TRYING TO BECOME PREGNANT?

Use the Ovulation Calculator to find out when your ovulation date is, and increase the likelihood of getting pregnant. The Ovulation Calculator shows your fertile days - keep in mind that you are most fertile on your ovulation date.

Or you can CLICK HERE and download Ovulation Calendar Pro - Calculates the time of ovulation and creates a personal fertility calendar.

Want to download your own charts for your diary notebook? CLICK HERE,

But what can the couple with fertility problems get from these support organizations? For one thing, these groups and organizations are made of people who have either experienced or are currently experiencing the very problems that you are going through. They can identify with your emotions and moods and give you assistance and support. These groups often provide a safe forum where women and couples can discuss the problems they're having and be comfortable belonging to a group of people many of people who have experience similar problems to their own.But emotional support is only a start. Many organizations not only provide informal support but they can also recommend counselors and therapists.

What is FSH?
FSH is an acronym for follicle stimulating hormone. FSH is one of several reproductive hormones that our bodies should be producing at certain ranges during certain times in each ovulatory cycle, in order for optimal ovulation to occur. FSH, which is produced by our pituitary gland, does what its name implies -- it stimulates follicles to grow. Within our ovaries, follicles are the structures that contain the egg cells.

So given all of the above, FSH is a pretty important hormone to the conception process. A number of things can go wrong in a body that would lead to inadequate production or overproduction of this and other hormones. When the ranges that have been determined as optimal for conception are thrown off one way or another, a problem can result.

WHAT CAN AFFECT THE FSH LEVELS?
Several things can affect FSH levels in a negative way by causing them to be elevated. PCOS, or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, is known to cause elevated FSH levels, as is failure of the ovaries prematurely. Menopause is the most common cause of elevated ovarian levels.

There are also things that might lower levels of FSH in a woman's body. There are some medications, such as progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, digitalis, and clomiphene that can affect FSH levels in this manner. In addition, if you have a bone scan or a thyroid scan within seven days of having your FSH levels tested, the radioactive agents from those scans may affect your FSH levels. Stress is also known to affect FSH levels by lowering them. Finally, as it affects so many other areas of life, smoking cigarettes heavily may affect your FSH levels.

In addition, your FSH levels should change regularly throughout the month. During the luteal phase, for example, your FSH levels should be between 5 and 20 IU/L. During the middle of your monthly cycle, when FSH levels are at their peak, you may have between 30-50 IU/L of FSH. For this reason, when FSH is tested for fertility issues, the test is given on the third day of menstrual bleeding so that results can consistently be interpreted and compared.

Your health care provider or fertility specialist may be able to help you determine what your FSH levels mean in your particular situation, as well as the factors that might be affecting your FSH levels.

Many women who are trying to get pregnant may experience problems trying to conceive. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, known as PCOS for short and also known as PCOD or Polycystic Ovarian Disease, is one of the leading causes of infertility among women. While research has not yet determined how to cure for PCOS, it may be possible for a woman with PCOS to get pregnant with the right treatment or treatments.

When trying to get pregnant, most women with PCOS will not experience any major problems. However, for those that do, PCOS can be an extremely frustrating condition. PCOS can cause a variety of problems, from a delay in conception to higher miscarriage rates to complications with pregnancy. For some women, the first symptoms of PCOS are that they are having very few or even no periods. This typically is measured by having less than 9 periods in a twelve month timeframe. Some women with PCOS will have no period whatsoever. Some women with polycystic ovarian disease will have regular periods, but may not ovulate every month, or at all.

For a woman who wishes to get pregnant, the way to treat her PCOS is to treat the symptom of infertility. One of the most popular treatments is Clomid. Clomid is used to stimulate ovulation. Clomid will help around 4 out of 5 women ovulate, and can greatly increase a woman's chances of becoming pregnant. Clomid does carry an increased risk of having a multiple or twin pregnancy.

If Clomid does not successfully treat infertility, the next step is often to use hormones to try to stimulate the ovaries into producing eggs. Here again, this treatment, referred to as ovarian stimulation, carries the risk of multiple or twin pregnancy.
There is a surgical procedure that is similar to ovarian stimulation. Known as Ovarian drilling, this operation uses the making of several small holes in each ovary with a fine probe or laser. For some women, this can restore ovulation, or at least make their ovaries more likely to respond to Clomid.

A more radical procedure, IVF or in vitro fertilization, remains an option for a woman who has not responded to other treatments and wants to get pregnant. The success rates of IVF can vary greatly depending on a variety of individual factors, including the length of infertility, weight, and age.

Getting pregnant with Polycystic Ovarian Disease can be challenging. However, the methods listed above greatly increase the chances that a woman with PCOS has of getting pregnant

Dr. David Hoffman discusses with NewBaby.com the impact of stress when you are trying to become pregnant. A past president of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART), Dr. Hoffman received widespread media interest in 2003 for his role in the survey of the number of cryopreserved (frozen) embryos in storage in the United States; Dr. Hoffman lead a team that found there are approximately twice as many such embryos as previously estimated and that only a tiny number are available for research. CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO

Please note that all labs have their own normal values, and those presented in these charts are just an average. These charts are provided as a tool to help patients have a better dialog with their doctors, not for self-diagnosis or as a substitute for good medical care. THESE INCLUDE BOTH FOR MEN AND WOMEN.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW CHARTS AND LEVEL RANGES FOR HORMONES AND OTHER LEVELS