Polycystic ovary disease, also known as Stein-Leventhal syndrome or PCOS, occurs in 5 to 10 percent of women of childbearing age, according to the American Pregnancy Association. PCOS is the most common hormonal disorder in childbearing-aged women, according to the Mayo Clinic. PCOS is characterized by an excess of male hormones and can affect a woman's ability to get pregnant because it causes anovulation, a lack of ovulation, and irregular or absent menstrual periods. Medications and lifestyle changes can help a woman with PCOS become pregnant.
Step 1
See a fertility specialist. Fertility specialists are best able to help you get pregnant through regular monitoring, medication administration and surgery, if necessary.
Step 2
Take Clomid to induce ovulation. Clomid is usually the first medication tried for women with PCOS who want to get pregnant. Women with PCOS have an imbalance in their hormone levels that results in development of a number of small, poorly developed ovarian follicles, according to the National Institutes of Health Medline Plus. Clomid is an oral anti-estrogen medication, which means it lowers estrogen levels in an attempt to have the body make more follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), which encourages egg production.
Step 3
Take insulin-lowering medication. Women with PCOS produce excess amounts of insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar. Women with PCOS are much more likely to develop type 2 diabetes and may be prediabetic. Medications such as metformin (brand name Glucophage) are given to lower insulin levels, which helps decrease the symptoms of PCOS by lowering androgen levels, according to the Mayo Clinic. This helps regulate menstrual cycles.
Step 4
Inject gonadotropins. Your doctor might prescribe these injectable fertility medications if Clomid isn't regulating menstrual cycles or inducing ovulation, according to the Mayo Clinic. Because women with PCOS have a higher-than-normal number of follicles on their ovaries, they have a higher risk for multiple births, according to the American Pregnancy Association, so monitoring the ovaries during the menstrual cycle is essential.
Step 5
Change your lifestyle with diet and exercise.This is probably the most difficult part of decreasing PCOS symptoms. Losing weight by reducing the amount of simple sugars you eat and starting a regular exercise regimen can help women with PCOS regulate cycles, reduce insulin levels and increase chances of becoming pregnant, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Step 6
Undergo surgical treatment. An older treatment still used sometimes today for treatment of PCOS, according to the Mayo Clinic, is ovarian drilling. This surgery is done laparoscopically through very tiny incisions; a laser burns holes in some of the follicles on the ovary. This is intended to decrease the amount of androgen being produced so that ovulation will occur.
Tips and Warnings
- Don't get discouraged. Many women with PCOs do get pregnant.
- Women with PCOS have an increased chance of developing gestational diabetes or pregnancy-induced hypertension, according to the Mayo Clinic.
