Pee Stick Malfunction?

[JustAnotherJenny]

Have any of you guys experienced high % of defective opks in certain shipments? I am CERTAIN that I'm not peeing into the window, yet I have had several tests register nothing at all. But I can SEE the pee under the plastic window, it's just not wicking into anything?

Am I putting too much of a death grip on the stick and crushing the little window thereby prevent wicking action? (I put my thumb over the window in case I miss)?

So frustrating! : I'm pretty sure I missed the surge this time around as a result of the pee stick malfunction (mishap?) (I have LH surge, but haven't quite ovulated yet.) Unlike many of you, I'm still eagerly awaiting AF. I haven't had a cycle since the one I had after coming off of BCP for PCOS in February.

With the arrival of fall, I'm hoping to have more time to keep tabs on what's going on over here.

Have any of you successfully gotten your cycle back after it was long absent? Sometimes I just feel like I'm throwing my money away with all of these herbs, acupuncture visits, and pee sticks.

[jjnoho]

i had a number of problems with nothing on the screen. because of stick malfunction, i started peeing in a cup first. that seemed to help - not sure if they were just bad sticks or if i was using them poorly.

i still don't like those sticks and don't want to rely too much on their data since they aren't always consistent with everything else.

good luck and hope your cycle starts cooperating!

[FtMPapa]

Cup, always pee in a cup.

If you haven't had any bleeding in three months, I would say - get thee to a doctor or other health specialist. Since you're long past that, I would go.

Some people find a ten day course of provera is successfully followed by a normal cycle. Is it possible you're taking herbs that are actually messing with your cycle when they're supposed to help? Some people have trouble with Vitex where it actually suppressed ovulation. No period = no ovulation, and having several LH surges but not followed by bleeding is sometimes a sign of PCOS, so scine you have PCOS, you may need better management of it before you're able to get back to being regular.

[JustAnotherJenny]

Thanks Papa! I was seeing an RE, but all she wanted to do was treat it with birth control pills. I wasn't looking to try become pregnant right away, so that seemed just fine to her. (Nevermind that they make me CRAAAAZY!!!!) I was on Metformin for the longest time, but that caused many other issues.

I'm working with a knowledgeable herbal person who specializes in fertility... I really have no idea. It's possible that they could be interfering, but when I was doing nothing at all I wasn't cycling either.

I think the worst part is that I feel very strongly that going on birth control pills is what put me in this place. I had a perfect cycle until I started using them. I'm so, so hesitant to take more hormones. I'm caught in a strange place because I know I need to bleed, but I don't like the available options to make that happen.

On a funny side note, it's apparent that my surge seems to happen around 12:30 in the afternoon. This means that every day I have to POAS at work... I can't imagine trying to pee in a cup and dip a stick at work. lol!

[chicagoml]

OPK malfunctions

Yes, I had issues with a couple of boxes. I bought my first few boxes at a local drugstore and had no issues.....so I'm pretty certain I was doing everything correctly (peed directly on stick). Then I got a gift certificate for Amazon and bought several boxes (4?) via their site. Two of the boxes had sticks that didn't work. I called the company both times and got a refund - they probably thought I was scamming them but the sticks really didn't work.

[JustAnotherJenny]

I bought these (really all) sticks from a website that is popular around here. (Am I allowed to mention it? I'm not sure.)

I was pretty pleased with the first batch I got from them. Then they changed their packaging (and website) and I have been wondering if maybe they changed manufacturers since the last 2 batches have had more than one defective stick.

I think I'm probably up to about 125 peed on sticks, so I would think my accuracy is pretty on par at this point.