While your goals may be to get pregnant as fast as possible, or to avoid pregnancy, ovulation itself is actually considered to be a sign of health! So no matter what your goals are, understanding whether or not you are ovulating is an essential pillar of health.
When you first start using a fertility or period tracking app like Premom, chances are you will be asked about your cycles: How long is your cycle? How long does your typical period last? Are your cycles regular or irregular?
Why is ovulation important for a regular cycle?
Ovulation is a naturally occurring phenomenon in women. Except during times of pregnancy, breastfeeding, puberty, perimenopause and menopause, ovulation should be occurring regularly.
Your full cycle is considered the beginning of your period through the day before your next period starts. What happens during your cycle? In the beginning of a healthy ovulatory cycle there is an increase in FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) levels that leads to the development of ovarian follicles. Increasing estradiol levels cause a midcycle gonadotropin surge that results in the LH peak you see on ovulation tests. This peak is necessary for ovulation to occur, as the follicle cannot rupture, and the egg cannot be released for fertilization without the peak.
After the egg is released from the ovarian follicle, progesterone is secreted. Without fertilization, progesterone secretion ceases and leads to menstruation.
What if I am not ovulating?
If ovulation is absent, this could be a sign of inadequate endocrine and/or gonadal function.
This, in turn, may make it more difficult for you to conceive in the future, as well as indicate more serious health issues that should be addressed as soon as possible.
Dr. Haebe, an integrative physician, weighs in on the topic of ovulation’s positive correlation with overall health:
“Ovulation is considered to be a sign of good health. When you are not ovulating, it lets your healthcare provider know that your body is in some sort of distress or imbalance, whether it’s your thyroid, adrenals, underlying inflammation, illness, stress or even an autoimmune disorder.
Think of it this way: your body ovulates when all things are in balance; the body perceives safety. But for example’s sake, let’s imagine you’re being chased by a tiger — pretty stressful, right?
Your body, while you’re running from this “tiger”, is focused on getting you to safety at all costs; you produce stress hormones to get you to safety as soon as possible. Reproducing at this time is the last thing your body cares about, and ovulation gets shut down. In today’s world, while you may not be running from a literal tiger, your body can perceive work stress, financial insecurity, family issues, or illness as that dangerous “tiger” shutting down your ovulation.
In a typically healthy woman, we’d expect to see regular cycles with consistent ovulation, demonstrating that her body feels safe and her hormones are in balance. This is why when ovulation is absent, as a physician, we see it as a red flag and it’s our job to get to the root of why you are not ovulating. What is out-of-balance that’s causing your body to halt your fertility? Is it your thyroid? Insulin levels? An autoimmune disease? Stress?
This is why using ovulation prediction methods — like using ovulation predictor kits and tracking cervical mucus — provide such good insight into health, even for those who aren’t actively trying to conceive. Monitoring your menstrual cycles is essential to ensure maximum health and vitality, and all women should strive to see regular ovulation for optimal health.”
The ovarian continuum is a process that occurs throughout the lifetime of a woman, beginning at intrauterine life with fertilization and ending with menopause, and can be affected by a variety of factors, such as changes in hormonal levels, stress, and illness.
What can irregular cycles tell me about my health?
The most common causes of irregular menstrual cycles associated with ovulatory dysfunction are hormonal abnormalities.
Hypothalamic disorders can delay the increase of FSH levels and can be caused by such factors as excessive exercise, stress (which can lead to hypercortisolemia), anorexia, and nutritional imbalances.
Thyroid disorders can impact the maturation of a follicle, and women who suffer from thyroid issues can experience menstrual abnormalities like hypomenorrhea or even miscarriage.
Adrenal and/or ovarian disorders can also cause ovulatory dysfunction. PCOS can cause irregular menstrual cycles and result in irregular cervical mucus patterns. Unfortunately, PCOS is also associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and various types of cancer. Most women are diagnosed with PCOS in their 20s or 30s; however, symptoms can begin as early as after their first menstrual period.
As is with the case of PCOS, ovulatory dysfunction often begins early in a woman’s life. Identifying, diagnosing, and treating this dysfunction is essential if she wishes to (hopefully) prevent her symptoms from worsening in adulthood.
In light of this, it is essential that all women track their menstrual cycles and monitor/confirm ovulation.
5 Reasons to Test Your Hormones at Home
Fortunately, with the help of the Premom app and Easy@Home’s ovulation predictor kits and basal thermometers, you can monitor your cycles at home to ensure that you’re ovulating. But aside from ovulation alone, there are many beneficial reasons to take a look at your hormones.
1. Get to Know Your Cycle
Did you know that birth control periods aren’t real periods? They’re actually considered a “withdrawal bleed.” Relearn your cycle after stopping birth control pills or hormonal IUDs.
Hormonal birth control actually works by stopping the communication between the brain and ovaries; it can take some time for them to start talking again! By using ovulation tests, you can actually see when your ovulation is returning. This can take several months for some women, so plan on using ovulation tests for 3-12 months.
2. Identify Causes of Frustrating Acne and Weight Gain
Tracking your cycles using ovulation tests is a fantastic way to identify if you have PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome), which can often cause frustrating symptoms such as acne, dark hair growth and weight gain. Typically, when women have PCOS, their LH (luteinizing hormone) levels are elevated and they’ll often notice repeatedly high ovulation tests. If this is the case, it’s a good indicator that you’ll need to get some additional lab testing from your doctor as you may have high levels of the male hormone testosterone, insulin imbalances, and low progesterone.
Low levels of thyroid hormone can not only interfere with ovulation, but also can be associated with autoimmune disorders that could affect your future fertility and leave you feeling tired… and increase your waistline.
3. Get Insight on Your Stress Levels
Stress can also throw off our menstrual cycles, and it’s not until we begin tracking periods that we can see the deleterious effects that stress is having on our hormonal cycling! When we are chronically stressed, sometimes our bodies will steal sex hormone precursors in order to produce more of the stress hormone, cortisol, to deal with the stress.
By testing for ovulation, you can identify if your stress is throwing off your cycles and make moves to decrease your stress, optimizing your health.
4. Know When Your Period Is Coming
Whether you’re planning your next trip or want to wear those white pants next weekend… it’s always nice to know when your period is arriving!
Many women have slightly irregular cycles, and ovulation testing can tell you — much more accurately — when your period will start. By using ovulation tests, you can identify your predicted ovulation and use the Premom app’s intelligent technology to accurately predict when your period will arrive.
5. Get Pregnant Easily — When You’re Ready!
Ovulation testing predicts when you will be ovulating. When you have this information, you can time intercourse during your fertile window to get pregnant.
Learning about your body through the use of ovulation tests leads to massive self-understanding and helps you to optimize your health. Ovulation is a powerful tool for identifying imbalances in your body, and in your life. Consider adding ovulation testing into your daily regimen from the beginning of your cycle.
Premom’s smart technology will interpret your ovulation tests for you: just set them on a neutral background and snap a picture using the Premom app. It’ll not only quantify your LH levels, but it’ll track the progression of LH and highlight your predicted fertile window. With all these tools, it’s never been easier to get more information about your body!
Not ovulating? Consider chatting with a provider through the Premom app’s virtual consultation feature. Our fertility experts would love to answer your questions!
References
- PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome) and diabetes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/pcos.html. Published March 24, 2020.
- Vigil P, Lyon C, Flores B, Rioseco H, Serrano F. Ovulation, a sign of health. The Linacre Quarterly. 2017;84(4):343-355. doi:10.1080/00243639.2017.1394053
- Orlowski M. Physiology, follicle stimulating hormone. StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK535442/. Published May 1, 2023.
