PCOS after Birth Control: Recovery 101

PCOS after Birth Control:

Recovery 101

Your PCOS period recovery after birth control

You might be wondering what will my PCOS be like after birth control? Deciding to stop taking hormonal birth control can be a big decision. Especially, if you started birth control to improve symptoms such as acne, period problems etc.

Post pill problems such as severe acne, pill induced PCOS or the return of your PCOS symptoms is a scary thought. It’s common for women with PCOS to experience amenorrhea (no periods), anxiety, and weight gain after stopping birth control.

So why is birth control creating so many side effects?

Birth control isn’t the problem. In fact it is long gone from your body after a short time. The problem is the havoc the birth control left behind with your hormones.

Your Body’s and PCOS Reaction After Birth Control

A real cycle is a series of hormonal events, each event leads to the rise or fall of each hormone. Taking hormonal birth control such as the pill, the ring, patch, implant or IUD with hormone, stops your natural hormonal patterns.

When you stop taking hormonal birth control your body your body is confused and overreacts. Hormones are your body’s way of communicating with itself. Hormones tell you when to wake up, eat, get a blanket because you are cold or open a window when you get hot. Your hormones tell you you’re happy, sad, worried, relaxed or anxious. When you stop taking hormonal birth control your body doesn’t know what to do or think.

For a lot of women just waiting a few months can seem to do the trick but for women with PCOS this is often not the case. I have worked with women who are scared to go off the pill because they know they will be a mess for months. I’ve also worked with women who have gone years without a natural period and women who do not ovulate naturally. So I know how frustrating it can be when you know something isn’t right but you are told to wait it out.

Your body’s and PCOS reaction after birth control

Your hormones

Birth control really isn’t the problem, it wasn’t the solution either. It was just a bandaid for temporary symptom relief. But you are probably wondering now what. How do I balance my hormones so that I can maintain a healthy weight? How do I restore healthy fertile cycles? My hormones have me on an emotional rollercoaster, will I ever feel “normal” again? And when will I stop breaking-out worse than when I was a teenager?

How your body reacts to stopping hormonal contraceptives, can tell us a lot about your overall health . Hormonal birth control covers up many women’s health concerns such as endometriosis and PCOS. Once you’re off it you can finally discover and address these health concerns at their root cause.

Recovering a regular cycle after birth control with PCOS

Your period

While it’s frustrating that your period doesn’t return immediately after stopping birth control, it’s not uncommon for it to take 3-6 months to return to normal.

With PCOS, back to normal might not be a good thing. This is where using lifestyle medicine is so powerful! Digging into the root cause of why your body isn’t having regular ovulatory cycles and optimal fertility will help you know what steps to take in your nutrition, exercise and other personal habits to create healthier hormones, and fix your period.

Your nutrient stores

A big factor in hormone imbalance from birth control is nutrition. The foods you eat can either support or hurt your hormone health. While taking hormonal birth control the pill can deplete your nutrient absorption.

Nutrients such B12, B2, B6, Selenium, Magnesium, Zinc, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, & Folate may need to be replenished after discontinuing birth control . When we aren’t well nourished our hormones suffer.

How to Recover Your Cycle After Birth Control

Since birth control doesn’t regulate or improve your PCOS you will be faced with all symptoms again when you stop taking it to get pregnant. In fact they might even be worse.

Hormonal birth control, in particular, the pill stops you from ovulating. Ovulation is the main event of your monthly cycle so we want to make sure that you resume ovulation after birth control even if pregnancy isn’t your goal.

How to recover your cycle after birth control with PCOS

Restoring ovulation begins with balancing your hormones with what you eat, how you move and how you care for your thoughts and feelings.

Getting Pregnant with PCOS After Birth Control

Getting pregnant may not happen immediately after stopping hormone birth control. But don’t let this alarm you. Birth control, while perhaps not fixing anything, didn’t cause infertility either. Give yourself a few months to make your health a priority, kind of like a pre-pregnancy glow. While you might get pregnant sooner expect it to take a while as you work on the root causes of your PCOS.

As you regain a regular cycle by reversing insulin resistance and decreasing inflammation you will increase your chance of getting pregnant each month.

As a Physician Assistant who loves the functional side of medicine (how nutrition and lifestyle play an enormous role in our hormone health) I am passionate about helping my clients regain healthy ovulatory cycles after stopping hormonal birth control. If you would like detailed information about how to nourish your PCOS hormones the PCOS Detox is a great place to start.

Ashlene Korcek PA-C

Hi there! I’m Ashlene Korcek, the PCOS Mama and founder of Nourished to Healthy

I help women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome balance their hormones naturally so that they can take back control of their bodies, boost their fertility, and ultimately live free from the symptoms of PCOS. Like you, I have PCOS, I was diagnosed while struggling with infertility and was told I likely would never have children. Even as a board-certified Physician Assistant I felt lost about what to do and very alone! Fast forward 5 years and I have 3 healthy children, but I never want another woman to feel lost and alone the way I did!

You can break free from the downward spiral of PCOS and feel amazing in your own skin again!

Follow Nourished to Healthy on Social Media

Did I Ovulate? How to know with PCOS

Did I Ovulate?

How to know with PCOS

PCOS is the most common reason for not ovulating (1). The hormone imbalance of PCOS, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, leads to ovulation irregularities or not ovulating (anovulation). This makes it hard for women with PCOS to get pregnant.

I thought getting pregnant would be as easy as having my IUD removed. But 6 months later I had a period that came anywhere between 2 weeks and 2 months and I still wasn’t pregnant. What was going on?

Turns out I wasn’t ovulating

What is Ovulation?

Ovulation is the main event of your cycle. During the first part of your cycle FSH, Follicular Stimulating Hormone, rises to prepare a follicle into an egg, then LH, luteinizing hormone, spikes causing your body to ovulate. Ovulation is when you release a mature egg that is ready for fertilization with a sperm.

Your fertile window of ovulation lasts approximately 24 hours before the egg degrades and your body prepares for its next period. Without ovulation you can’t become pregnant.

How To Know When I’m Ovulating?

Unlike your period, ovulation is easy to miss. Very few women pay any attention to ovulation unless they are trying to get pregnant. This might be the first time you realize something isn’t quite right.

It’s completely natural to become more aware of your cycle when you want to get pregnant. Your extra interest and attention to your monthly cycle is the first step to reversing your PCOS and also to getting pregnant.

If you have a hormone disorder such as PCOS, OPK’s or ovulation predictor kits are not very useful. They measure your rise in LH hormone, but this hormone is often abnormally elevated in PCOS to begin with. These results in a false positive high fertility day but no peak fertility day results.

One method of becoming more in tune with your body is to track your cervical mucus and position. While these options provide you with a little information about your cycle, I recommend tracking your basal body temperature, BBT. BBT is the best at home method to determine if and when you are ovulating each month. You can learn more about tracking your basal body temperature here.

Signs and Symptoms of Anovulation

Cycles lasting longer than 35 days might be a sign that you are not ovulating.
An irregular cycle or no menstrual cycle
Absence of mid cycle sore and tender breasts and possible cramping at time of ovulation.
Lack of cervical mucus or no change in your cervical mucus.
An irregular temperature chart that doesn’t show a clear cycle pattern
Not getting pregnant after several months of trying to conceive.

Why am I Not Ovulating

There are several reasons for not ovulating. You might skip a month due to lack of sleep, stress or other short term factors and this is of little concern. Consistently skipping ovulation is when it becomes a concern.

PCOS is the most common reason for not ovulating, accounting for 70% of cases (1). The good news is that with a little assistance most women with PCOS get pregnant and have one or more children even without any fertility treatment (2).

What to do about anovulation

If you have recently stopped hormone birth control, it can take time to recover. But, I don’t recommend just waiting and hoping for the best. This is the best time to recognize your body is struggling to regain its rhythm. You can help your body with some tender loving care. Remove any stressors you can, get plenty of quality sleep and provide your body with the nourishment it needs.

You can read about how to create a conceivable cycle here.

When to get help

While getting pregnant can take time, I recommend seeing your doctor anytime you feel something isn’t quite right. If your cycles are irregular it doesn’t hurt to run a few tests and check your hormones.

I also recommend seeking help from a PCOS specialist if you would like to conceive naturally. In my experience doctors do not have a lot of assistance to offer in this area other than to suggest weight loss if you have a BMI over 25. There are a lot of nuances and lifestyle measures that make a tremendous difference. Your doctor and the medical system isn’t equipped to help you with lifestyle in a 15 minutes appointment.

If you’re ready to balance your hormones naturally, here is my PCOS Fertility Meal Guide

This is a fantastic place to start! Nourishing your body and rebalancing your hormone will improve your chances of getting pregnant even if you choose to pursue infertility treatments.

VLOG TIMESTAMP

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Can you relate to how I felt when I went off of hormonal birth control? I felt like I should be able to get pregnant in the first month or two. I mean, all my friends were….

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When we go off of hormonal birth control, our hormones have actually been shut off and we have instead replaced them with the synthetic hormones.

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If you have a condition such as PCOS, the pill, or hormonal birth control, can uncover it or exacerbate it.

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Have you heard, “just give it three to six months and your hormones should balance out again”….think again! When you have PCOS and are coming off birth control. Your period may not come back right away or at all!

[03:00]

When you are trying to naturally heal your PCOS or a hormone imbalance of any kind or just coming off of birth control, it’s really important to be listening to your body cues because your body is telling you what is and isn’t working.

[03:54]

OPKs? Ovulation predictor kits are a go to for most women who are trying to get pregnant. But are they the best option for PCOS?

[05:19]

What is the best way to track your cycle and know when you are ovulating (fertile) each month?

[06:37]

If you’re trying to get pregnant, knowing your twenty four hour fertile window each month is so important.

[07:05]

If your cycles are irregular, you won’t know when that next one is coming unless you’re tracking.

Ashlene Korcek PA-C

Hi there! I’m Ashlene Korcek, the PCOS Mama and founder of Nourished to Healthy

I help women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome balance their hormones naturally so that they can take back control of their bodies, boost their fertility, and ultimately live free from the symptoms of PCOS. Like you, I have PCOS, I was diagnosed while struggling with infertility and was told I likely would never have children. Even as a board-certified Physician Assistant I felt lost about what to do and very alone! Fast forward 5 years and I have 3 healthy children, but I never want another woman to feel lost and alone the way I did!

You can break free from the downward spiral of PCOS and feel amazing in your own skin again!

Follow Nourished to Healthy on Social Media

How to Choose Your PCOS Supplements

When our health is in question and we get a diagnosis such as PCOS, the first question is how to fix it. Supplements are often one of the first places women turn when they find out they have PCOS.

You’ve searched google and read all about the nasty side effects of medications. The reports of taking supplements seem to be more pleasant.

I get asked all the time…. are supplements really helpful, are the success stories real, and if they are helpful which ones should I take?

In today’s video, I am going to break down what supplements when supplements might be helpful and how to choose one.

Do you need a PCOS Supplement?

The short answer is no you do not. You cannot supplement your way past poor nourishment anyway. That said a well-chosen supplement can support hormone balance and fertility repair.

In full disclosure, I have never routinely taken supplements. I also do not profit in any way from any discussed here in this post. I make this distinction because most supplement articles are written by individuals selling or receiving kickbacks on purchases. which creates a conflict of interest.

Supplements are an important consideration when managing your PCOS. Before we dive into the long list of options let me point out a few considerations.

First, a supplement is still medicinal. Supplements are the oldest form of medicine. This means they can be harmful if taken incorrectly. Many have been used for hundreds of years, although not researched by modern medicine. This means that supplements are not well regulated, which is why it is important to do your research before selecting a supplement to use.

Second, a supplement can be a waste of money. If you aren’t selecting something your body actually needs you are just flushing money. Literally, your body is passing the supplement right through you and into the toilet.

But third, and why I am even creating this post is that the right supplements can assist to manage your PCOS. A well-chosen supplement can help with cravings, insulin sensitivity, better energy, and hormone health. It can help you over the hump and build momentum in your own lifestyle endeavors to care for your body.

The role of a PCOS supplement

PCOS is a syndrome, which means a collection of symptoms. These symptoms are caused by various hormones being out of balance. There are many causes of the hormone imbalance such as insulin resistance, inflammation, or other lifestyle factors.

Before selecting a supplement for PCOS it is important to have a good understanding of your hormone imbalance root cause.

While a supplement can’t cure or even relieve all PCOS problems if chosen carefully it may help. As you can see though, it is important to first know why you have a hormone imbalance and then you can choose a supplement. Supplements can assist by resoring nutrients, improve blood sugar, and help you recover from birth control.

It is easier to make better health efforts when you feel better. PCOS can have a downward spiral of worsening symptoms due to increasingly imbalanced hormones. The opposite is also true. As you gain traction in your hormone health you also gain momentum and the improvement in health gets easier and easier.

A well-chosen supplement can support your body where it is struggling. A supplement might have less side effects than prescription medication. A supplement may also do more for the correction of the root cause.

A further benefit of a supplement that can’t be overlooked is the cost. The time and effort it takes to select a supplement and the cost subconsciously and consciously tells yourself your health is a priority. Making your health a priority for long enough to see results and gain traction also builds momentum.

Choosing your PCOS Supplement

Start with the symptoms and struggles you are facing. You might have read about fertility supplements on google. But struggling to get pregnant doesn’t indicate the need of any one supplement.

There are a few hormonal causes for infrequent ovulation or low progesterone levels.

Are your cycle regular, short, long, etc. do you have out-of-control cravings, or constant fatigue. These are all indications of what is going on deeper.

In summary, don’t take a supplement in hopes it will work. Instead, take the time or get help to discover your root cause(s) and select the supplement(s) that are best suited to assist you. Below you will find a list of symptoms categorized to help you research further.

Along with your decision to try a supplement here is a free guide to help you nourish your hormones as well.

VLOG TIMESTAMP

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Whether you have formally been diagnosed with PCOS or whether you suspect that you have it, you’ve probably started to research what can I do about these symptoms that I’m having?

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Can you even cure PCOS? ….

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Do you need a supplement? What supplements should you take? Are supplements even helpful for PCOS? And if they are, which one do you need?

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Many of the supplements that we consider potentially beneficial for PCOS are some of the oldest medicine that we have.

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When we look for a supplement, it’s important to make sure that the company is reputable.

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The number of calories that we should eat in a day, it can be very difficult to get a fully well-rounded, nutrient-dense profile in one day.

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Here is an example of how complex the root cause can be… There are many causes of high testosterone. It can be due to high insulin, or it can be from cortisol…..

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If you matched the correct supplement with the correct root cause, you can improve your symptoms dramatically.

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As we start to improve our health, either through lifestyle or supplementation, we can increase our chances of getting pregnant. And so we want to make sure that our supplements are safe.

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Supplements and PCOS are very personal. It’s not a one-size-fits all….

Ashlene Korcek PA-C

Hi there! I’m Ashlene Korcek, the PCOS Mama and founder of Nourished to Healthy

I help women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome balance their hormones naturally so that they can take back control of their bodies, boost their fertility, and ultimately live free from the symptoms of PCOS. Like you, I have PCOS, I was diagnosed while struggling with infertility and was told I likely would never have children. Even as a board-certified Physician Assistant I felt lost about what to do and very alone! Fast forward 5 years and I have 3 healthy children, but I never want another woman to feel lost and alone the way I did!

You can break free from the downward spiral of PCOS and feel amazing in your own skin again!

Follow Nourished to Healthy on social media

Why Food Matters to Conceive With PCOS

Why Food Matters

to Conceive With PCOS

pregnant woman shopping for pcos healthy foods close up

Healthy fertility food for PCOS is 64% more effective than infertility treatments when trying to conceive with PCOS (1). The first step to producing healthy hormones is providing your body with the tools it needs. Watch this video to learn what to eat to improve your PCOS and fertility.

Your body’s willingness to conceive is a direct reflection of how your body perceives your current state of health. If your body senses, it could not sustain a pregnancy your fertility will decrease. Your hormones and fertility are not static. They are constantly adjusting depending on your environment. This is why the nourishment you provide your body is so important.

PCOS is a condition that leaves your health and hormones more susceptible to their environment. The symptoms of unbalanced hormones are your body’s cry for help. While you can’t completely cure PCOS, you can definitely bring your hormones back to a functional balance. So much so that many women stop experiencing PCOS symptoms and medical tests would no longer indicate that they have PCOS at all.

To rebalance our hormones the first step is to get in touch with your body. Begin to discover the root cause of why our body is struggling to maintain balanced hormones, and then address it.

Nourishing Your Fertility

Proper nourishment, or the lack thereof, is a common culprit I see when assisting women to improve their fertility

Although many women with PCOS struggle with extra weight they are actually malnourished…..what???? That doesn’t even make sense.

Actually, it does. Ever wonder why you have such annoying cravings and are always hungry. It stems from your body seeking the nutrients it is lacking.

This isn’t an isolated problem of PCOS, it is a concern with the western diet that more and more of the world is adopting. Our fast food, processed diet is low or completely void of the nutrients our bodies need

Add to that several years of hormonal birth control which further depletes your absorption of nutrients and what do you get? A body that is stressed from basically starving while over-consuming calories.

Sure supplements can help a little. But getting back to the basics of good nutrition ensures your body is getting the tools it needs to produce healthy hormones and fertile cycles.

pregnant woman thinking and caring about her unborn baby

Fertility-Friendly Food

There isn’t a list of magic fertility-boosting foods. It’s about eating a good variety of nutrient-dense foods to cover the wide variety of nutrients you need. These include vegetables and fruits, and getting good quality protein. Sources of high-quality protein include eggs and lean meat. While there are the sources I recommend for PCOS you can also get high quality from plant sources. Be sure to select animal products that are free-range, grass-fed, and raised without any hormones or antibiotics

Don’t forget about healthy fats. Healthy fats are finally making a comeback thank goodness, but for a long time, everything was fat-free. You don’t need to eat large quantities of fat healthy fats and healthy cholesterol is needed to produce healthy hormones.

And then it’s also about what you don’t eat. While eating good nutrient-rich meals will go along way to help boost your fertility what else you are eating still matters.

Foods that have high sugar content or foods that quickly turn to sugar in your body should be limited. These include refined processed foods such as grains and packaged foods. I don’t believe in restricting foods completely. Start decreasing the processed foods, refined carbohydrates, and sugar-filled options. You will find your own balance of enjoying food but also eating to nourish.

Click HERE to grab the PCOS Detox. Take a deep dive into nourishing your hormones with this 7-day course to reset your PCOS hormones

Making Healthy Hormones

Our bodies are constantly changing and so are our hormones. Our PCOS today doesn’t equal our PCOS tomorrow. The great news is that caring for your body has a tremendous impact on its ability to produce healthy and balanced hormones.

Although nutrition plays a key role in caring for your body there are other factors that go beyond what you eat.

These factors include; managing your stress, caring for your emotional well-being, getting enough movement, and reducing your exposure to toxins. Basically creating space in your life to care for yourself. This isn’t easy in a world that values a fast pace stressful schedule with the freezer, take out and drive-through being the go-to sources of food.

You don’t have to change everything overnight! In fact, that is the fastest way to ditch the healthy habits because it is too hard. Start by adding a nutrient-rich item or two to each of your meals, while cutting back on the processed options.

Your hormones will thank you for this and over the next few weeks, you will start to see the benefits of nourishing your hormones the way they need.

Ashlene Korcek PA-C

Hi there! I’m Ashlene Korcek, the PCOS Mama and founder of Nourished to Healthy

I help women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome balance their hormones naturally so that they can take back control of their bodies, boost their fertility, and ultimately live free from the symptoms of PCOS. Like you, I have PCOS, I was diagnosed while struggling with infertility and was told I likely would never have children. Even as a board-certified Physician Assistant I felt lost about what to do and very alone! Fast forward 5 years and I have 3 healthy children, but I never want another woman to feel lost and alone the way I did!

You can break free from the downward spiral of PCOS and feel amazing in your own skin again!

Follow Nourished to Healthy on Social Media

Supporting Your Partner During Infertility

Deciding to start a family is exciting but after a few months of negative pregnancy tests, doubts start to creep in. You’re at a crossroads. opening up to support your partner during or putting up a wall and pretending everything is okay.

Starting a family is a special time. You probably thought you and your partner would enjoy a closer bond. Instead, the stress, fear, and devastation of not being able to get pregnant creates a barrier. Your romantic relationship becomes a clinical process of timing, doctors, and temperature taking. How can you get the support you need, support your partner needs, and maintain the fun, love, and joy in your relationship?

That’s what this post is all about because your emotional wellbeing is very important. In fact, it is so important I consider it one of the three pillars of nourishing your PCOS hormones to health.

Deciding how to proceed as a couple

The conversations and process of exploring infertility assistance can be challenging. Try and be patient with each other as you both go through your own processing. But go ahead and start exploring some of the big questions together.

When do you both get tested? That’s right your doctor will likely recommend that both of you get an initial workup.

If offered, are you both interested in pursuing infertility treatment at this point or at some point in the future?

What about the costs of infertility treatments

As a woman, I had waited my whole life to be a mom. I used to play with my dolls as a little girl thinking about what it would be like to be a mom someday. I planned my education and career around when we could start a family, I was beyond ready!

So after several months without success, I was ready to seek help. Although my husband wanted a baby too, he wasn’t in a hurry like I was. He was concerned about starting down the path of infertility treatments prematurely. Why not just give it a little more time.

By having these hard conversations we could have gotten answers sooner. Even if we weren’t ready to start medical treatments. I could have started the natural methods that later led to our first daughter, while we continued the next step conversation.

Plan for emotional turmoil

Choosing fertility treatments comes with its own emotional rollercoaster. It’s important to prepare for the emotional turmoil of hope and disappointment that most couples face along the journey.

Create space in your schedule to care for both your partners and your emotions along the way.

For me, as I prepared my mind and psyche to undergo infertility treatments my mantra was.

Plan for emotional turmoil - Vlog Photos-10

“Four months from now, when I see the specialist I will be proud of my efforts to prepare. I will do my best to be in the best physical and mental health possible to face whatever is coming.”

My husband got on board with this approach and we created a season in our life of doing health together. Taking time to prepare fresh healthy foods and doing cardio together. We also planned some distraction weekends to explore new places.

We gave ourselves a baby-making “break” to focus on getting healthy physically and emotionally for what lay ahead. These four months resulted in getting pregnant with our oldest daughter. But even if it hadn’t the foundation we were building would have been invaluable to cope with ovulation meds, IUIs and IVF.

Keeping your relationship fun

Whether you are thinking about pursuing fertility treatments, a natural route, or both finding time to enjoy life is crucial!

What did you use to enjoy doing together when you first met? What are some of the things you’ve always wanted to do? Pre-kids is a great time to fit these in. And a great way to find joy and fun while you are waiting.

Your sex life may be suffering from “trying to conceive stress”. At first, whispering, “Let’s make a baby” can be a turn on. After months of trying, it’s the last thing either of you wants to say or hear.

I admit it is impractical to ask a woman who wants a baby to not track her schedule. Plus I highly recommend tracking because it helps improve the healing process of PCOS.

Here are two ways to maintain the fun and closeness in your intimate relationship even while repairing your fertility.

First, consider Ovusense. It allows you to track easily and ultimately lets you detach from the data and only evaluate it when you want to.

Second and most importantly invest in your partner. Do kind things for each other, plan fun outings, events, getaways, or moments to connect. This will naturally lead to plenty of baby-making and feel way less clinical.

Getting Help

Sometimes partners struggle to understand themselves, much less understand each other. That’s where a little extra help comes in.

I wish we had considered and gotten help for my husband and me earlier. We eventually ended up in counseling but it would have been so much easier and less painful to seek help sooner. Think of it as preventative care for your marriage.

I also wish I had someone in my corner to help me figure out my hormones and health. I could have rebalanced my hormones sooner without the emotional doubt and turmoil. If you would like help please ask for help today by booking a free consultation.

The reality is, infertility struggles are hard, lonely, and full of just trying to cope. Shifting your focus to embrace the journey and practice patience with yourself and your partner will ease this trial and increase your success.

Ashlene Korcek PA-C

Hi there! I’m Ashlene Korcek, the PCOS Mama and founder of Nourished to Healthy

I help women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome balance their hormones naturally so that they can take back control of their bodies, boost their fertility, and ultimately live free from the symptoms of PCOS. Like you, I have PCOS, I was diagnosed while struggling with infertility and was told I likely would never have children. Even as a board-certified Physician Assistant I felt lost about what to do and very alone! Fast forward 5 years and I have 3 healthy children, but I never want another woman to feel lost and alone the way I did!

You can break free from the downward spiral of PCOS and feel amazing in your own skin again!

Follow Nourished to Healthy on Social Media

Creating a Conceivable Cycle

Creating a Conceivable cycle

Your period is considered the 5th vital sign by gynecologists. This is amazing because finally, the medical world recognizes that your menstrual cycle tells us so much about your health.

The problem, however, is that most physicians turn to birth control as the solution to your period problems. While this can help the symptoms it’s kind of a head-scratcher. It’s understood that your period is an indicator of health yet when it is not acting “normal”, aka, something in your health is not right, hormonal birth control is prescribed. Basically, telling your body and period to shut up.

No wonder so many women, when ready to start families, are met month after month with negative pregnancy tests. Birth control has told your cycle we don’t want to hear from you.

Periods get all the attention, I get it, they are more obvious. But the real player in a conceivable cycle is ovulation

Whether your periods are short or long, light or heavy or absent altogether the question is did you ovulate. Ovulation is what dictates if you can get pregnant or not, i.e. a conceivable cycle.

Absent or irregular cycles are common indicators that you are not ovulating. However, you can be skipping ovulation even if your cycle appears regular and “normal”.

This leads me to the first step of creating a conceivable cycle.

Am I Ovulating?

The best way to know if you ovulated, besides constant blood work or ultrasounds, is to take your basal body temperature.

Simply take your temperature every morning and record it on paper, with an app or use a device such as OvuSense. I highly recommend OvuSense. To record your basal body temperature, BBT, you need to be consistent. To accurately record your BBT it must be at the same time each morning before getting out of bed. OvuSense will take care of this inconvenience for you to get the most accurate results.

Regardless of which method you choose this data will help you determine if and when you are ovulating each month.

Why Are My Periods Problematic?

Your monthly cycle or lack thereof, tells us volumes about your health if we only listen to your signs and symptoms.

Hormone labs, drawn on the correct days of your cycle, can provide helpful information. Getting the lab tests you need can be frustrating. Doctors don’t often order a full workup because the information wouldn’t change the treatments they can offer.

I recommend that the women I work with get a full workup of lab tests. While we can decipher a lot from symptoms knowing if you have high or low estrogen, progesterone, etc can be very valuable. Once we know which hormones need some extra love we can design a natural plan to support hormone balance.

Repairing your cycle to conceive

To repair your cycle and ovulate monthly, it is important to care for your health and not just turn to medication, supplements, and fertility procedures.

Start by providing your body with the nutrients it needs. In order to produce healthy hormones and not suffer from hormone imbalances, it is important to eat adequate nutrients. Your body needs plenty of vitamins, proteins, and healthy fats while limiting processed and inflammatory foods.

Stress and perceived stress, anything your body might view as a threat to its survival, can have a detrimental effect on your hormones and fertility. Stress is a part of life, but how we combat it and care for our needs in the midst of stress can further destroy our hormone balance or allow us to heal.

Moving our bodies regularly helps to restore and promote healthy balanced hormones. Exercise reduces inflammation, removes toxins, and lowers the insulin effect. Consistency matters more than the type of exercise.

Creating a conceivable cycle doesn’t happen overnight but a little progress each day adds up in a big way! You don’t have to be perfect, you just have to get started. That’s why I’m sharing my PCOS Fertility Meal Guide so that you don’t have to guess what to eat and can just get started caring for your hormones and fertility.

VLOG TIMESTAMP

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Have you ever wondered “what the heck is going on with my cycle”, if you’ve ever wondered, why are my periods so heavy?

Why are my periods missing? Why do I have such horrible cramps? All of these symptoms are insights into your overall health.

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When we can understand what our cycle is telling us about our health, then we can take that information and we can look at what might be going on. We can get warning signs before our health worsens and we can start to actually get down to that root cause and look at what we can fix.

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We have gone to our physicians and asked for methods of reducing these symptoms and we’ve been offered birth control.

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In order to have a true cycle, ovulation has to occur.

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the first step in order to do that is to track your cycle. Let’s talk about why this is important and how to do it.

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Your body is programmed to know if it could handle a pregnancy. This is where a conceivable cycle comes into play. The second step is recognizing and addressing what is scaring your body to think pregnancy wouldn’t be safe

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And then third is to begin to repair those root causes that are leading to the PCOS hormone imbalance

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That did turn us into some, you know, sad, emotional roller coaster wreck of happiness, crying, angry that just kind of feels out of control. Those types of emotions stem from a hormone imbalance.

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And as we see our hormones come back into balance, we just become a little bit more even keel across the board, both in our energy, our appetite, our sleep, our mood.

Ashlene Korcek PA-C

Hi there! I’m Ashlene Korcek, the PCOS Mama and founder of Nourished to Healthy

I help women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome balance their hormones naturally so that they can take back control of their bodies, boost their fertility, and ultimately live free from the symptoms of PCOS. Like you, I have PCOS, I was diagnosed while struggling with infertility and was told I likely would never have children. Even as a board-certified Physician Assistant I felt lost about what to do and very alone! Fast forward 5 years and I have 3 healthy children, but I never want another woman to feel lost and alone the way I did!

You can break free from the downward spiral of PCOS and feel amazing in your own skin again!

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