ttc but periods have stopped

please help me im 21 me and my husband would love a family but my periods stopped around 5months ago gp has ran hormone blood tests which were fine and gave me a hormonal pill to make me have a period in the hope it would kick start them again but it hasnt and that was a couple of moths ago.is it possible i could still ovulate without a period and what could be the causes?i am not pregnant i have had blood tests as well as home pregnancy tests.we have been trying for four months but without a period i cannot tell when i may be ovulating.could it be cysts or something serious? please help.x

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
I'm wondering whether the hormone pill that the doctor gave you was Provera?
And if so, whether you had a period after taking it? If you did not, I might suspect a condition called hypothalamic amenorrhea.  If you did, I might suspect polycystic ovary syndrome.  Also, I don't know your BMI (basically your weight).  If you are very slim, the first condition is more likely.  If you have a few extra pounds, the second is more likely.
If you were my patient, I would check your thyroid function, as well as your prolactin levels (this is a measure of your pituitary gland).  Depending upon how all of this turned out, I would probably end up prescribing something such as Femara or Clomid and possibly Metformin.
A basic rule of thumb is that if you are not having periods, you are generally not ovulating either.  You may want to request a referral to a gynecologist or reproductive endocrinologist.

Good luck!
Dr B

[Anna_Short]

Grace,
Amennorhea (amenorrhea) in a young woman is often because of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).  If that's the case for you, you might ovulate irregularly but your best chance to get pregnant may involve some medical intervention.   If you are overweight, work on the weight loss as that can help manage PCOS.   (If you are instead underweight, that could be a problem too -- but unlikely PCOS and more likely a nutritional deficiency.)     Keep in mind too that you are very young, and it's not a bad thing to have been married a while before adding children.   Good luck!
Anna Short
http://www.infertility-options-info.com/PCOS-and-infertility