OPKs getting fainter instead of darker...? So confused, please help!

[HippyJess]

Hi all! Thought I'd ask on here since certainly some of you will know way better than me!

I started using OPKs (One-Step, from Amazon) on CD9 and got a faint but obvious second line. I thought to myself - great! Body clearly starting to gear up for ovulation and they'll keep getting darker. Awesome. DTD.

CD10 I got the same again. No problem.

CD11 and CD12 I got absolutely nothing at all - not even a whiff of a line. This morning, CD13, I got an extremely faint pink line - I can barely see it but it's more than the last 2 days!

All of these were FMU, if that makes a difference...

I'm hoping that today's is the start of the pre-ovulation surge and it's just later than I expected (I have longer cycles sometimes) but because of CD9 and 10 I'm worried that that was it, or the comedown from early ovulation. Is that a possibility?

If I hadn't had those two I'd just think I was gonna ovulate late but they've thrown me off completely! This is the first time I've used OPKs and tried to track ovulation so I really have no idea what's normal for my body or what to expect... Any advice? Anyone think early ovulation was a possibility, or am I overthinking it and the surge will turn up later?

Thanks to anyone who reads this and gives advice, it's much appreciated! :)

Hi Jess, I think generally the rule with OPKs is not to use FMU, but to test between 10am and 8pm. From what I've read, LH generally appears in your urine in the afternoon. OPKs are hit and miss for me but this cycle I used them twice and day and got a strong positive on the morning of CD13, it had faded again by the afternoon so it is possible to miss the surge.

Ok, I'll do another one later then! Hopefully we've covered it so far either way as the biggest gap we've had between DTD was 2 days... Thanks!

Hi Jess,

I havent had much luck with these things either! From obscene amounts of googling i have learnt that the LH hormone is always in our system hence theres always a chance of getting a faded line on any day of your cycle. The line has to be as dark as or darker than the control to be positive. Dont make the same mistake as me by thinking a faint line must mean ovulation is on its way as this isnt the case and really threw me off until i read up about it.

Is this ur first proper cycle since coil was out then? im still waiting for my AF to arrive properly! grr