PCOD Problem After Marriage: One of the most emotionally challenging diagnoses a newlywed woman can receive is discovering she has a PCOD problem after marriage. This pervasive hormonal disorder affects up to 20% of women of reproductive age in India, hindering ovulation, spurring excess weight and hair growth, and causing fertility impediments. 

PCOD problem after marriage brings its own set of challenges for newly married women who wish to conceive. However, effective PCOD management after marriage through medical and lifestyle interventions offers hope. Timely action aids conception besides safeguarding long-term health. This blog will answer your queries.

Why Does PCOD Develop After Marriage?

While some women have already been diagnosed with PCOS earlier in life, others only start exhibiting signs and getting diagnosed after marriage. Some critical reasons for the PCOD problem after marriage include the following: 

Hormonal Changes: Significant hormonal fluctuations contribute to the development of PCOD after marriage. The changes are mainly related to new sexual activity, cessation of birth control pills, stress, and changes in diet and sleep upon moving to a new home with the partner.

Stress: Getting married brings excitement along with significant stress that disrupts hormones. This hormonal imbalance can activate dormant PCOS tendencies or intensify symptoms in women already dealing with this condition. 

Lifestyle Triggers: The transition into married life often diminishes activity levels while increasing food intake. Resulting weight gain and obesity triggers hormonal imbalances that can unmask a predisposition towards developing a PCOD problem after marriage.

Diagnosis Delay: Many women don’t check for menstrual irregularities, excess body or facial hair, etc. unless they are actively trying to conceive after marriage. This eventually delays PCOD diagnosis and leads to other health issues. 

Increased Expectations: Pressure to conceive soon after marriage leads to investigations revealing a PCOD problem after marriage that may have gone undiscovered earlier.

Thus, while a PCOD problem after marriage can be primarily attributable to biological and lifestyle factors, societal expectations and focus on fertility also lead to an increase in detection rates.

Read Also: What is the PCOD Problem in Women And How Does it Affect Fertility?

Common PCOD Symptoms After Marriage

Newly married women struggling with PCOD may notice the following symptoms that can affect their self-confidence and married life:

• Irregular, missed, or heavy and painful periods. 
• Significantly increased facial or body hair growth (hirsutism). 
• Severe acne and skin changes. 
• Thinning hair or hair loss on the scalp. 
• Rapid weight gain/inability to lose weight despite diet and exercise. 
• Dark patches on skin folds like neck and armpits (acanthosis nigricans). 
• Multiple ovarian cysts upon ultrasound tests. 
• Fertility problems and trouble conceiving. 

Do bear in mind that PCOD or PCOS presents differently in each woman. You may only have mild symptoms or several distressing issues disrupting your life. Monitoring your health and being aware of changes post-marriage enables early intervention and treatment.

Read Also: Apricots in Pregnancy: Unveiling the Nutritional Bonanza for Expectant Mothers

Why Does PCOD Lead To Fertility Challenges After Marriage?

One of the top reasons PCOD poses major concerns after marriage is due to its negative impact on a woman’s fertility and ability to get pregnant. Here’s why this occurs:

Hormonal Imbalances: PCOS involves excess male hormones (androgens) and irregular ovarian function or ovulation. This affects egg quality, and uterine lining thickness and inhibits natural conception.

Lack of Ovulation: Most women with the PCOD problem after marriage either stop ovulating completely or only ovulate a few times a year. When women with PCOS don’t ovulate every month, they miss the short fertile window for conception month after month. This greatly hinders their ability to get pregnant unless ovulation resumes. 

Weight Issues: Up to 80% of women with PCOS tend to be overweight or obese. The exact mechanism by which obesity affects fertility in PCOD is not fully understood, but several studies have shown that obesity can lead to insulin resistance, which can cause hormonal imbalances and ovulation problems. Insulin resistance can cause the body to produce more androgens, which can interfere with ovulation and lead to irregular menstrual cycles. 

Inflammation: Studies indicate an estimated 35-80% of women with PCOS have some degree of chronic, low-grade inflammation apparent via blood tests. This chronic inflammation also hampers ovulation, embryo implantation, and continuation of pregnancy in the early weeks.

Insulin Resistance: Over 50% of women with PCOS demonstrate insulin resistance, just like in diabetes. This reduces fertility and heightens the miscarriage risk if pregnant. Losing weight, exercising, diet changes and particular medication can all help overcome associated risks.

Read Also: What Is The Best Age To Get Pregnant With PCOS?

Coping Strategies for PCOD After Marriage

Here are some constructive tips to help women diagnosed with PCOD stay positive and address associated hurdles after marriage:

Open Communication: Don’t hide PCOD struggles from your husband and family. Discuss issues sensitively; seek cooperation on diet activity levels. Share fertility treatment options and progress without blame or shame.

Medical Assistance: Consult a gynaecologist or endocrinologist for expert care. Medications, surgical procedures, and advanced fertility treatments can all vastly improve the prospects of pregnancy in PCOS despite initial obstacles. 

Support Groups: Connect online or offline with women battling PCOS, too. Shared experiences and advise on dealing with anxiety or depression can give you strength during vulnerable moments.

Self-Care Routine: Practice self-love, including sufficient sleep, eating wholesome food, exercising, saying no to unsolicited pressures, taking breaks from social media, enjoying hobbies, etc. Boost your overall well-being.

Stress Management: As emotional upheavals can worsen PCOS indicators, make conscious efforts via yoga, meditation, counseling, visualisation, etc., to calm the mind. Reduce self-blame and practise positive thinking.

Healthy Lifestyle Changes: Follow medical nutrition therapy from an expert dietitian combined with 150+ minutes of weekly exercise as core PCOS treatment for regulating periods, enabling weight loss, and achieving long-term fitness.

Making sustainable lifestyle adjustments and seeking both medical and emotional support systems aids in effectively coping with post-marriage PCOS struggles. Stay determined for the best outcomes even if the process remains slow.

Read Also: Yoga for PCOS: Top Asanas to Conquer PCOS and Boost Fertility

When To See A Doctor About PCOS Fertility Problems After Marriage

If you are actively trying to conceive naturally without success for 6 months or more after marriage, consult your gynecologist right away. Other red flags warranting urgent medical review:

• Prolonged menstrual irregularity (less than 8 to 10 periods annually).
• Sudden onset of male-pattern balding, excessive facial/body hair, severe cystic acne primarily around jawline/chin region.
• Rapid weight gains and inability to shed excess kilos despite diet control and daily workout sessions.
• Worsening anxiety or depression and isolation impacting relationships.
• High blood sugar levels signalling pre-diabetes or insulin resistance issues.

Read Also: What is Difference Between PCOS and PCOD?

The Bottom Line

PCOD problem after marriage poses an unforeseen challenge for numerous newly-wed women, given its association with irregular cycles, infertility issues, unwanted hair growth, weight gain, and emotional volatility. Seeking timely and appropriate medical care, lifestyle improvements, and a compassionate psychosocial support system are vital to coping effectively.

If battling the PCOD problem after marriage and facing conception issues, explore all options confidently, including assisted reproductive technologies like IVF, IUI, ICSI, etc, offered by leaders such as Nandi IVF. Our personalised protocols and holistic fertility management can help you surmount PCOS struggles through customised solutions. Stay positive and discuss your unique needs transparently with a Nandi PCOS specialist today to begin your path to parenthood.

Read Also: Empowering Couples For Parenthood: Navigating Pregnancy With PCOS And PCOD

FAQs

Q: Can PCOD strike a married person?
Ans: Yes, PCOD can affect females regardless of their marital status. It commonly strikes during the reproductive years as women transition from puberty into early adulthood. Marital status does not prevent the hormonal imbalance that causes PCOD.

Q: Can someone with PCOD become pregnant?
Ans: Yes, someone with PCOD can get pregnant, although fertility issues are common. PCOD causes irregular ovulation, making pregnancy more difficult, but ovulation can occasionally occur, allowing pregnancy. Treatments also exist to help induce ovulation and improve chances of conception.  

Q: Is PCOD a chronic condition?
Ans: Yes, PCOD is considered a lifelong chronic condition. The specific hormone imbalance and its impacts remain present unless treated. However, one can manage symptoms successfully in the long term through lifestyle changes and medication. Regular check-ups are essential to prevent complications even when symptoms improve.

Q: How can PCOD be prevented?
Ans: PCOD cannot be prevented entirely as it relates to hormones and genetics. However, maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle from a young age will likely decrease risk or severity. Eating healthy, regular exercise, good sleep habits, and stress reduction help prevent insulin resistance and obesity from triggering PCOD in genetically prone women.

Q: What occurs if PCOD is disregarded?
Ans: Neglecting PCOD can lead to more severe symptoms and serious long-term complications like diabetes, infertility, uterine cancer, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, strokes, heart attacks, and metabolic disorders. That is why ongoing monitoring and proactive treatment in consultation with medical professionals is crucial. You should pay attention and stick to treatment plans to prevent the progression of PCOD.

What is the PCOD Problem in Women: The ever-evolving work-driven world often confines us in our houses. Consequently, we skip daily exercise, disrupt our routines and habits, and always experience stress. Even while this is not a surprise for anyone, these little changes significantly affect women’s health. Regular menstruation indicates a well-functioning reproductive system. However, this hectic lifestyle of the modern world might lead to some women experiencing irregular menstruation. Even while it can be difficult to predict when your period will arrive, the problem can be aggravated by the possibility of PCOD. But what is the PCOD problem in women?

What is the PCOD Problem in Women?

With the advent of the twentieth century, most require everything at once. The latest motto for the current generation is now or never- leaving no room for patience in the littlest of the activities we carry out. We like our food prepared in two minutes or less and our pizzas delivered in thirty. Earlier generations led contented, stress-free lives, but stress is a natural part of life. So, what is the PCOD problem in women, and where does it kick in?

Demanding schedules, insufficient self-care, and dietary habits affect our bodily functions, leading to hormonal imbalances. PCOD, a common condition in women, results in one or both enlarged ovaries containing cysts or fluid-filled sacs. 

Ovulation causes an ovary to retain its size and have services; however, an affected by PCOD has smooth and swollen ovaries due to the absence of ovulation. It usually occurs when the body experiences an imbalance in hormones, leading to an excess of the male hormone androgen. In extreme and untreated circumstances, PCOD can also lead to infertility, diabetes, and heart disease.

Read Also: What is Difference Between PCOS and PCOD?

Decoding The Tell-Tale Symptoms

Since PCOD hampers your chances of getting pregnant, your reproductive organs must be in optimal condition, regardless of your stage of life. You must monitor all symptoms right from puberty since ignorance has serious consequences. Still, wondering what is the PCOD problem in women and how to spot it? Simply, see a doctor if you discover anything strange about your body or if you have any of these symptoms.

• Period irregularities: Getting irregular or skipped periods? Keep a tight eye on your cycles to detect early signs of PCOD. Additionally, some women feel a heavy or light flow, a subliminal indicator of irregular menstruation.
• Body Acne: Are you noticing abnormal breakouts? Women with PCOD often experience prominent acne on their faces, necks, and backs of their bodies.
• Variable Weight: Most PCOS-affected women often develop weight-related issues. Is your diet not working for you? PCOD may be the cause of your inability to lose weight, even after exercising and following a diet.
• Hair Fall: Noticing hair fall or thinning even with a healthy scalp routine is one of the first signs of PCOD. Male pattern or crown baldness is a common symptom of PCOD in women. Some even experience hair loss in this area.
• Excessive Hair Growth: The condition can transition into Hirsutism, where most women with PCOD have facial, back, stomach, and chest hair growth. 
• Mood Disorders: The sudden changes in the body can be overwhelming, leading to depression and body image issues in women.

The Underlying Triggers of PCOD

Most women with PCOD neglect to ask their doctor about what is a PCOD problem in women and what causes or happens during the disease when searching for a solution. Cysts are a part of the full development of PCOD- however, they are not the actual cause of the condition. Cysts indicate a hormonal and metabolic disorder affecting the body. The trapped egg follicles in the ovary in the absence of ovulation in PCOD patients take the shape of cysts.

Women who suffer from PCOD also have elevated testosterone levels. Therefore, while discussing the etiology of PCOS, elevated androgen levels are a factor.

• Overproduction of insulin: Excessive insulin release in the body often leads to an increase in androgen production. The excess of this male hormone produced in females often interferes with ovulation.
• Overproduction of androgen: The ovaries create excessive amounts of androgen hormones, causing Hirsutism, the growth of facial and body hair, and acne.
• Low-grade inflammation: According to a recent study, women with PCOS have low-grade inflammation, which raises the production of testosterone and results in cardiac problems or blood vessel problems.
• Genetic Correlates: PCOD and developing high androgens can have a hereditary component. Women with PCOD exhibit genetic markers. Women who carry the PCOD gene are more likely to acquire the illness in the right conditions. The symptoms of PCOD are reversible by treating the underlying cause of PCOD or eliminating certain environmental factors.
• Weight Issues: A heavier weight can occasionally exacerbate polycystic ovarian syndrome symptoms and insulin resistance. Some women with PCOD claim to be a healthy weight and to have never had symptoms like irregular menstruation or excessive hair growth.

Read Also: Empowering Couples For Parenthood: Navigating Pregnancy With PCOS And PCOD

PCOD Complications to Watch For

Remember, your lifestyle choices impact various metabolic processes, including the health of your hormones. The following PCOD complications need the urgent supervision of a skilled practitioner.

• Abnormal uterine bleeding
• Infertility or hypertension infertility
• Type 2 diabetes
• Preterm labor and premature birth
• Metabolic syndrome 
• NASH (Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis)
• Sleep apnea (Common in overweight women, causes repeated pauses in breathing during the night, which interrupt sleep)
• Endometrial cancer (Due to thickened uterine lining)
• Miscarriage (spontaneous loss of pregnancy)

Read Also: What Is The Best Age To Get Pregnant With PCOS?

Identifying Polycystic Ovary Disorder

A significant 25% of females receive a diagnosis of polycystic ovaries. The diagnosis involves imaging, blood tests, and physical symptoms impacting body systems. The gynecologist will inquire about medical history, eating and drinking habits, and the use of any prescription or over-the-counter medications, including vitamins and supplements, depending on symptoms. Here are some usual tests for PCOD you might have to go through:

• Pelvic Examination: In the pelvic examination, the doctor examines the reproductive organs physically to look for growths, anomalies, or lumps.
• Blood testing: A fasting lipid profile measures total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), triglyceride levels, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). The doctors also perform glucose tolerance tests to understand hormone levels better.
• MRI examination: Doctors perform ultrasound imaging tests to measure a patient’s ovarian cysts, uterine lining, and ovarian size.

Read Also: Yoga for PCOS: Top Asanas to Conquer PCOS and Boost Fertility

Managing PCOD: Treatment Options

Still searching for answers now; you know what is the PCOD problem in women? Well, individual conditions in PCOD treatment stem from stress of infertility, hirsutism, weight gain, irregular periods, and acne. You can, however, discuss your options and have a quick chat with a gynecologist to discuss the treatment options:

Lifestyle changes:

Lifestyle changes are synonymous with mental and physical health. A PCOD treatment plan begins with dietary adjustments, exercise, and weight loss.

• Maintaining a healthy weight: Reducing or maintaining a healthy weight can help lower blood pressure and the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease.
• Cutting back on carbs: Maintain a diet high in complex carbohydrates or low in carbs to stabilize your insulin levels. Consume seafood, meat, eggs, vegetables grown above ground, and natural fats from foods like butter and pumpkin seeds.
• Be active and exercise frequently: Exercising regularly helps maintain and control your weight and blood sugar levels if you have PCOD or PCOS.

Taking Medication:

While over-the-counter treatments are available, your doctor may advise you to take specific prescriptions to restore a regular menstrual cycle.

• Progestin Therapy: To regulate your menstrual cycle and prevent endometrial cancer, your doctor can prescribe progestin medicine 10–14 days a week for at least two months.
• Birth Control Pills: It includes taking progestin and estrogen-containing pills to lower testosterone production and control estrogen levels. Birth control drugs improve bleeding, lessen acne and excessive hair growth, and minimize the risk of cancer.

Infertility From PCOD: Taking the Surgical Route

A significant consequence of PCOD is that it can interfere with a woman’s ability to release her eggs. The improper development of endometrial lining due to the condition can also prevent mature eggs from being deposited in the uterine wall.

Most women with PCOD can conceive with fertility treatment, even though statistics are hard to come by due to case variations and treatment success rates. It is more the case for women under the age of 35. However, if other fertility-improvement methods fail, surgery may be the only possibility, like ovarian drilling, to restore regular ovulation.

Read Also: 7 Steps to Getting Pregnant with Blocked Fallopian Tubes

Bottom Line:

The win-win situation after understanding what is the PCOD problem in women is that doctors suggest that PCOS-related infertility is often curable. Our team at Nandi IVF has helped numerous families worldwide realize their dreams of becoming a parent with years of expertise in treating fertility-related problems.

So, why suffer when assistance is only a click away? Schedule an online appointment at Nandi IVF to visit our esteemed gynecologists and feel comfortable interacting about your fertility-related treatment options.

FAQs

Q1: What is the main cause of PCOD?
Ans: The onset of PCOD does not depend on the sexual engagement of a woman. The condition occurs due to hormonal imbalances caused by lifestyle choices, poor diet, or genetics.

Q2: What does PCOD stand for?
Ans: PCOD stands for polycystic ovarian disorder, deriving its name from the numerous little cysts (fluid-filled sacs) that develop in the ovaries. Some women develop cysts without the disease, while some women with the disorder do not.

Q3: Is PCOD a chronic condition?
Ans: Although there is no perfect treatment for PCOD, it is not a major issue. You can manage PCOD and its associated symptoms by maintaining a healthy weight, adhering to a complex carbohydrate diet, exercising frequently, and engaging in physical activity.

Q4: Why does PCOD occur?
Ans: The exact cause of PCOS is still unknown, and it likely varies from person to person. There could be influences from the environment, behavior, genetics, and lifestyle leading to PCOD.

Read Also: PCOD Problem After Marriage: Reasons Behind Women’s Experience