Lesson 4: Identifying and Curing Minor Infertility
1. Identifying Minor Infertility – How to identify minor and major infertility through charting 2. Natural Cures for Minor Infertility Part 1 – vitamins and herbs that boost fertility 3. Natural Cures for Minor Infertility Part 2 – over-the-counter cures for minor infertility
Identifying Minor Infertility
Charting your fertility signs can determine potential problems about your fertility cycle; anovulation, low progesterone, thyroid dysfunction, low estrogen, luteal phase defect, poor quality cervical fluid and polyps or cysts on the cervix. Some of these conditions can be easily corrected with over-the-counter remedies and some require the attention of a physician and possibly prescription drugs and infertility procedures.
Anovulation is when you have a full cycle of no drastic temperature shift, and yet you have menstrual bleeding. Anovulation can be further tested by your doctor and action can be taken to possibly remedy this.
Low progesterone can be discovered if when your temperature shifts upward only it stays up by one-tenth a degree or so. A simple blood or saliva test can determine how low your progesterone level is and medication can be given to increase the level.
Thyroid dysfunction can be determined sometimes by too low temperatures during the first week of your cycle, called hypo-thyroid, and too high temperatures can indicate hyper-thyroid. If you suspect this, a simple blood test can indicate if the thyroid is truly a problem. This is just one indication of “possible” thyroid dysfunction.
Low estrogen can be detected through charting if your pre-ovulation temperatures aren’t low enough, or if you have poor quality cervical fluid. It’s the surge of estrogen that causes your body to produce good fertile quality cervical fluid.
A luteal phase defect is determined if the number of days from ovulation to menstruation are less than ten. This too can indicate and be caused by a low progesterone problem. Poor quality cervical fluid is determined if you are consciously checking your cervical fluid and one culprit is low estrogen.
Cervical polyps or cysts are found by checking the position of your cervix. These are usually harmless, lasting only a couple of days; however, if they stay on the cervix for more than several days, you should contact your physician. There are many different fertility tests that can be run. Let’s not forget the importance of the man’s fertility workup either. About 50% of infertility is due to problems with the man. The obvious test for a man is a sperm count. It’s a very simple procedure and it doesn’t hurt!
The woman is a different story. Usually when infertility is suspected, a man will have a fertility workup first, because it is least invasive. The testing and treatments for a woman vary from doctor to doctor.
The woman’s fertility workup usually begins with charting, which is why it’s important to start off doing this in the first place. Then hormone levels are checked at various times during the cycle. The cervical fluid can be tested for ferning patterns, an indication of ovulation.
Postcoital tests are performed to determine if the cervical fluid is friendly to the sperm. Ultrasound, endometrial biopsy, hysterosalpinogram are others that may be done fairly soon. If these don’t pan out, surgical investigation is necessary. These include laparoscopy and hysteroscopy. Genetic counseling may be done as well. Once the doctor determines the problem, they can then start the necessary treatments.
An obstetrician will run a number of tests themselves and see if the infertility can be corrected easily. If they find that the first tests either show nothing or show something of great magnitude they may refer you to a reproductive endocrinologist or fertility specialist. They will do more extensive testing and treatments - usually and hopefully resulting in pregnancy.
