Are the Numbers Decisively Against Me, Or Not?

I am 40. Throughout the latter part of my thirties, i've asked my ob/gyn whether there was still time for me to get pregnant at my annual exam each year. Up until this year, he always said I had time, not to worry. This year, he said that if it wasn't too late already, I needed to do it now, or i'd likely never be able to. (needless to say, this came as a big shock given what he'd said in previous years -- if i'd known it was coming, i'd have made different choices in my life.)

my doctor said that in order to find out my status, we'd take my fsh level on the third day of my second period after going off birth control pills (i've taken them for many years). My period didn't come, and I started getting hot flashes and night sweats. Five weeks and one day after the first day of my last period, I went in to see whether something could be done about these symptoms, which are quite severe and are interfering with my ability to do my job. The doctor said we should take my fsh level at that time.

My fsh was 29. The only feedback i've been able to get is that "it's in the menopausal range". The doctor wants me to go back on the pill to take care of my symptoms, but they aren't my primary concern. My primary concern is fertility. Does that fsh level absolutely mean that I can't get pregnant without using a donor egg? (my doctor says it's highly unlikely for me to get pregnant any other way.) yet from the research i've done, an fsh level of 29 seems to be on the lower end of the menopausal range.

Also, throughout my life my periods were highly irregular whenever I wasn't on the pill. Doesn't that fact, plus having recently gone off the pill, affect all this? Is there treatment that would encourage me to ovulate, and/or otherwise get my hormones back into balance?