How do you find out if you're anovulatory?

[Kiko's_Bride]

This might be kind of obvious, but how do you know if you're typically anovulatory? I mean, can you be anovulatory and still get AF?

I'm asking because my doc said that I was having ovulatory cycles because I experience PMS symptoms when I do get AF (as infrequent as it is). Is this all he needed to know, or did he put it together with my hormone testing?



Thanks if you can shed any light on this!

[TennGirl]

I'm interested to know the answer to this as well....

[shenacat]

Usually, women experience PMS symptoms more severely when they ovulate. For example, sore breasts/nips, moody, etc. Due to the hormone swings that naturally occur. This isn't written in stone however... hormones can be messed up in any number of ways.

The best way to tell if you've O'd is to take your morning temperature every AM before getting out of bed (at the same time hopefully every day). When your temp spikes about 1 point (F) for three days in a row or so you've probably O'd. There are also other signs, such as cervical mucus (it supposedly changes texture, gets stringy, like egg whites, and there's more of it), etc. Some women feel the ovary pop and get something called Mittleshultz syndrome where it actually hurts the sciatic nerve or some such.

Sometimes docs will do a u/s to see if your follicles are ready to pop, but that's about all they can do... and it's not usually practical to assume doing that every month unless you're doing fertility treatments and need monitoring closely.

[Kiko's_Bride]

Thanks for your insight, shenacat. I'm sorry about your loss.

I started charting today, even though I know you aren't really supposed to start until the 1st day of your cycle. I couldn't wait until whenever that might be, so I decided to get in the habit already. I wonder why my doc said I was ovulatory -- maybe because my cramps were worse than usual?

[Eponine]

I just got a book called "Your Fertility Signals" or something of the like, I can't really remember. But before that, I was charting, and I didn't know whether I was ovulating or not, though AF came regularly. Every day I would have watery CM. If you get this only a few days in your cycle, it means that you're most likely fertile. But if you have it every day thrugh your whole cycle without change like I did, it means you're prolly anovulatory. That's how I figured it out.

[Statlady]

I don't suppose it's possible to ovulate and *not* have AF, is it?

[Gizmo]

It is possible to ovulate and not have aunt flo... it happens all the time. (Of course, it only happens when you get pregnant... )

I have read that cramps are worse during ovulatory preiods... and this is certainly the case for me. I suspect this is the reason the Pill is supposed to help with cramps... you have non-ovulatory cycles on it. I always have cramps the first day or two of a ovulatory period.

Still, I would think you need a little more than this to be sure you are ovulating...

What kind of doctor are you seeing?

[Kiko's_Bride]

I'm seeing a gynecologist. I think I had told him last time I saw him that I experienced the worst cramps I've ever had when AF arrived for the first time in 120 days. L literally had to sleep it off for two days -- I couldn't think or concentrate on anything!

I always have cramps and PMS symptoms, but it just seems wierd that that's all he needs to know. I get the sense from him that he feels we've caught the PCOS before things have gotten out of hand -- I'm still in normal weight range, and my other symptoms are mild, although annoying. And we're not TTC (well, not actively anyway ), so he probably thinks testing for ovulation is not an issue yet.

I'm debating about whether I need to see an RE now, partially because my doc is part of a hospital affiliated practice of OB/GYN, and I would imagine that if/when I start having fertility problems, he will refer me to a specialist.

Thanks for the input!

[Gizmo]

I would suggest finding a regular endocrinologist. I personally have had only bad experiences with REs - they don't seem to find you worth their time if you're not aggressively TTC. I've had better luck with regular endos - just make sure to find one who treats PCOS/women's issues - a lot of them do, these days.

Most gynos don't seem to know much about PCOS, in my experience... I am in normal weight range, yet full blown. My lack of serious obesity made me go undiagnosed for years... I kept hearing I was too thin to have PCOS... ha!

Good luck!

[KatCarney]

When I was dx'd, my doc said that my periods were annovulatory judging by the length of my cycles, and the enormous number of cysts on my ovaries. I also had mid-cycle spotting around the time I was 'supposed' to ovulate. My pms symptoms were pretty bad at that time.

Now that my symptoms have subsided, my cycle is a normal 28 days (almost to the hour), and I have minimal (if any) pms symptoms.

I think one way to see if you're ovulating is to measure your basal temps...

Kat