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A disturbance in in your cycle usually means that ovulation is either not occurring or happening on an irregular basis. This is one of the main cases of infertility. In most instances, whether or not you are ovulating can be determined based on an assessment of your menstrual cycle.
Presence or absence of regular ovulation can be determined by a woman’s menstrual pattern. In some instances, blood tests may be required.
Over-the-counter ovulation predictor kits can be used to precisely time ovulation and, in many cases, the use of basal body temperature charts can be useful. Basal body temperature charts rely on the physiologic response of the body to progesterone, so women who ovulate will notice a slight rise in their early morning temperature following ovulation. This can be measured using a special oral thermometer and charted on graph paper.
While basal body temperature charting is cheap, it can be difficult to interpret, limiting its utility in precisely timing the point of ovulation during the course of a menstrual cycle.
The presence of an ovulatory disturbance warrants further evaluation
If you have regular cycles that are crampy and associated with some other symptom (i.e. breast tenderness, bloating etc.) then there is a 95% chance that you are ovulating. If your cycles are more frequent that every 23 days, less frequent than every 35 days or are markedly irregular, then in all likelihood you are not consistently ovulating. The thing to keep in mind is that most women who do not ovulate still have periods, albeit irregular ones.
If there is any question regarding consistent ovulation, your doctor may elect to measure your progesterone level as this hormone is only produced after ovulation.
In the past more invasive testing, like an endometrium biopsy, was performed. However, given the cost and invasive nature of this procedure, it has fallen out of favor.
I you are not ovulating, then the cause for the ovulation irregularity should be determined.
There are many different things that can interfere with ovulation. These include:
