September is Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) Awareness month and our Advisory Board member, Professor Adam Balen, spoke to us about PCOS.
What is PCOS?
Polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, is common and affects as many as one in ten women.
Polycystic ovaries have more of the tiny follicles that contain eggs. If you have polycystic ovaries you usually have more than 20 of these follicles on each ovary. The usual number is about 10. This can affect your hormones.
Symptoms
The common symptoms are irregular periods, or no periods at all.
Another main symptom is having a higher level of some hormones. This can lead to having extra hair growing, often on the chin or other parts of the body. You may also have thinning hair and acne.
If you have PCOS, it can be easy to gain weight and hard to lose weight. Being overweight can make it harder to deal with PCOS.
Some people with PCOS get pregnant without any difficulty if they have fairly regular periods and their weight is normal.
Fertility treatment for PCOS
After fertility tests, people with PCOS who are having difficulty getting pregnant may be given tablets to help them to produce eggs. It is important have scans during the cycle when you start taking these tablets. This is to make sure the ovaries aren’t producing too many eggs.
Usually these tablets are taken for up to six cycles if you are producing eggs. If you aren’t producing eggs with the tablets, you may be given injections instead.
An alternative to the injections, is an operation where little holes are made in the ovaries. This may help if you aren’t producing eggs.
If these things haven’t worked, or there are other fertility problems, you may be offered IVF.
If you have PCOS, there is a higher risk of the ovaries being stimulated too much in IVF. This means you may be given different doses of medication. Your embryos may be frozen and replaced later.
Outcomes for PCOS
People with PCOS often do well with fertility treatment. In the UK, you may not get NHS IVF treatment if your weight is high. You can still ask to be referred to a fertility clinic, and it should be possible to have other treatments.
To see the interview with Professor Adam Balen full, visit our You Tube channel https://bit.ly/3y24CzQ