Most women who are treated for PID have no problems conceiving or carrying a pregnancy in the future . However, if you have severe PID or your PID goes untreated, it could damage your fallopian tubes and affect your fertility (BASHH 2011, NICE 2015).
After a successful treatment, some women can get pregnant naturally after several months of trying. Despite clearing the infection, some women still become infertile. Infertility can happen due to repeated PID, chronic pain, scarring, ectopic pregnancy, or abscesses in the fallopian tubes.
You could become infertile as a result of the condition. There's a higher risk of infertility if you delay treatment or had repeated episodes of PID. But a long-term study in the US showed that people who'd been successfully treated for PID had the same pregnancy rates as the rest of the population.
PID can permanently scar and damage the fallopian tubes, causing blockage of the tubes. About 12% of women suffer enough tubal damage from one episode of PID to become infertile. After three episodes of PID, the infertility rate reaches 50%.
PID can lead to infertility and permanent damage of a woman's reproductive organs.
According to Dr. Joseph Doyle, “After one episode of PID, infertility from blocked fallopian tubes will occur in up to 12% of women. After two episodes, it will affect more than one third of women.
However, treatment of PID cannot reverse the scarring caused by the infection. The longer the infection goes untreated, the greater the risk for long-term problems, such as infertility. PID is treated first with antibiotics.
The short answer is no. PFD does not seem to be a cause of infertility. However, because PFD is associated with difficulties in sexual function, it could indirectly make it more difficult to conceive naturally, by making intercourse unpleasant or even painful.
Can PID be cured? Yes, if PID is diagnosed early, it can be treated. However, treatment won't undo any damage that has already happened to your reproductive system. The longer you wait to get treated, the more likely it is that you will have complications from PID.
What Causes Infertility? Problems with ovulation are the most common reasons for infertility in women. A woman's age, hormonal imbalances, weight, exposure to chemicals or radiation and cigarette smoking all have an impact on fertility.
Scarring in the fallopian tubes and other pelvic structures can cause chronic pelvic pain (pain that lasts for months or even years). Women with repeated episodes of PID are more likely to suffer infertility, ectopic pregnancy, or chronic pelvic pain.
IVF can help women with PID conceive. Before fertility treatment can begin, it is important that the infection causing PID be treated with antibiotics to prevent further damage. For many women with PID, IVF can help overcome infertility issues and make pregnancy a reality.
Ectopic pregnancies are more than six times more likely in women who have had PID compared to women who have never had PID. Unfortunately, most of these pregnancies end in miscarriage.
Prompt treatment with medicine can get rid of the infection that causes pelvic inflammatory disease. But there's no way to reverse any scarring or damage to the reproductive tract that PID might have caused.
When signs and symptoms of PID are present, they most often include: Pain — ranging from mild to severe — in your lower abdomen and pelvis. Unusual or heavy vaginal discharge that may have an unpleasant odor. Unusual bleeding from the vagina, especially during or after sex, or between periods.
Sexually transmissible infections (STIs) - chlamydia, mycoplasma genitalium and gonorrhoea are the most common cause of PID. Use condoms with any new partner and get regular testing for STIs (at least once a year) can reduce your risk of PID.
If your menstrual cycle lasts 28 days and your period arrives like clockwork, it's likely that you'll ovulate on day 14. That's halfway through your cycle. Your fertile window begins on day 10. You're more likely to get pregnant if you have sex at least every other day between days 10 and 14 of a 28-day cycle.
Most women who have had chlamydia won't have any difficulties conceiving that are related to the infection. There may be a greater chance of chlamydia affecting fertility if you have repeated infections or if it goes untreated and causes a condition called Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID).
The main cause of PID is through a sexually transmitted infection (STI) such as chlamydia, gonorrhoea or mycoplasma genitalium. These bacteria usually only infect the cervix, where they can be easily treated with antibiotics.
How can I prevent PID? Not having sex (abstinence) is the only sure way to avoid infection. If you choose to be sexually active, use latex or polyurethane condoms every time you have oral, anal or vaginal sex. This will lower your chances of having PID again.
Menstrual problems, including heavy periods, irregular periods, infrequent periods, or missed menstrual periods. Failure to ovulate, known as anovulation, or anovulatory menstrual cycles. Weight gain. Fatigue.
But the most fertile days are the three days leading up to and including ovulation. Having sex during this time gives you the best chance of getting pregnant. By 12-24 hours after ovulation, a woman is no longer able to get pregnant during that menstrual cycle because the egg is no longer in the fallopian tube.