If you have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, charting your fertility signs can be somewhat difficult. Women with PCOS often have long or irregular cycles, and their fertility signs may not follow a clear pattern from cycle to cycle. For women with PCOS who have few or no periods, charting may seem pointless—why take the time to chart if there’s no cycle to be charted? But wait! Charting can actually be tremendously useful for women with PCOS—for one, it lets you know what’s going on with your body, and will let you know if something (namely, ovulation) DOES end up happening. If your cycles are irregular but you haven’t figured out why, charting your signs can help your doctor to make a diagnosis—whether the irregular cycles are caused by PCOS or something else.
For women who have PCOS and are trying to get pregnant, charting can cut down on the frustration and disappointment that may be caused by not knowing whether or not you’re ovulating. If you start taking Clomid or Metformin, two drugs commonly prescribed to women with PCOS to induce ovulation and lessen symptoms of PCOS, charting can help you to determine if and/or when the treatment starts working.
So, how is charting affected by PCOS? Firstly, for women with PCOS, cervical fluid is not always a good indicator of if and when ovulation occurs. This is because high levels of the luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone cause the body to produce excessive amounts of estrogen, which in turn cause the body to produce lots of watery and/or eggwhite cervical fluid. This seemingly fertile cervical fluid may be present throughout much of a woman’s cycle. However, if the Temperature Shift does not occur, ovulation has not occurred, regardless of how the CF has changed throughout the cycle. A cycle in which CF builds up from sticky to eggwhite/watery but the BBT shift does not occur is a cycle with a ‘false peak’. Charting your CF will help to pinpoint these false peaks. Generally, cycles lasting two months or longer, or cycles with a ‘false peak’ once or more a year, indicate a possibility of PCOS.
Despite the occurrence of false peaks, women with PCOS should assume that they may be fertile whenever watery CF is present, especially if they are trying to avoid pregnancy. But, just as for women without PCOS, ovulation can only be confirmed after a BBT shift occurs and is sustained for several days. You can also keep track of your cervical position, as there is usually no difference in cervical changes between women with and without PCOS (other than the time it takes for the changes to occur).
To see an example of a chart for a woman with PCOS who is trying to get pregnant, click here. For an example of a chart for a woman with PCOS who is trying to avoid pregnancy, click here.
Comments
5 comments
Do you know of another resource that I could get more in-depth information about PCOS? I love the chart examples! Thank you!!
Hey there,
Sure! Here's another article about PCOS from our Knowledge Base: https://kindara.zendesk.com/entries/24082937-Understanding-Polycystic-Ovarian-Syndrome
Here's an example of a Kindara chart for a woman who has PCOS: https://kindara.zendesk.com/entries/23028081-PCOS-Chart
And, you can also check out soulcysters.com, a website that has TONS of useful info for women with PCOS.
Thank you so much for this!! I have PCOS and my CF doesn't follow a pattern during my "cycle". I was thinking that I must just be really bad at determining when my CF is fertile and sometimes am VERY discouraged by this. It's incredible to me how little support I have received from doctors regarding tracking my fertility specifically because of my PCOS. I really appreciate the support!
I'm so glad you've found this helpful! We're very happy to know when we're able to have a positive of women's lives, so thank you so much for sharing!
I would like to know y'all's opinion, if you have one. I have been off of my HBC pill since July of 2014. The first few cycles were random and very different lengths: one would be 30 days, the next would be 75, then the next would be 32, the next 50 days. Within the past few cycles, my cycle length has been around 40 days long. I stopped charting, so I can't really say what day I ovulated or what my cervical fluid was like, but I was taking ovulation tests and there were positive ones every cycle. But we've been trying to get pregnant now for three cycles and no luck. Should I be concerned that I might have PCOS? I have been having regular 40-45 day cycles the past 4 cycles, but is that a normal/healthy length? Thank you! And I apologize for the long post!
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