Clearblue Fertility Monitor...anyone used it ?

[erilou38]

I'm having irregular cycles so I'm never too sure when I ovulate. does the monitor act similar to ovulation predictor kits and detect ovulation. Would you be able to use them with PCOS or if you have ovarian cysts? Anyone used it or had success with it ?

I've used it with mixed success. The sticks pick up oestrogen and LH. As soon as it detects oestrogen it gives you a "high fertility" reading, then when it detects the LH surge it gives you a "peak" reading for 2 days, then one further day of " high" then back to low. It then tells you when AF is expected based initially on 14 days post ov. Worked like a charm for me a couple of years ago, more recently it consistently missed my LH surge and then it just keeps saying "high" until you've used 20 sticks, because once it has seen oestrogen it stops looking, so it does not register the drop in oestrogen that means ov has happened. Perhaps my LH surge was in the evening and I was testing in the morning?
If you have very long cycles it will be expensive as the sticks are about a £ each and you use either 10 or 20 per cycle, though it does "learn" as it goes along so if it does detect ov in cycle 1 it will ask for sticks closer to that time in cycle 2.
If you can borrow and reset one, or get a cheap ish one on eBay, it is worth a try, but cheaply ov sticks twice a day might be more likely to catch your LH surge.
It did tune me in to my cycle, I'm pretty good at picking up other ov signs now even when the machine insists it hasn't happened