Ditching opk-have I done the right thing?

[Happilymarried155]

I have been ttc for year now, have been using opk & got on really well with these-always got a smiley face and made sure I was dtd at the correct time. Last month I was so upset when AF arrived, I don't know why last month was worse but I felt so depressed. I decided I couldn't go on as I was, stressing and peekng on sticks etc...
This month I decided I was going ditch the opk and and chill. I'm on cd13 now been dtd every other day but now I'm wondering if I did the right thing not using them, I'm not going to know when I ovulated, if I dtd at the right time and when AF is due!! Oh bloody hell! Are the opk worth using?
Also has anyone got pregnant naturally after a year of trying, should I visit the doctor now? I am in my late 20s?
Thanks :)

If you don't know when you have ovulated then just keep going with the three times a week. Do a test 5 weeks from your last period if you can hold out that long! I think if the opks were stressing you then at least having a break from them is no bad thing.

If you have been trying for a year then a trip to your doctor would be a good idea. Most people who have been trying for a year do get pregnant naturally during the second year though, but I think it's a good idea to at least get the wheels in motion in case you do need extra help.

Happilymarried - I think you posted on a chat I started the other day! Hello again!
You sound like you are (like me) driving yourself mad with the whole thing - I am doing this and only just started ttc (see my post today about raw fish etc...)
I don't know about the year-of-trying thing but I have given myself 6 months of trying before I seek outside advice from doc - but I am quite a bit older than you (35) and have been told at my age that 6 months is a decent amount of time to try before getting concerned...

Of course, I am ignoring all this and panicking every 5 mins about who to tell if am I ovulating, how to work out what kind of cervical mucus I have (don't seem to have EWCM AT ALL this month, for first time ever), assuming I must be pg after dtd on a day when I am pretty sure I was ovulating (mid-cycle spotting) then realising how small the chances are and panicking that I won't be and never will be...

So is crazy for me to advise you to try to chill out as I am worse myself! But that is my advice. But if it would make you feel better then I would def pop to your doctor for a chat.

I have only done Ov sticks for a couple weeks and fwiw I am already thoroughly depressed and disheartened by them, I alternately trust them with my life and then decide they are rubbish and don't work at all. Props to you for sticking with them for a whole year!!! :)

I am 37 weeks conceived in a month where I got no smiley faces. Try and enjoy doing the deed - stress will not help (easy for me to say I know!).

I too have ditched the OPK's this month, and also the obsessing updating of period tracker app - and I can honestly say I feel better for it. They have been useful in giving me enough insight to my cycle to allow me to hedge my bets a bit but I really do feel much less pressurised this cycle...

although I can count, so I can't bloody get away from knowing it's CD10 today, and will be up-ing the SWI for the next 7~10 days

Good luck!

OPKs are driving me bonkers. Well done for stepping away. If you're having it off every other day you should be alright, in terms of timing...I hope you have some luck soon.

I used to just know by my CM etc etc but somehow, the more things I do, the more a sense of control I have about the whole thing. Which actually makes me feel worse!

So I freaked out on DP last week when I thought it was the right time (opk wasn't pos though) and felt too terrified to do it, and then when I thought we had gone well past the date, it was relaxed and lovely and brilliant.

Then I got a + OPK the next day

feel like a twit but anyway, you can see how thinking too much can get in the way of enjoying things.

I think you should go along and see your GP tentatively. Just mention that you've been trying for a year. Also have you looked at the natural planning side of things...awareness of your own signs is really good to have. Apparently the best thing you can do is have sex when you have ewcm, whatever the OPKs say etc. so might be worth looking at/recording that over a few cycles.

Flightty - not stalking you from the other thread but you need to be shagging at least 4 - 5 days before the egg is released and probably one day after. The OPK shows the surge of hormone which indicates that the egg is going to be released in about 12 - 24 hours. So if you shagged the day before the OPK was positive, that's perfect!

Oh f*ck

btw stalk me all you like, you're clever and helpful!

I was glaring at FF and thinking, it mUST have been day 10 and I missed the surge. due to weirdy temps etc. Even FF put it at day 8 for some reason.

Thought we were safe! Ha ha ha

thankyou

I was using them to see when I was ovulating and got lovely strong lines at the right time, then would BD. Did this for a few months, nowt happening but by then I had noticed I had EWCM at the same time and got a fair idea of when I ovulated in my cycle.

So I ditched them, bar two, and we BD'd every 2/3 days. I did the OPK the day I figured I would ov and I was right, but knew that we had done lots of BDing already so was happy instead of being 'Oh! It's positive, better shag!' stress! Bd'd again, got the flu, moaned around and managed to concieve that month!

I swear stepping back from the OPKs helped decrease my stress levels, we BD'd more than I would have with the OPKs (which obvs helps clean the tubes out and get rid of dead sperm as well as, ahem, increasing the number waiting for the egg!), and I just felt more in control and chilled. who knows tho eh?

hth

Thanks for all your replies, I do feel much better for not using them and hope that this relaxed approach will lead to a BFP! I think of I don't get a BFP this month I will go to the doctors, at least I will have gotten the ball rolling!

It's really good to know that I'm not the only one that's abit crazy! This ttc business is so bloody hard! X