resort in case none of the other lines of treatment works. It is a surgical procedure with a high success rate. Almost 80 percent of women undergoing this procedure begin ovulating and at least 60 percent of them conceive.

A pregnancy with PCOS is definitely not going be an easy ride. As long as you take necessary precautions and work with your doctor to monitor the progress of your pregnancy regularly, you should be fine.