Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Welcome to Conceiving Concepts

Welcome to Conceiving Concepts: "Q: I just turned 38. History of endometriosis; it took birth control of many years to control it. I was told years ago I have one tube blocked. I got pregnant once 10 years ago at age 27, but miscarried at eight weeks. I have been off the pill for 1.5 years now. My periods have been erratic, 23 days one month and 42 then next. For a few months I was very regular (27 days), but was taking the herb Vitex. I stopped just over a month ago and now, all of a sudden, my period was very heavy, spotted for seven days afterwards, hot flashes started and now my period is two weeks late. I have had blood tests done; I am not pregnant and my hormone levels are apparently normal. Can you please advise what you think is happening and what you think my chances of getting pregnant are? Thank you.



A: I am worried about your advanced age and your hot flashes. This suggests poor ovarian reserve, which is also known as the oopause. You can read more about this here. You need to measure your blood levels of FSH, LH, PRL and TSH on Day 3 of your cycle, so we can find out what the reason for your irregular cycles is. This may show you have high FSH levels, which will confirm the diagnosis.

Dr Aniruddha Malpani, MD"

Like most doctors, I enjoy helping patients - and I find answering patient's queries very rewarding. I do this for a website called Conceiving Concepts; and replying to patient's queries helps me to update my knowledge and polish my communication skills as well !

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