Endometriosis Symptoms

Endometriosis is one of the most common health issues for women. Endometriosis occurs when a tissue similar to the lining of the uterus is found outside of the uterus. Endometriosis can occur in several areas of the female pelvic region including the ovaries, fallopian tubes, the pelvic sidewall, on the bowels or bladder. The most commonly reported symptom of endometriosis is pelvic pain. The pain will often coincide with the menstrual cycle, but can also manifest itself at other times as well. Due to the fact that endometriosis can be located in various areas of the pelvis, the pain associated with endometriosis can also be triggered in different areas as well. The abdominal area and lower back are two other common complaint areas that can be attributed to endometriosis. The amount of pain felt by a woman with endometriosis does not correlate to the scale of the disease within. It is possible for a woman experiencing little or no pain to have endometriosis implants affecting large areas. On the other hand, it is also possible for a woman experiencing severe pain to have a small level of endometriosis. Endometriosis is a progressive condition that can cause menstrual cramps to intensify and grow more severe over time. Endometriosis can also cause pain during ovulation. Pain, during or after sexual intercourse, can also be associated with endometriosis. Diarrhea or constipation, usually in correlation with menstruation, is another symptom of endometriosis. Endometriosis can also cause heavy or long menstrual periods and spotting between periods. Fatigue is also associated with endometriosis. A key symptom that affects roughly one third of women with endometriosis is infertility. A woman who started her period at an early age, has long, irregular and/or heavy periods, or that is related to someone who has had endometriosis, will have increased chances of getting the disease themselves. The pain associated with endometriosis for many women is severe enough to start affecting their lives. It can affect productivity, her personal relationships, and of course, her fertility. If you believe you might have endometriosis, consult your obstetrician/gynecologist. Your doctor may use ultrasound or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to search for endometriosis growths. A laparoscopy surgery is the best way to find out definitively if you have endometriosis. During a laparoscopy, the doctor makes a small incision in the abdomen, so that a small scope can be inserted to look for endometriosis growths. Tissue samples are also sometimes taken and a biopsy performed on them to reach the correct diagnosis. If you are concerned about possible endometriosis symptoms, please consult your doctor or infertility specialist. There is not a cure for endometriosis, but there are treatments available to counter the endometriosis symptoms including infertility and pain relief. Endometriosis is progressive and can become dangerous, so do not delay your treatment.

About the Author: Eric Daiter is the medical director of The NJ Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine, LLC, a leading NEW JERSEY INFERTILITY CENTER that offers a complete range of MALE INFERTILITY AND FEMALE INFERTILITY TREATMENT. For more information on The NJ Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine and Dr. Eric Daiter please visit www.drericdaitermd.com.

Ovulation Induction: Advanced Infertility Treatment

Many women having trouble conceiving turn to an infertility specialist, or Reproductive Endocrinologist for help. If you are in this situation and have been diagnosed with ovulatory problems, then your infertility specialist may have suggested ovulation induction as a possible solution. Ovulation induction can be very effective for women who do not ovulate or who have irregular ovulation patterns.
Ovulation induction is a treatment that stimulates your ovaries into ovulating. There are a few medications that are commonly used to induce ovulation. Your infertility specialist will work with you in determining which medications will help you reach your goals. Careful monitoring is essential to improving your odds of conception. Working with an experienced and skilled infertility specialist could prove invaluable on your quest to achieve pregnancy.
There are a few different types of ovulation induction therapies that your doctor will discuss with you. Having a basic understanding of each one should help you make an informed decision about how to proceed with your ovulation induction. Drugs that stimulate the ovary and help to produce mature eggs include injectable gonadotropins, clomiphene citrate, gonadotropin releasing hormone, among others.
Clomiphene citrate is commonly used to treat women experiencing ovulatory problems. This is usually the first step that you will take in trying to make your ovaries release one or more eggs. Most women experiencing little or no ovulation have only a slight rise, or no rise in follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and/or luteinizing hormone (LH). Clomiphene citrate lowers or blocks estrogen receptors in the body. Your pituitary gland should produce more FSH and LH to try and bring the estrogen levels back up. In a normal menstrual cycle, the estrogen drops, FSH and LH stimulate the ovarian follicles to mature and release eggs until the estrogen levels are brought back to a normal level. By blocking estrogen receptors, clomiphene citrate tricks the body into releasing additional FSH and LH.
Occasionally, the clomiphene citrate will not produce a high enough or long enough FSH level to encourage ovulation. If this is the case with you, then injectable gonadotropins may be recommended by your infertility specialist. Basically, injectable gonadotropins are injections of FSH. This can help you keep the levels of FSH in your body higher and for longer periods of time. Your doctor will monitor you to determine the correct amount of stimulation that you need without over-stimulating your ovaries into the production of many eggs.
When your doctor says that the eggs have matured in the follicles of your ovaries and are ready to be released, an HCG injection may be administered, which acts like LH in the ovaries. An LH surge usually happens naturally in a menstrual cycle to release an egg. It usually does not happen in an ovulation induction treatment and your doctor may choose to do the HCG injection.
All of this information should be used for familiarizing yourself with ovulation induction treatments and should not replace advice given by your infertility specialist. Ovulatory problems should be dealt with by a professional, experienced Reproductive Endocrinologist. Ovulation success rates are fairly high for these types of treatments, but not all will conceive. Other problems could be affecting your infertility, so find an infertility specialist that is willing to work with you to find your best infertility treatment options.

About the Author: Eric Daiter is the medical director of The NJ Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine, LLC, a leading NEW JERSEY INFERTILITY CENTER that offers a complete range of MALE INFERTILITY AND FEMALE INFERTILITY TREATMENT. For more information on The NJ Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine and Dr. Eric Daiter please visit http://www.drericdaitermd.com/.

Male Hypogonadism vs. Male Hypergonadism

Male infertility analysis can reveal hypogonadism or hypergonadism. If you’ve received a diagnosis of either of these, then you might have questions about their meaning and how they can affect your fertility. Talk to your infertility specialist about your specific and unique results. Hormone tests and semen analyses may be performed to get a true diagnosis of either hypogonadism or hypergonadism.
Male hypogonadism refers to a lack of function of the gonads. Basically, this term is used when the testes produce little or no hormones. When being tested for hypogonadism, your testosterone, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels will be evaluated. Most forms of hypogonadism are treatable.
Male hypogonadism can affect growth and development during puberty. Hypogonadism can be caused by infection or injury. You can also just be born with it. The treatment can depend on when you started being affected by hypogonadism. Males born with hypogonadism can have underdeveloped sex organs and treatment options may be limited. If hypogonadism was developed at puberty, other symptoms may be observed. Symptoms can include reduced muscle development, sparse or no beard growth, development of breast tissue and/or a lack of voice deepening. If onset occurs as an adult, symptoms would include erectile dysfunction, decrease in body hair and facial hair growth, increase in body fat, decrease in muscle mass, infertility problems and/or development of breast tissue. Hypogonadism developed during puberty or adulthood is treatable by hormone therapy.
Treatment of male hypogonadism depends on whether or not fertility is an issue. If it is not, then testosterone replacement therapy may be recommended by your doctor. If it is, then talk to an infertility specialist about what treatments can help you increase your chances of increasing your fertility odds.
Male hypergonadism is basically the opposite of hypogonadism. In hypergonadism, there are higher than normal hormone levels present. Like hypogonadism, hypergonadism can occur during puberty, later in life, or you can be born with it. Hypergonadism is very rare. Symptoms include early puberty, acne, excessive muscle mass and mood swings. Breast tissue growth and unusual body hair growth are other signs of hypergonadism.
The treatment of hypergonadism is more difficult than treating hypogonadism and you should seek the help of an endocrinologist when treating it. It is more difficult to lower hormone levels than to increase them, so getting all of the hormones to the correct levels can be a more intensive process.
Hormone therapies are common when treating male hypogonadism and hypergonadism. If fertility is a concern, then you should consult a reproductive endocrinologist before proceeding with any type of hormone therapy. An infertility specialist, or reproductive endocrinologist, can help you determine the best course of action for your infertility treatment.

Semen Analysis Report Explained

Couples battling infertility may go through a borage of tests to determine what their course of action should be. In the initial diagnostic phase, the male and female will be tested for infertility factors. Many couples have questions about the male diagnostic procedure and their semen analysis report.
Testing for male infertility includes a history evaluation, physical exam, hormone tests and a semen analysis. The semen analysis measures the volume of semen, sperm count, sperm motility and the number of normal shaped sperm. Many things can affect the results of the semen analysis. Your medical history, medications, birth defects and your environment can all affect your sperm quality.
If you receive a semen analysis and have questions about the results, talk to your infertility specialist. Keep in mind that semen analysis results can vary greatly from day to day, and if you receive an abnormal report, then your doctor will retest you within a week or two of the first analysis. Sperm can take about three months to fully form in your body. Illness, medication and environmental hazards that you were exposed to up to three months ago can affect your results. Retesting at varying time intervals helps your doctor properly diagnose semen abnormalities.
The semen analysis is conducted to determine if the sperm is capable of fertilizing a human egg. If you have been able to achieve pregnancy before, either naturally or by In Vitro Fertilization, then you have a good indication that the sperm will be able to fertilize an egg. If you’ve had a semen analysis, then you may have questions about the terminology used in the report and what the results really mean. Normal results can include a high number of abnormal sperm, a low number of viable sperm and other seemingly dismal results. Don’t despair if your initial results look bad.
Sperm motility refers to the sperms ability to move through the seminal fluid. Movement and forward progression is necessary for the sperm to travel to the egg. This variable of the semen analysis will be expressed as a percentage of the total number of sperm that are mobile. There may also be a subcategory of sperm that has movement, but may have some limited mobility, no forward progression, or irregular movements.
Your semen analysis will also include a percentage of sperm that has a normal shape. This is referred to as morphology, and identifies the percentage of sperm that is most likely to have fertilization capabilities. A normally shaped sperm should have an oval head, defined midsection and a long tail. A sperm is considered abnormal if it has a large or pointed head, round head, two heads, no tail, double tail, and so on. Anything that doesn’t strictly adhere to the norm will be considered abnormal in the morphology report. Numbers of abnormal sperm can be very high in an acceptable semen sample, so don’t be discouraged if the percentage of normal sperm seems low. Talk with your infertility specialist about what percentage is considered acceptable.
Sperm concentration and sperm count are also evaluated for the report. There can be huge variations from one analysis to the next depending on when the sample was taken. Be patient and keep in mind that one semen analysis is not enough to determine the cause of your fertility problems. Don’t try to interpret results on your own. A caring infertility specialist will discuss your results in depth with you and make sure that all of your questions are answered before you move on to treatment options.

About the Author: Eric Daiter is the medical director of The NJ Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine, LLC, a leading NEW JERSEY INFERTILITY CENTER that offers a complete range of MALE INFERTILITY AND FEMALE INFERTILITY TREATMENT. For more information on The NJ Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine and Dr. Eric Daiter please visit www.drericdaitermd.com.