Tahira has very irregular periods. She has been married for the past 2 years and she and her husband really want to have a baby. Does she need treatment for regularising her periods? How can she ovulate every month?

Not producing an egg every month may be one of the main reasons for not conceiving. When a woman has her period every month, it usually means that she is ovulating i.e. producing an egg. If a woman has a period at irregular intervals, she may not be producing an egg every month, thus reducing her chances of conceiving. In other words, if a woman has a period once in two months, she has only 6 chances of conceiving in a year.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a condition where the woman has irregular periods, usually from the time she attained puberty. It may also be associated with excess body or facial hair, oily skin and acne, weight gain (especially around the waist), darkened colour and change in texture of the skin along the neck and armpits and on the groin and inner thighs.

It is important to know that many women, who have polycystic ovaries diagnosed on ultrasound, do not have PCOS. If a woman has regular periods, the diagnosis is probably wrong.

All women who have irregular periods do not necessarily have PCOS. Therefore the treatment for making a woman ovulate on time differs according to the diagnosis.

What is induction of ovulation?

In women who have regular periods, hormones are produced in the brain that reach the ovaries and cause an egg to develop every month. In women who have irregular periods and therefore not producing an egg every month, there is usually a hormonal problem. Medication needs to be given which will stimulate the ovary to produce an egg.

Who needs induction of ovulation?

Women, who do not ovulate on their own regularly, and want to get pregnant, will need medicines to help them ovulate. Women who have polycystic ovaries are also treated with medicines to make them ovulate when they are ready to have a baby.

It is very important to know that the drugs used for induction of ovulation have their own potential problems. The number of cycles that a woman is stimulated with these drugs should not exceed 12. It is important for you to keep track of the number of times you have had ovulation induced with medicines. Be sure to tell your doctor if you have already had treatment before you consulted her. Some couples, in their anxiety, keep going from doctor to doctor, getting more and more cycles of ovulation induction. This can lead to complications later in life.