Ovulation Disorders

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0:00:00.000,0:00:02.000 (Text on screen): Fertility Authority: Your Most Trusted Source 0:00:02.000,0:00:05.000 Ask the Experts 0:00:05.000,0:00:10.000 Can I get pregnant if I am not ovulating, or not ovulating regularly? 0:00:10.000,0:00:15.000 Dr. David Keenan, Atlanta Center for Reproductive Medicine: We see many patients who come in and know, and tell us, 0:00:15.000,0:00:18.000 that they're not ovulating, or that there's a problem with ovulation. 0:00:18.000,0:00:26.000 It's one of the most common things that we deal with in our field, and many patients come in 0:00:26.000,0:00:32.000 and have the diagnosis of polycystic ovaries or anovulation, but that's a very common diagnosis. 0:00:32.000,0:00:38.000 And, fortunately, we have a lot of medications that can be helpful for those patients. 0:00:38.000,0:00:45.000 You know, before we assume that it is anovulation, we always look at thyroid function and prolactin levels 0:00:45.000,0:00:52.000 to make sure there aren't any other hormonal problems that may be impacting their anovulatory status. 0:00:52.000,0:00:59.000 So, in those kinds of cases, we can use medications (thyroid medications) to alter thyroid function 0:00:59.000,0:01:07.000 and Bromocriptine or Parlodel to treat; elevate prolactin levels if that seems to be the cause for anovulation. 0:01:07.000,0:01:16.000 But the majority of patients that are not ovulating are anovulatory and need medications to help them ovulate. 0:01:16.000,0:01:25.000 We have a wide range of medications. Most of the patients are on insulin sensitizing agents, like Metformin and Glucophage. 0:01:25.000,0:01:30.000 And some patients get pregnant just taking that medication alone, and other patients 0:01:30.000,0:01:36.000 need additional medications to help promote ovulation such as clomiphene citrate or Clomid, 0:01:36.000,0:01:42.000 and we also use aromatase inhibitors, letrozole, for ovulation induction. 0:01:42.000,0:01:49.000 Other patients that have problems with ovulation are linked to hypothalamic problems, 0:01:49.000,0:01:55.000 and those can be related to stress or weight changes that affect ovulation for ladies. 0:01:55.000,0:02:04.000 And if patients don't respond to some of the oral medications, we have more medications such as gonadotropins, 0:02:04.000,0:02:09.000 which are subcutaneous injectable medications to help those patients. 0:02:09.000,0:02:12.000 So, even though this is a common problem that many patients have, 0:02:12.000,0:02:18.000 it's also an area that we have a lot of answers for them with a wide range of medications. 0:02:18.000,0:02:22.000 And the majority of patients who have anovulation 0:02:22.000,0:02:28.000 can be treated in a straight-forward fashion with successful ovulation and conception. 0:02:28.000,0:02:31.000 (Text on screen): Fertility Authority: Your Most Trusted Source