What happens when you go to see a doctor for fertility issues?

Question

I've never had periods that followed a cycle (except when I was on birth control). Back in 2002 I had a 6 week (very light) period. I went to the gynecologist and she found everything was normal, except i had high levels of prolactin in my blood. She prescribed Yasmin 28 (birth control) to help regulate my periods. She said it wasn't a big deal except that if I ever wanted to have children I might have to take a drug to stimulate ovulation. At the time, children were not on my mind so I didn't worry about it. Now that my husband and I are TTC. I finished my last pack of BC mid May and had a 31 day cycle before my period showed up in mid June. That was my last period 48 days ago. I was also watching my CM and it hasn't ever be EW consistency. So, I made an appointment with the gynecologist for the end of August to get everything checked out. My question is for anyone who actually works in the medical field or has had fertility issues due to hyperprolactin. What do you think will happen next? If you did not ovulate on your own, how did the doctor find this out? What did you have to do before you were able to begin fertility treatments? What was the process of your fertility treatments? I am hoping that my doctor will see my hormone levels and prescribe clomid or something fairly soon, but I am worried she'll make me chart for a few months first. I am worried about not being taken seriously at the doctor's office and being dismissed as an overacting female. If there is anyone who was in a similar situation, I'd love to hear from you. Please be kind in your responses. thanks!

Answer 1

I'm not a medic, but I saw that no-one had answered your question yet ...

You're absolutely, right ... it seems like you'll need a 'jump start' to get your cycles running on their own. The pill has artificially regulated your system. There are plenty of options, the most likely being Clomid. It's been used for years (some people who were conceived on Clomid are now having their own families!) and it's a great way to get the ovaries to kick into gear and make nice, mature eggs. You get a series of 5 pills and that can 'reboot' your ovulatory cycle.

First you should have some basic tests done to establish which hormones you've got going on. It's possible to inject hormones and get things rolling; keeps the insurance company bills down too :) Right now, I would call your OBGYN and see if they would be happy to run the first set of tests for you. If you go to an RE (fertility specialist) it can feature as something more complicated on your insurance company bill and work out more expensive for the same set of tests. Be sure to ask about this with both the OB and RE departments!

Finally, you should never be put in a position of feeling silly or dumb asking questions about your own body to a medical professional. In a recent survey of doctors, most of them said that if their own physician didn't seem to be listening to their needs, they would change physicians. If the doctors themselves are saying that, you should most certainly find someone with whom you're comfortable asking tonnes of 'silly' questions to put your mind at rest!

Neither of the specialists I've seen have required charting. As it happens, I do chart, and they've been happy to look at the charts, but it's not required. If you're not actually having cycles, you don't really have much to chart anyway .... yet! Good luck :)