PCOS help

Dear Ask The Doctor: Hi I am a 24 year old female who has been diagnosed with PCOS. Although I do not have all of the regular symptoms or proof of such. I am not overweight and do not have facial or excessive body hair the only issue i have ever had is an irregular cycle if not on birth control and when I did a ultra sound they did find cysts on my ovaries. My question is this, for the last few months I took my self off of birth control and have not had a period and as soon as I took 3 pills a week later I had a period, does my body need such a small dosage? I have also been taking Vitex for the last week so I am not sure if the mixture of both helped. I was able to get pregnant at 16 but not now, what changed?

Dear Jennifer:

PCOS causes hormonal imbalance in your body, this would alter the release of fertile ovules form your body and cause infertility.

Oral contraceptives are needed to simulate the natural release of hormones throughout the menstrual cycles, this would stimulate the growth of the uterus lining and desquamation during menses. If you like to become pregnant, there is medication that would stimulate the ovulation and might help you achieve this, Clomiphene citrate or Metformin could be prescribed by your physician after a detailed evaluation. Vitex might reduce the effectiveness of Oral contraceptives but it could aid you increasing your chances of fertility. I wish you the best.