The female body is a very delicate. It has different processes and cycles that go on in it to ensure that proper functions are carried out. One of these cycles is the menstrual cycle which is a period in the female’s body system that involves a continuous rise and fall of the hormone levels. Men do not go through the series of fluctuations that occur in the body of a woman. These continuous hormonal fluctuations result in different phases of the menstrual cycle. It will be interesting for you to know that ovulation is one of these phases. Ovulation is the time in a woman’s menstrual cycle when her ovary releases eggs, which shows that the body is ready for pregnancy.
When it happens that a woman’s ovaries fail to release eggs because the eggs do not mature, then a woman will not ovulate. This absence of ovulation is known as anovulation and it is a major cause of irregular menstrual cycles and cases of amenorrhea – absence of periods.
Having in mind the fact that changes in hormonal levels give rise to ovulation, you should know that drugs, health conditions, and problems resulting from a woman’s external environment, which affect hormonal levels, can cause anovulation.
It might interest you to know that anovulation in the menstrual cycle might come up once before the female’s body goes back to its regular ovulatory cycle. Sometimes you’ll find a lady who has a chronic anovulation problem whereby her ovulation skips many cycles probably two, three or more before a regular ovulatory cycle that ensures menstruation or pregnancy would be achieved.
Anovulation is seen to be normal in women who have entered their menopausal period but for a young woman anovulation is a disorder. Although anovulation is not normally seen in women who are of childbearing age and generally occurs in these women’s menstrual cycles if something disrupts their body’s hormone levels or destroys their ovaries.
SYMPTOMS OF ANOVULATION
Ovulation in women comes with different signs which is experienced by every woman with a normal menstrual cycle in every of her cycles. These symptoms may include:
- A decrease and increase in body temperature towards the middle of her cycle
- Increased production level of cervical mucus
- Regularly occurring periods.
On the other hand, women whose ovulation skips cycles are the ones who experience anovulation symptoms. They include:
- Absence of ovulation in one, two or more menstrual cycles
- Absence of periods or irregularity in her periods
- Absence of a rise and fall of body temperature that indicates the coming of ovulation
Most of these women who suffer anovulation might be advised by their doctors to use an ovulation predictor kit, most of which are over –the-counter kits to predict their ovulation. This ovulation predictor kit helps to measure a woman’s hormone levels using her urine in order to find out what time of the month she will be ovulating. Doctors can also check a woman’s hormonal levels with the aid of an ultrasound which scans the ovaries and tells whether or not she would be ovulating and what time of the month it will be.
Anovulation can also be induced by birth control pills which interfere with a woman’s menstrual cycle. Certain times abusing these pills might result in anovulation problems which may linger for a longer time than it is supposed to.
TREATMENT OF ANOVULATION
If you happen to develop anovulation, the first thing to do before any treatment is commenced is to find out the underlying cause of your problem. If it is as a result of a health condition, then deal with that health condition. If it is some IUD or birth control pills you need to discontinue, then go ahead and discontinue it but if it is none of the above, your visit to your doctor will help him find out what hormone-regulating therapy works best to remove the ‘an’ that keeps you from ovulating.
