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NOT According to Plan

Why Irregularity Happens and What You Can Do to Help

By Heather Johnson Durocher

A reproductive endocrinologist or obstetrician specializing in infertility can assist a woman with an irregular cycle in a number of ways, depending upon her situation.

"With impending ovarian failure, the overall chances [of conception] are reduced – there's not much that can be done," Dr. Bayer says. "With the other two categories there's a very good chance of success with treatment."

Specialists check a woman's thyroid as well as follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), which drives the menstrual cycle. If her cycle needs to be regulated, Dr. Gelman says he might initially prescribe a birth control pill. Prescription drugs such as Clomid, which induces ovulation, also might be explored.

Physicians may recommend using ovulation predictor kits, which Dr. Bayer acknowledges are expensive and frustrating for women with irregular cycles.

Albany, N.Y., resident Alisa Labunski, whose cycles are anywhere from 32 to 52 days long, tried ovulation predictor kits, but found it difficult to know when to begin using them. "They only come with five days' worth, and since my cycles vary so much, I often use them all and never see a positive," she says.

Allen takes the prescription drug Provera to induce menstruation and Clomid to trigger ovulation. She also charts her basal body temperature "each and every morning."

"And at the end of every cycle, I feel like a failure," she says. "I guess that's the best way to sum it up. Getting pregnant, in theory, is such an easy thing to do, so why can't I?"

Christie Nielson can relate. The Utah resident and her husband, who easily conceived their son nearly eight years ago, have been trying for a second child for 18 cycles. She began experiencing irregular cycles after going off the birth control method Depo Provera, which she took for more than four years after the birth of her son. Months of taking Clomid, tracking her temperatures and using ovulation predictor tests with no success haven't been easy, she says.

Want to see more?

• When Is It Time to See an Infertility Specialist?
• Making Sense of PCOS: Answers to Common Questions
• 10 Myths About Conceiving
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