Treatments for PCOS infertility symptoms

Treatments for infertility attributed to PCOS

There is no specific treatment to cure polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The difficulty of treating PCOS is compounded by the fact that PCOS symptoms are so wide ranging even within a specific patient. Treating PCOS typically involves managing an individual patient’s main concerns whether it is: infertility, hirsutism, acne, or obesity.

If the cause of infertility is attributed to lack of ovulation for PCOS patients there are many treatments available.  However, these treatments work best on patients who are not obese.

Weight loss should be the first treatment option for woman who suffer from PCOS and are having difficulty getting pregnant. Evidence has shown that even a small amount of weight loss can help a woman start ovulating normally again.

Clomiphene is an oral medication that is prescribed to help PCOS patients trigger ovulation. Sometimes metformin is prescribed in addition to clomiphene to induce ovulation more effectively.

Gonadotropin therapy (LH and FSH injections) are daily hormone injections that are prescribed to PCOS patients who are still unable to ovulate after taking clomiphene. Gonadotropin therapy is highly effective at inducing ovulation and roughly 60% of women become pregnant.

Laproscopic ovarian drilling is an option for some patients who are non-respondent to infertility medications. In this procedure, small incisions are made in a patient’s abdomen through which a laser instrument is used to burn holes in the various cysts on the ovaries. A very small camera attached to a tube (laprascope) is also inserted through a small incision in the abdomen to guide the surgical process. The surgery attempts to trigger ovulation by reducing the levels of androgens produced by the ovaries.

In vitro fertilization IVF is a procedure where eggs are removed from the body and fertilized with sperm. The fertilized egg is then implanted back into the womb. IVF can be a very complex and expensive procedure.