Ovulation testing

[mindcandy]

Hi

I wonder if I can get some advice please.

I have been on and off the pill for over 10 years, and the times I have been off it, my periods have been very regular. 28-29 days.

I recently came off the pill, and should due my period in 4-5 days time – that’s if my cycle is as usual.

I started using ovulation sticks on day 9-13. Day 9 showing a VERY faint line, which according to the instructions meant that I should ovulate within 24-36 hours. I tested daily for 5 days and each day the line got darker but not darker than the test line – again according to the instructions this didn’t mean I was actually ovulating until the line was just as dark as the control line. The pack of sticks I had bought ran out, so I used some cheap ones from amazon, little thin dip stick things, and it was negative.

So I’m a tad confused. Did I ovulate??!?

Hi mindcandy. You usually ovulate within 36 hours of getting a positive OPK (line darker than or as dark as the control line). A faint line can't give you any indication of when you'll ovulate as it's still a negative. Many people alqays have a small amount of LH in their system - an OPK detects the surge.

I would say if your lines were getting steadily darker then you may have missed the surge when you ran out of tests and have already ovulated.

thanks for your response AutumnStar. Much appreciated. the thing is, the test said that if there was no line, that was a negative.

So when you say missed the surge, do you mean i possibly would have ovulated after i ran out of tests?
xx

Sorry for the late response mindcandy!

Yes, you may have missed it in between running out and getting new ones. Lots of people recommend testing twice a day because the surge can be very short. On my last cycle I got a positive in the morning and it was negative by the evening!

Meant to say as well....I think with most OPKs any line that's not at least as dark as the control line is a negative.

Are you keeping track of any other fertility signs, like CM?

If you've just come off the pill it might be that you didn't ovulate or it could be that your hormones aren't the right level for the test sticks. I didn't get a positive OPK the first two months after coming off hormones but I'm pretty sure I ovulated as I had a scan which indicated that I had....

Your OPK is only positive if the test line is as dark as or darker than the control line. I used cheapo internet ones twice a day from day 9 and then when it looked like it was close to the same colour I doubled checked with an expensive Clearblue smily face stick. But then you ovulate 12-36 hrs after the positive so you still don't really know when you've ovulated.

Cervical Mucus (cm) can be a good sign, as can cervical position but these were both unreliable for me.

Temping combined with opks was the only way I knew exactly when I'd ovulated.

thanks for your replies.

I didnt have the EWCM this month, maybe i didnt ovulate. will see next month. I've bought some (expensive!!) CB ones with the smilies. will see if they help next month.

thanks again all xxx

I didn't get EWCM for the first cycle coming off the pill. Also, when I got my LH surge it wasn't as strong the first time. This improved with the next cycles. So it could be that you missed the surge or that it just wasn't very strong this time.

Hi, hope you don't mind me messaging but I read a post on another website from a natural fertility expert. It was all about recognising your body's signs leading up to and during fertility. It was quite interesting and may help you work out whats going on along with your OPK's etc? The link to the post is forum.prideangel.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=537 Hope it helps, good luck!!! xx