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PCOS & irregular cycle

5 October, 2021
Question:

Hi,

I have a few questions:

1. I have a 10-month old baby and I’m Baruch Hashem nursing. I nursed clean until he was 9 months old, when I got my first period since birth. I haven’t gotten my next one yet, although it’s been more than a month (already took 2 pregnancy tests). When nursing, could there be such a thing as getting one period and then having another long break of nursing clean?
Or once the first one comes things are supposed to resume to normal?

2. If an onah passes and I haven’t gotten my next period yet, I’m allowed to resume relations regularly? It just doesn’t make sense to me. I’m always scared that having relations will cause the onset of the next period even if I see nothing right before. (Which already happened once to me.)

3. I don’t have a typical calendar schedule. I typically get my periods 5-6 weeks apart. (Was diagnosed with PCOS as a girl.) This can be very unpleasant, physically – as I often start feeling period cramps already after 4 weeks, and emotionally – as I start feeling very hormonal and moody, and in general 2 weeks of not knowing maybe today, maybe this week, maybe next week is very hard. What can I do about this? As a girl I took provera, which sometimes caused staining. After marriage I did puregon to stimulate ovulation (part of fertility treatments). Is there any natural remedy to regulate periods? And if I want to take care of this medically, do I need a specialist or do I speak to a regular ob/gyn?

Thank you so much for all your help and time!


Answer:

1. It is very common for cycles to be irregular postpartum and while nursing. PCOS can sometimes contribute to this.

2. Yes, once the onot perishah have passed, relations are fully permissible. The reason that there are specific veset days is to limit our obligation to worry about the onset of a period to set times.

While staining might be a good indication that you should abstain from relations for a day or so lest a flow begin, there is no obligation to abstain aside from the onot perishah. Even general cramping or moodiness such as you describe does not mean you need to abstain.

3. We are sorry to hear of the difficulties that PCOS sometimes causes for you. On the natural end, eating a healthy diet low in refined carbohydrates and keeping one’s weight down can often make a real difference with PCOS.

While we are not familiar with specific natural remedies, we have heard anecdotally of some women being helped by Chinese medicine. Any complementary treatments should be undertaken in consultation with one’s physician.

We do suggest seeing a specialist to explore different treatment options, including raising the possibility of Metformin, which acts on the insulin system and can sometimes be helpful with PCOS.

Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

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