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It was always my understanding that one of the s/e of having PCOS was anovulation. When you have PCOS you have higher insulin levels and that is what causes you not to ovulate or to have wacky periods. You can only diagnose PCOS with bloodwork or a vaginal u/s. I hope this is helpful.

You probably won't ovulate because your cycle is irregular. I have PCOS and I do not ovulate which is why my doctor prescribed Provera (to jump start my cycle) and Clomid to stimulate my ovaries into ovulation. I'm in my second cycle now and am hoping it works without failure. I'm in my 18th day. I took the Clomid during cycle days 3-7. I tested tonight and it came out negative but its really soon so I will test again either this weekend or the middle of next week. Having PCOS is such a drag. :-(
I really want a little baby and it can be so frustrating just thinking of what I have to go through and that it can't happen naturally :-(
I'm trying to think positive though and keep remembering to pray.
Say your prayers for me all you other hopefuls out there....send lots of *baby dust*

I have a friend with PCOS who just came off the pill and is getting ready to ttc, I thought sometimes that you do ovulate? I also recall her saying her testosterone is high which is causing her not to ovulate. Does anyone know if this is accurate? She is not too happy w/her doc right now as she is not getting clear answers. Opti- how are you? You're past the 1/2 was mark now, right? Colleen

YES YOU CAN OVULATE NATURALLY WITH PCOS. The ignorance of some of the people who even have the condition themselves amazes me...high insulin levels is not a CAUSE of anything with PCOS, it's an EFFECT. The insulin receptors don't WORK, which causes insulin resistance, which causes the body to produce excess insulin in an effort to get some insulin through the malfunctioning receptors. It's all an endocrine system disorder, and when one thing is out of whack, everything is out of whack. Excess androgen levels can cause irregular cycles, but having irregular cycles does NOT mean you don't ovulate at all. I have PCOS. Only 1/9 cycles for me was annovulatory prior to becoming pregnant. It's just that ovulation tended to occur as early as CD11 or as late as CD24 and you never know when it's going to happen. HOW do you know when you ovulate? Chart your BBT - basal body temperature. Take your temperature RIGHT when you wake up, at the same time every day. You'll need a basal thermometer, but you can get one of those at any pharmacy, or at walmart. They cost about $10, and without it the charting is inaccurate. A GREAT website that I highly, highly recommend for charting is fertilityfriend. You keep track of your BBT and other fertility signs/symptoms (cervical mucous, cervical position, whether you break out at certain times of the month, etc), and they will determine when you ovulate. To TREAT PCOS, it's highly common for doctors to prescribe glucophage, or its generic, metformin. It doesn't always work if you don't have insulin resistance, and not *every* person with PCOS has insulin resistance. If metformin is going to work for you, it will straighten out your cycles within 6 months of use. Often sooner. It works by controlling insulin levels, which in return regulates the levels of androgens, estrogen, progesterone, FSH, and LH - so that you get normal cycles. While many people with PCOS do go on to use clomid, it is NOT necessary to use it or other fertility drugs in order to conceive. Metformin is not a fertility drug - it does not make you ovulate. It just treats the hormone imbalances that cause PCOS. When you have PCOS, you are also 3 times as likely to miscarry as someone without PCOS, because eggs can be malformed, which will cause them to abort, estrogen levels can be too high, and progesterone levels can be too low - causing a hostile environment for the fertilized egg. Metformin also helps with that, through the first trimester of pregnancy. But first you've got to get there. SO, start charting, pay attention to the rhythms of your body. If you're not on it, ask your doctor about glucophage/metformin. Personally, I miscarried 3 times before being diagnosed with PCOS. We never could understand why, or why it was so hard to get pregnant in between those miscarriages. After the third, I was diagnosed. My doctor gave me metformin, and the birth control pill yasmin, because after that news we needed a while to figure out what we wanted to do. So I took that time to research my condition myself. While on the BCP, obviously my cycles were very regular. After 7 cycles on both, I stopped the birth control pills - and my cycles remained regular. I got pregnant on the third cycle. We were AMAZED it happened so soon. And that it stuck. All the way through the first trimester I was convinced there was no way it would actually stick. She stuck around. Now I'm literally about to pop any day now. My metformin miracle. If I didn't chart and didn't know what was going on with my body, we would never have made it to this point. No fertility drugs - just needed knowledge and the little push from metformin to keep things stable. Good luck. =) If you have any questions, feel free to ask...I tend to poke around here every couple days (or more often depending how bored I am).

Becky-some of the answers we post are straight from the dr's mouth. There is no need to get rude, simply state your opinion and move on. There are hundreds of women on this webiste who ask questions on a daily baises and there are hundreds of women who respond with an opinion or their own thought. We are NOT dr.'s we are simply women trying to get pregnant. Your comment "The ignorance of some of the people who even have the condition themselves amazes me" was uncalled for.

I agree Opti. The friend I was referring to is and has been taking Metformin and still has very erratic cycles and did not ovulate last month. Although I do not have this condition (thankfully) it does seam to vary by individual.