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? About Ovulation & Follicles

AnyaBellaAnyaBella
in Northern California Babies

Sorry to be kind of a board hog today but G is taking an extra long nap so I finally have time to post. :) This may kind of be a dumb question, in fact I don't even know how to phrase it. I've tried doing google searches but am not really coming up with anything that makes sense to me.

When you ovulate how many follicles should your body typically produce? In a "normal" situation I thought it was just 1. Then occasionally your body may produce more, like with fraternal twins or if you are taking fertility meds with the purpose of producing several follicles. Is that wrong?

So you may remember that I've been having an issue with an insanely long period. Well my OB decided to send me for an ultrasound just to check things out. I went yesterday and the radiologist sat down with me after to go over the "results."

First he said everything was totally normal. Then he asked me about having endometriosis and he said "well I don't see any evidence of that here." I told him it was my understanding that endo can't be seen on U/S. Then he insisted everything was normal again. So I asked if there were any cysts because I have a history of those too. He said "well you do have several follicles on your right side which is to be expected in a 29 year-old." then he showed me the U/S picture. There were 6 or 7 black spots all in a row which he said were all follicles. So now I'm confused. Why would my body produce that many follicles? I thought you were just supposed to produce one at a time? I did a google search and it kind of looked like ultrasounds on PCOS patients which I'm trying not to freak out about. Any insight from the ladies that know about this stuff?

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Re: ? About Ovulation & Follicles

  • soon2Bkranzsoon2Bkranz member

    My understanding is that you may have several follicles grow...but in a normal non-medicated cycle only one matures and releases an egg.

    They call the PCOS follicles a strong of pearls and it really does look like that its just a whole line up winding around in there

     

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  • kfishiekfishie
    I am no expert, but my understanding is the same as L's above.
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  • SportyMrs.23SportyMrs.23 member

    Libby's right. 

    I remember at the start of my cycles, I'd have like 9-13 follicles on each side.  But not all of those would mature.  During my medicated cycles, I'd usually get 2-3 to mature.  In a non-medicated cycle, it would only be 1.

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  • SJBride05SJBride05
    You have several follicles, but in a "normal" cycle usually only one matures and becomes the dominant follicle.
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  • abvernonabvernon
    imageSportyMrs.23:

    Libby's right. 

    I remember at the start of my cycles, I'd have like 9-13 follicles on each side.  But not all of those would mature.  During my medicated cycles, I'd usually get 2-3 to mature.  In a non-medicated cycle, it would only be 1.

    Yup that is correct.

     

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  • AnyaBellaAnyaBella
    thanks everyone! this is exactly the information I was looking for but for some reason couldn't find the answer online.
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  • legaleagleslegaleagles member
    imageabvernon:
    imageSportyMrs.23:

    Libby's right. 

    I remember at the start of my cycles, I'd have like 9-13 follicles on each side.  But not all of those would mature.  During my medicated cycles, I'd usually get 2-3 to mature.  In a non-medicated cycle, it would only be 1.

    Yup that is correct.

     

    Yep. My RE stopped counting my follicles at20 on each ovary with several "strands of pearls"....I have pcos. It is normal to have a few but only have one mature and release an egg at ovulation.
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  • AvaLikeLavaAvaLikeLava member

    What everyone else said.

    I will also note that you may have a follicle grow and it to be empty and NOT contain an egg.

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  • Mrs.K&CMrs.K&C
    What everyone else said, plus RUN from any OB that says he doesn't see endo on an u/s. He's a quack. It's only detectable via a lap, which I'm pretty sure you had and know your diagnosis.
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  • AnyaBellaAnyaBella

    imageMrs.K&C:
    What everyone else said, plus RUN from any OB that says he doesn't see endo on an u/s. He's a quack. It's only detectable via a lap, which I'm pretty sure you had and know your diagnosis.

    Luckily he was just a radiologist and not my OB. I did think it was pretty crazy that he was trying to tell me that I don't have endo when I told him I had been diagnosed via a lap in '09. When I pointed out that you can't detect endo on ultrasounds he looked at me like I was stupid and said "umm, you can see endometriomas and you don't have any." At that point I decided he was an idiot and chose not to argue with him. I'll just wait until my OB calls with results to find out what's really going on.

    I think I was confused about the follicles because when I asked if I had any cysts he pointed out that I had several follicles. Not sure if he was calling those cysts or what so I was a little concerned. Thanks everyone for answering my question though!

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