Although most people do not realize it, Infertility is a disease. A disease that affects millions of women and even men each and every year. It can become a very hard disease to overcome. I myself have battled infertility for 2+ years. My story, like many others are very similar. So many woman use contraceptives for years trying to prevent pregnancy, just to find out that getting pregnant when they are ready is not the easiest thing to do. Myself personally has gone through years of heartache month after month. This is a very depressing disease and may cause couples with a lot of sadness, anger or grief. I will walk you through some of the symptom and even possible treatments of this disease.
Infertility
Infertility is not only a disease, but for some may also become a life crisis. For others it may just be a rock in the road that is a little easier to overcome. Infertility is defined as the inability to become pregnant after 1+ years of regular unprotected sexual intercourse. Even in very fertile couples, there is only a 25% chance of pregnancy each menstrual cycle. There are many low tech things you can do at home if it is taking longer than you expected to fall pregnant. First, you can take a basal body temperature daily. In order to do this you must have a basal thermometer. You must wake up at exactly the same time every morning and take your temperature before eating, drinking, talking, smoking or even sitting up in bed. Record your temperature daily on a basal body temperature chart. Before ovulation your temps should stay fairly low usually between 97.0-97.7 degrees. After ovulation your temps will rise at least 0.2 degrees and stay there usually 97.7-98.6 degrees. You must have three days of higher temps to confirm ovulation has happened. This will tell you if you ovulate every month, and about what cycle day it happens. Once you get a little familiar with when you ovulate, you can include doing urine ovulation predictor kits at home. These look just like pregnancy test but only turn positive 24-36 hours before ovulation is to take place. The ovulation predictor kit will determine when you are getting ready to ovulate. Basal body temp charts only confirm after you have ovulated. Once you have been trying to conceive for longer than a year, or more than six months if you are thirty-five years or older than it is time to see an infertility specialist.
Once you see an infertility specialist the first thing they will do is take a history of your menstrual cycles. Are your cycles regular? What is the interval of days from cycle to cycle? Have you ever been pregnant before? Have you had a live births, miscarriages, or abortions? Do you have PMS, such as breast tenderness, bloating, or water retention? How long have you been trying to conceive? Do you have any mid cycle pain or cramping? Next, they may ask about your family history. Did anyone in your family also have problems getting pregnant? If so, was there a specific cause? Was it a hormonal imbalance or physical problem? More importantly, did your mother take DES while pregnant with you? DES is a medication that was given to women before 1971 to try to prevent miscarriage. This drug can cause a lot of damage to a fetus when taken when the mother is pregnant. Damage to the ovaries or uterus is just a few of the many problems that DES can cause.
After the doctor gets all the oral information that is needed, the next thing will be to have a pelvic or Pap smear to rule out any infections or internal problems. They will probably also order some test such as blood test to check for hormone levels to include checking your thyroid level. They may also order a HSG, which is an x-ray of the fallopian tubes to make sure you have no blockages. Other test include a postcoital test, semen analysis of your partner, and most importantly a luteal progesterone test preferably seven days after you think or predicted you ovulated. Elevated Progesterone levels shows ovulation did in fact occur. Ovulation disorders can account for up to 60-70% of all infertility difficulties in women.
If it has been proven that you have an ovulatory disorder then the best treatment option would be an oral medication named Clomid. Clomid is a 50mg tablet and is taken 5 days a month at the beginning of your menstrual cycle usually starting on cycle days 3, 4, or 5 with the first day of red bleeding being cycle day 1. Ovulation should occur 5-12 days after the last pill is taken. Incidence of multiples is 8-10%. This medication should be taken no more than six months. If after six months you still have no conceived, you should talk to your physician about trying other options.
The next thing would be an injectable medication, Pure FSH. Pure FSH stimulates your ovaries to produce multiple follicles. Pure Follicle Stimulating Hormone is much more potent than Clomid. Injectable FSH is made from the urine of post menopausal women. Incidence of multiples can be upwards of 30%.
If it comes about that your fallopian tubes are blocked, depending on the severity surgery may be the only option. If it is found you have hostile cervical mucus, cervical mucus that is to acidic and kills your partners sperm, than IUI may be the best option. IUI is the action of your partner's sperm being injected straight into your uterus through a catheter. You will than bypass all the cervical mucus barriers.
There are so many treatment options available such as Ovulation Induction medications, intrauterine insemination, in vitro fertilization, and egg & sperm donation. With the technology today up to 90% of couples will be able to fully recover from this horrible disease and be able to have a child. For the other 10% of couples not able to bore a child, Adoption and surrogacy are still very good options if you so choose to go that route.
