Waiting....yes a doctor can decipher if you're not ovulating. A fertility specialist might even follow your ovaries via internal ultrasounds to see if you have maturing follicles (they usually only do that for IUI/IVF cycles though). I have PCOS, and there's lots of clues with that, some of which you can determine yourself.
Temping has been the best way for me to tell if I've ovulated. I also get certain "symptoms" right before O'ing or if I'm in my Luteal Phase (LP). For instance, I know if I have progesterone in my system if 2 things line up: I've had a definitive shift in my basal body temp (bbt: that's your temp first thing in the morning, before you get out of bed, same time every day within a half-hour window), and vivid dreams. I do dream at other times, but when I've O'd, I dream almost every night and can usually remember one or two details from the dreams. I also sometimes get acne, which is typically a clue that AF is about to arrive.
Progesterone (the hormone/ chemical that is released with an egg) also can cause some breast tenderness, though in pregnancy the breast tenderness is much, much more pronounced than in a non-pregnancy cycle.
Contrary to popular belief, you CAN have a period if you haven't ovulated. It will usually come after an irregular cycle and may take longer than the average 28-32 day cycle. AF shows up when your uterine lining becomes so thick it can't hold it anymore so it sheds, and then you start a new cycle.
My best tool for knowing I haven't O'd is my bbt. If I didn't O, then my temps will never shift. When I have progesterone in my system, my temps shift dramatically. I know this because I deliberately charted my bbt when my fertility specialist gave me a progesterone in oil shot to start a new cycle when I failed to O. Provera is a synthetic version of progesterone and is NOT safe if you are, in fact pregnant, and while it will make your bbt shift as well, it is not the same as having actually progesterone in your system. I'm putting that out there because sometimes regular doctors will throw Provera at you without a second thought, which is why specialists are worth the money you pay for them.
Anyway, when I have an anovulatory cycle, my temps never shift. Sure, I might have a few random high temps, but never three in a row nor temps lasting long enough to call it a luteal phase. Plus, I don't have those symptoms I talked about.
I hope that information helps. I've been TTCing for six+ years now and probably know more about the reproductive system than most recent medical assistant grads/ some primary care physicians know about it. The nurses at my specialist love that they don't have to explain every little thing to me lol.
I'll test tomorrow now.
