I've Researched, But Help! Ov Predictor Tests?!?!

[travelmumma]

Hello All,

So I have done my research everywhere and I am still a little confused..

Fiance and I are going to start TTC in 8 weeks, so I have stocked up on OPK's..

With all the reading I have done I think I have come up with a plan.

I am going to have my period and after day seven I am going to start testing after lunch and then after dinner- so testing twice a day until I get a positive result.. Then its just a case of loving up my fiance for the next few days right?!

Thats the plan I have come up with.. Am I planning on using them in the right way?

Advice please :)

[MamanFrancaise]

Pretty much! What brand did you buy?

Last cycle I only tested twice per day, as you are planning to do, and never got a + OPK even though my temp shift confirmed I ovulated. It may have been the crappy OPK tests I bought (from saveontests.com)

This cycle I bought different OPKs, I tested 4x per day from CD 7 - 16 (probably a little excessive - I know) and I saw a clear positive on CD 11 and even saw the lines getting darker up until a + then saw it get lighter after the surge. 

But know this: just because you get a + OPK doesn't mean you WILL ovulate. Sometimes our bodies gear up to ovulate and then don't. Make sure to pay attention to other signs of ovulation!

Good luck!

 

[gozal]

I use OPKs under the guidance of my RE (specialist). She has us DTD once a day for three days following our first + opk. That's it. Before that we try to DTD about every 48 hours just in case/for kicks/keep the swimmers fresh, but it's not "required"!

OPK results seem to vary quite a lot from woman to woman. The first month using them, you might have to experiment a little to see what works for you. For example, for me it's very easy to tell a + from a -, because my + is clearly darker than the control line. But I know a lot of women who won't get the + but will catch a near positive only, in which case they will count their + differently from how I count mine. Also, I almost always get a fade-in pattern (the line gets a little darker every day) so I have a clue as to when I am going to surge and I don't test more than once a day - I don't need to.

I know a lot of brands say test in the early afternoon or night, but the first brand I used said to use FMU and that's what I've always done - works fine for me. If you're not sure, you could try testing twice a day around your usual o date. If you don't know it, I'd say estimate by counting 14 days back from your average cycle length and start about 2 days earlier than that with testing twice a day. I think starting at day 7 is a good idea for your first cycle using OPKs, but I wouldn't test twice daily until about cd10-12 unless you know you tend to ovulate earlier in your cycle.

FWIW, I use the cheapies sold by Amazon and they work great for me. 

Hope that helps! GL!

[Jaimee]

Some women have great luck with OPK's accurately predicting O.  But I think it warrants mentioning that many do not.  Some women find that they never get a positive, they get positives for day on end or positives well after confirmed O.  Plus there can be interpretation issues with the strips... what is clearly darker than the control, what it means if it's half darker, etc.  If you use the +/- kind (or smilie face kind) then it's easy to miss your actual peak day.  After all that, it is only likely that you will ovulate within 24-36 hours after your OPK+, but it cannot confirm that you actually did ovulate. 

So it is always my recommendation to those TTC to chart their basal body temperature and cervical fluid.  This will tell you when you are fertile, when/if you ovulate, how long your average luteal phase is (the time between O and AF- it is generally agreed you need at least 10 days to sustain a pregnancy), when to test, when to expect AF, if you're pregnant, and if there is anything of concern happening with your cycle.  OPK's make a nice addition to your chart and you can see if they do indeed line up with your actual O day, but I personally wouldn't solely rely on them.  If you'd like more information about charting, just post!  Good luck on your TTC journey!

[hoping4just1more]

Are you going to use temping to confirem O as well as are you doing a few practice cycles since you are waiting another 8 weeks? I have not read any of your previous posts but you do need a few test cycles so that you can become more aware of what your signs of ovulation are.

On the OPK's I have used them with great luck. I have conceived four children by solely using OPK's and tons of DTD as soon as LH was detected. One of them was concieved on month two, and the others concieved on month one. But on the other hand, I personally know plenty of people who have no luck at all with them. Some people get no + line at any point in time, and some get an unclear +. I have found that some tests show a progression of surge while others show nothing until the actual surge. This is why you should do a few test runs. Use the opk's you plan to use when you are actually trying and see if you get the progression or the suddenly + thing. It will help you doing it a few cycles to see for sure what a + looks like as well. It is great if you temp as well on your practice cycles so that you can tell how long after you get the + opk you are actually ovulating. It could be the day of the surge or up to 36 hours later. (textbook) Or maybe you are not text book at all and you since the surge won't hit your urine for about 12 hours maybe by the time you get the + opk you are already ovulating or already have. So start with opk's and temping to confirm how far after + opk you ovulated now to catch a pattern if you have one. This will make it so much clearer for you when you are actually trying. Also something I have found to be very helpful is to of course document symptoms of ovulation and when I think it really happened. Then when AF comes I can count 14 days back and that is the day I ovulated. I will then be able see what signs I had at that point in time and if I was right about the date I O'ed. It is pretty standard that you can ovulate later or earlier than you may expect, but once you do actually ovulate, if the egg is not fertilized you will see AF 14 days later. So using AF is great to pinpoint the previous cycles O day and check signs to narrow down your timeline for the next cycle.

Best of luck to you and I hope something helped.

[hoping4just1more]

Oooops, forgot my little disclaimer. Under normal circumstances I am a textbook gal. Normal 28 day cycle and O on CD 14. My advice only stands true if you are the same as me. If you have a different type of cycle then adjustments may need to be made. I am mainly reffering to the fact that I will start AF 14 days after ovulation. I have sometimes Oed late due to things like birth control but I still got AF 14 days after ovulation. Some people do have short LP's. I don't know much about stuff like that. So if you have abnormal cycles then advice from other people with similar issues would be best. My jibberish is only relevant if you have normal cycles.

[Jaimee]

Originally Posted by hoping4just1more 
It is pretty standard that you can ovulate later or earlier than you may expect, but once you do actually ovulate, if the egg is not fertilized you will see AF 14 days later. So using AF is great to pinpoint the previous cycles O day and check signs to narrow down your timeline for the next cycle

The average LP is 12-14 days and a poll was created a while back about this very thing.  It turned out the average LP here on the TTC forum was 10 days (mine is 10 days).  So it absolutely varies woman to woman and your LP can vary a bit cycle to cycle, but not not usually more than 1-2 days.   A shorter LP would not be considered abnormal, just a variation of normal.  An LP under 10 days is not normal unless regulating off a hormonal event like birth, breastfeeding, birth control, etc.  Some women even have LP's longer than 15 days, and again, while this is not common, it is not abnormal.

Originally Posted by hoping4just1more 

Oooops, forgot my little disclaimer. Under normal circumstances I am a textbook gal. Normal 28 day cycle and O on CD 14. My advice only stands true if you are the same as me. If you have a different type of cycle then adjustments may need to be made. I am mainly reffering to the fact that I will start AF 14 days after ovulation. I have sometimes Oed late due to things like birth control but I still got AF 14 days after ovulation. Some people do have short LP's. I don't know much about stuff like that. So if you have abnormal cycles then advice from other people with similar issues would be best. My jibberish is only relevant if you have normal cycles.

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