PCOS-my doctor said that women with PCOS are have increased fertility as they age - true?

[Anonymous]

I just had my first consult and my RE told me that since I have PCOS, a study indicated that my fertility will be higher at an advanced age. She added that the menstrual cyscels of those with PCOS become more regular with age, which is something I am just starting to see at age 42. This was great news to me, but I am unable to find anythign on this study online. I'll ask her when I go back in, but wondering if anyone out there has heard or experienced something similar.

[Anonymous]

I have read similar things online.......that PCOS women have increased fertility as they age....I'm guessing as I don't remember the research/rational for why...but I think maybe it has something to do with having a naturally higher resting antral follicle rate than average women.

[Anonymous]

seriously there is no credible research to support this theory.

[Anonymous]

Here is the article:

Youthful infertility balanced by late-blooming ovaries
04 March 2009 by Aria Pearson
Magazine issue 2697.

YOUNG women with fertility problems caused by polycystic ovary syndrome may have reason to take heart. Over a lifetime their chances of having children appear just as good as other women's, perhaps because egg production increases as they grow older.

About 7 per cent of reproductive-age women have PCOS, which features irregular periods, high levels of male hormones and greater numbers of developing follicles, or cysts, on the surface of their ovaries. In a normal ovary, a few follicles appear each month, one or two of which mature and release an egg; the rest die off. Women with PCOS ovulate less often because their extra follicles interfere with normal hormonal activity and stop follicles maturing past a certain stage. This is how PCOS lowers fertility.

Now it looks like that is not the end of the story. Miriam Hudecova and colleagues at Uppsala University in Sweden interviewed 91 women who were 35 or older and had been diagnosed with PCOS when younger. They found the women had undergone just as many pregnancies and borne as many babies, on average, as PCOS-free women of the same age. Some of the women with PCOS had been treated for infertility, but more than two-thirds had become pregnant without such help.

Hudecova also examined most of the women and found that the ovaries of the older women with PCOS showed signs of being more active, with better hormone levels and more eggs available, than those of control women of the same age (Human Reproduction, DOI: 10.1093/humrep/den482).

"As women with polycystic ovarian syndrome get older the chance of getting pregnant may actually be higher," says Hudecova.

There may be an explanation for this. As women age, fewer follicles are produced each month, and in most this reduces fertility. With PCOS, however, fewer follicles may have the opposite effect: it may stop the hormonal interference and cause follicles to release eggs normally.

The hypothesis is backed up by other studies that have shown that the menstrual cycles of women with PCOS tend to become more regular as they age (Human Reproduction, vol 15, p 24). Marcelle Cedars, a reproductive endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco, points out that it also chimes with a recent finding that hormone treatments can coax immature follicles to produce eggs.

"They might hit their reproductive peak a little bit later than other women," says Richard Legro, a gynaecologist at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. "When we see more data to that effect we'll revise what we tell them."

Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/...g-ovaries.html

[Anonymous]

I have PCOS and spent my teens, 20's and early 30's (I'm 37) either on the pill or with super-irregular periods. After a couple years of IF, an ectopic and lost tube I did IVF twice to conceive my twins. When they were 3 we decided no more BC pills (it messes me up) and DH would get a vasectomy because our family was complete. And thankfully he got the surgery b/c as soon as I went off the pill I had 15 months of super regular 28 day cycles. Now it is slightly wonky at 30-40 days, but still I get a period pretty much monthly. Weird!

[Anonymous]

I agree with this. I have PCOS and had irregular periods up until my mid-30s (conceived my daughter with injections + IUI). Now they are fairly regular -- about every 33 days. When this first started happening, I was completely caught off guard (hey - didn't I just have a period about a month ago, what's up with that?)

[Anonymous]

I have PCOS and when we tried to have a baby, my doctor put me on progestorene to get my body ready prior to clomid. It worked and after trying for less than 6 months, I was pregnant. I can recommend my OBGYN who deals a lot with women who have PCOS - Dr. Levitt at Capital Womens Care in Silver Spring, MD. He is wonderful.

[Anonymous]

My RE made some reference to this too when I consulted with him. And, anecdotally, I can see that this might be the case. My periods are much more regular now than they have ever been in my life (I'm 39). I'm trying for #2 and my RE has me on a lower dose than he did for my first child (born when I was 34) because I respond better now. Will be interesting to see what other studies show in the future. Thanks for sharing this, OP!

[Anonymous]

My person story seems to support this. Was told around 20 that I had PCOS. As I got older my OB pretty much assured me that I would need "help" to get pregnant. Anyway, met a nice guy told him about my "issue" he did not mind and we got engaged. Three months before the wedding (age 36) we got a big surprise (well not really, since we were not using protection), anyway baby #1 show up 9 month later. Conceived #2 at the ripe old age of 40 after only 2 cycles of trying.

[Anonymous]

I am having the same issues. I am 37yrs old and have had PCOS since I was 14yrs. I had never had a period on my own until recently. I had a period on my own at the begining of december and now again at the ending of january. It's a good thing but I still can't believe it

[Anonymous]

Not to be a devil's advocate, but I question that. For PCOS women, my understanding is there are many more eggs, but poor quality. But an RE can help with it, prescribe meds for regulating hormones, etc. Good luck! I kow a few PCOS women, and they have had a lot of trouble ttc, and some became succesul after consulting an RE.

[Anonymous]

I have already responded to this question, but the more I think about it, it makes absolutely no sense to me. I am curious who your RE is because it is contradictory to everything else I have ever heard....

[Anonymous]

15:59 poster here- Yes, have to agree with 19:19...have read (scientific journals) that it is a bunch of bunk...

But what I said also holds true...I went through 3 IVFs, had 18 blasts transferred, before I finally got my twins. I had great stims, huge numbers of eggs, great looking blasts...but in the end...didn't matter.

It really is quality vs. quantity...and you can't change the age of the eggs, no matter what.

[Anonymous]

I have PCOS and this has been the case for me, too. Since I was about 36, my periods are much more regular and I ovulate more often. When I went through IVF at 39, I responded better than most women by age (ended up with 9 5 day blasts to freeze- all good to excellent quality). My husband's MF issues have worsened over the years, which is the main reason we moved from IUI to IVF this time around. My RE also says there is some research to support this.

[Anonymous]

PP poster here- meant to also say why it actually does make sense. As explained to me by my RE, PCOS women tend to produce a lot of follicles each month, but they don't mature and therefore ovulation does not occur most of the time. Therefore, at best, PCOS patients ovulate rather infrequently. As we age, fewer follicles are produced, hormonally 'allowing' a dominant follicle to emerge and mature with more regularity than when the PCOS patient was younger. Of course, this is not true for all PCOS women (there is a lot of variability in how PCOS presents itself), but there is definitely an emerging trend.