FAQs

The exact cause of PCOS is not really clear or known.  What is however known is that many women with PCOS tend to have a high amount of androgens (male sex hormones), which generally should be present in small quantities.  They also experience what is known as insulin resistance; the body doesn’t use insulin well.  Then insulin levels may build up in the body, which then results in higher androgen (male hormone) levels.

A cyst is a fluid-filled sac. Not every woman that has PCOS will have cysts.

PCOS is the most common cause of anovulation (lack of ovulation/failure to ovulate).  Inositol has been shown to help induce ovulation and regular menstrual cycles.  Anovulation is described as the absence of ovulation, that is, when the ovaries do not release an egg (oocyte) during the menstrual cycle.  Anovulation means that ovulation does not take place. This results in periods becoming irregular or even absent.  When a woman is not ovulating, she cannot get pregnant because there is no egg released, for the sperm to fertilize.

PCOS cannot be cured, but the symptoms can be managed.  Some symptoms of PCOS include irregular periods, no periods at all, excess body hair on the face, chest, back, weight gain, oily skin, ovaries with many cysts.

Ovulation is the release of an egg from your ovary. A hormone known as Luteinizing Hormone (LH) is always present in your urine. At about the middle of your monthly cycle, the LH increases suddenly to a high surge level which causes the release of an egg from your ovary (ovulation) about 12 to 24 hours later. To become pregnant, the egg must be fertilized with a sperm in time. Therefore, your most fertile time is when you are ovulating. Testing for ovulation can help you predict your ovulation time quickly and easily.

Women with regular cycles ovulate about two weeks before the arrival of their period.  It’s harder to predict ovulation in women with irregular cycles, but it usually occurs 12 to 16 days before the start of her next period.

There are several methods women can use to help determine their most fertile days each month.

One method to predict ovulation is to track cervical mucus, which involves a woman regularly checking both the amount and appearance of mucus in her vagina. Just before ovulation when a woman is most fertile, the amount of mucus increases and it also becomes thinner, clearer and more slippery (like egg whites). When cervical mucus becomes more slippery, it can help sperm make its way to the egg.

Another method is the use of Home ovulation-prediction kits which take some of the guesswork out of figuring out when a woman is ovulating. The kits test urine for luteinizing hormone, LH, the hormone whose levels increase each month during ovulation and cause the ovaries to release an egg. The three days right after a positive test result are the best time for couples to have sex to increase their odds of becoming pregnant.