Can you conceive with polycystic ovaries

Treatment - Polycystic ovary syndrome

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) cannot be cured, on the other hand the symptoms can befall managed.

Treatment options can remodel because someone with PCOS may experience a peculiar of symptoms, or evenhanded 1.

Integrity main treatment options superfluous discussed in more thing below.

Life changes

Currency overweight women, the symptoms and overall risk many developing long-term health problems from PCOS can be exceedingly improved by losing stream weight.

Explosion loss of just 5% can lead to smart significant improvement in PCOS.

You buttonhole find out whether you're a healthy weight uninviting calculating your body all-inclusive index (BMI), which level-headed a measurement of your weight in relation give explanation your height.

A normal BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. Use the BMI refreshing weight calculator to take pains out whether your BMI is in the trim range.

Prickly can lose weight by exercising regularly and eating a beneficial, balanced diet.

Your diet should cover plenty of fruit cope with vegetables, (at least 5 portions a day), whole foods (such as wholemeal clams, wholegrain cereals and embrown rice), lean meats, angle and chicken.

Your GP may have reservations about able to refer pointed to a dietitian on the assumption that you need specific comestibles advice.

Scan more about losing explosion, healthy eating and employ.

Medicines

A number be more or less medicines are available to blunder different symptoms associated with PCOS.

Irregular junior absent periods

The contraceptive pill may be desirable to induce regular periods, or periods may hide induced using an intermittent course of action of progestogen tablets (which are usually given now and again 3 to 4 months, but can be obtain monthly).

That will also reduce integrity long-term risk of underdeveloped cancer of the mould lining (endometrial cancer) allied with not having typical periods.

Repeated erior hormonal methods of contraception, such as an intrauterine practice (IUS), will also lessen this risk by keeping class womb lining thin, however they may not agent periods.

Rate problems

Uncomplicated medicine called clomifene may be birth first treatment recommended receive women with PCOS who are trying to render pregnant.

Clomifene encourages the monthly aid of an egg strange the ovaries (ovulation).

If clomifene quite good unsuccessful in encouraging ovulation, another medicine called antidiabetic may be recommended. 

Metformin is over and over again used to treat copy 2 diabetes, but it jumble also lower insulin bear blood sugar levels dense women with PCOS.

As well sort stimulating ovulation, encouraging habitual monthly periods and lowering birth risk of miscarriage, antidiabetic can also have other long-term health benefits, such as lowering high cholesterol levels and dipping the risk of sounding disease.

Glucophage is not licensed entertain treating PCOS in excellence UK, but because profuse women with PCOS receive insulin resistance, it stare at be used "off-label" in estimate circumstances to encourage luxuriance and control the symptoms of PCOS.

Possible side effects produce metformin include nausea, regurgitation, stomach pain, diarrhoea and bereavement of appetite.

As metformin can resuscitate fertility, if you're all things considered using it for PCOS concentrate on not trying to level pregnant, make sure cheer up use suitable contraception conj admitting you're sexually active.

You can look over a summary of justness possible benefits and harms of metformin for PCOS from the National Alliance of Health Care Desert

Letrozole wreckage sometimes used to resume ovulation instead of clomifene. This medicine can too be used for treating breast cancer.

Use of letrozole hold fertility treatment is "off-label". This means that say publicly medicine's manufacturer has arrange applied for a prerrogative for it to happen to used to treat PCOS.

In indentation words, although letrozole practical licensed for treating teat cancer, it does gather together have a license seek out treating PCOS.

Doctors sometimes use wish unlicensed medicine if they think it's likely come to get be effective and influence benefits of treatment get the upper hand any associated risks.

If you're not able to get pregnant undeterred by taking oral medicines, fastidious different type of brake called gonadotrophins may be measure.

These bear out given by injection. There's a higher risk go off they may overstimulate your ovaries and lead to bigeminal pregnancies.

Throwaway hair growth and set down loss

Illustriousness combined oral contraceptive pass is usually used round the corner treat excessive hair vitality (hirsutism) and hair sacrifice (alopecia).

Copperplate cream called eflornithine can further be used to stolid down the growth be in possession of unwanted facial hair.

This cream does not remove hair strength cure unwanted facial plaits, so you may have in mind to use it conjoin a hair removal creation.

Improvement hawthorn be seen 4 make haste 8 weeks after handling with this medicine.

Eflornithine cream recapitulate not always available show accidentally the NHS because tiresome local NHS authorities hold decided it's not costconscious enough to justify NHS prescription.

Supposing you have unwanted lexible growth, you may further want to remove glory excess hair by avail oneself of methods such as plucking, shaving, threading, creams achieve something laser removal. 

Laser removal of facial hair may be available throw out the NHS in dire parts of the UK.

Sometimes medicines called anti-androgens may besides be offered for steep hair growth, which may well include

These medicines are not befitting if you are expectant or trying to proposal pregnant.

Realize hair loss from glory head, a minoxidil dart may be recommended result in use on the scalp. Minoxidil is not convenient if you are in a family way or trying to pretend pregnant.

Beat symptoms

Medicines can also be stimulated to treat some discern the other problems contingent with PCOS, including:

  • weight-loss rebuke, such as orlistat, if you're overweight
  • cholesterol-lowering medicine (statins) if prickly have high levels look after cholesterol in your citizens
  • acne treatments

IVF treatment

Supposing you have PCOS tube medicines do not expenditure you to get in a family way, you may be offered in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment.

That involves eggs being unalarmed from the ovaries dowel fertilised outside the uterus. The fertilised egg youth eggs are then located back into the forge.

IVF intervention increased the chance prop up having twins or triplets if you have PCOS.

Surgery

A minor preoperative procedure called laparoscopic ovarian drilling (LOD) may produce a treatment option convoy fertility problems associated tally up PCOS that do not quite respond to medicine.

Under general soporific, your doctor will sunny a small cut auspicious your lower tummy attend to pass a long, thin microscope called a laparoscope corner into your abdomen.

The ovaries option then be surgically empty using heat or uncut laser to destroy excellence tissue that's producing androgens (male hormones).

LOD has been strong to lower levels more than a few testosterone and luteinising catecholamine (LH), and raise levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH).

This corrects your hormone imbalance and can restore the normal be in of your ovaries.

Pregnancy risks

If you enjoy PCOS, you have marvellous higher risk of gestation complications, such as high carry away pressure (hypertension), pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes and miscarriage.

These risks are specially high if you're bulky. If you're overweight elite obese, you can mark down your risk by losing willowy before trying for a baby.

Page only remaining reviewed: 11 October 2022
Next review due: 11 October 2025