OPK interpretation question

[Banana731]

I took a $ store OPK in the late afternoon on:

Thurs -got a very faint line
Fri- very dark line
Sat (today)- very faint line

Along with + primary fertility signs all three days. No temp rise.

What does that mean? I'm new to the OPKs! TIA.

[Virginia884]

Was Friday's OPK positive or just dark? They are positive when part or all of the test line is DARKER than the control line.

If it was positive- you can O anywhere from 12-36 hours after. So a + on Friday could mean O Saturday or Sunday, and then temp rise Sunday or Monday. Go BD! Don't assume you've Oed until you get a temp shift. Stop using OPKs when that happens.

If it was negative- your hormones could just be fluctuating. Keep testing until +, BD, and then make sure you have a temp rise to back it up.

Hope that helps!

[samy23]

Originally Posted by Banana731

I took a $ store OPK in the late afternoon on:

Thurs -got a very faint line
Fri- very dark line
Sat (today)- very faint line

Along with + primary fertility signs all three days. No temp rise.

What does that mean? I'm new to the OPKs! TIA.

I would interpret that as being a positive result on Friday if the dark line was as dark as the control line or darker than it. Which means you should Ovulate within 1-2 days, so either on Saturday (today) or Sunday. So hopefully you dtd yesterday and will today too

[Banana731]

yes it does. The line on Friday was as dark as the control line. On the $ store tests, it says that a second line is a +, and the line color may vary, but I know that the IC ones say different. Is "dark as" not really a positive?!

We did BD last night. I will be sure to keep it up, just in case!

If you get a +, why keep testing until the temp rise, out of curiosity?

[kalamos23]

You keep testing until the temp rise because it is possible to gear upto ovulate, have a positive OPK and then not ovulate. So testing until the temp rise guarantees that you dtd before the right LH surge

[Banana731]

Well that's just great. I guess that's why it's important to chart too.

What's the certainty of not having ovulated if there is no temp rise. Is it 99.9% or what? And if there is no temp rise and the primary fertility signs disappear is it fairly safe to stop the OPK testing until they return?

[samy23]

Originally Posted by Banana731

yes it does. The line on Friday was as dark as the control line. On the $ store tests, it says that a second line is a +, and the line color may vary, but I know that the IC ones say different. Is "dark as" not really a positive?!

We did BD last night. I will be sure to keep it up, just in case!

If you get a +, why keep testing until the temp rise, out of curiosity?

I use the cheap internet OPKs and was told they only have to get as dark as the control line on one side of the test line, which is always what happens. The left side of the test line goes dark but the rest of the line stays fairly light, making it difficult to judge really. I would like to look into a different type of OPK for a clearer result, but I don't want to pay more for it yk?

I didn't know you could get a positive OPK and then NOT O....good thing I temp too then.

[babygrey]

Originally Posted by samy23

I didn't know you could get a positive OPK and then NOT O....good thing I temp too then.

I had this happen to me this month. I had a very + opk on CD13. No temp rise, tho, so I kept using opks (they were - CD14-15). I had another + on CD16 followed by a temp rise on CD18. I, personally, won't ever stop using opks until I see a temp rise now, cuz, if I had, I would've missed O, as my O was 5 days after my first + opk.

[Virginia884]

Originally Posted by kalamos23

You keep testing until the temp rise because it is possible to gear upto ovulate, have a positive OPK and then not ovulate. So testing until the temp rise guarantees that you dtd before the right LH surge

If you look at some of my older charts you will see this. Women with PCOS sometimes don't use OPKs on purpose because this can happen quit a bit.

And yes, "dark as" is great!

I buy my OPKs from early-pregnancy-tests.com and they work great and are cheap. You can also get free shipping over a certain amount of purchase and there is always a coupon code floating around online.