Cheap Internet opks vs big brand shop bought kits?

[Cakebaker35]

Just starting to think about using opks and I'm amazed at the price difference between cheap Internet sticks and the shop bought type! Just wanted to know your experiences please - are Internet cheapies any good or is it a case of you get what you pay for? Thank you!

IMO avoid all cheap tests...
Bought ovulation ones and never got a positive (stronger second line)... As I'd been on pill 10 years I really thought something was up... So bought expensive digital smiley face ones and worked straight away.
Also tried pregnancy ones and came up but a few days after more expensive digital ones.
Next time I would def save time and money by just going for the clear blue jobs or suchlike.
Hope this helps.

The internet sticks work for me. Even if they hadn't, I was always going to try them as there isn't much money to be lost so no brainer to at least try the cheap ones first! :)

I think it depends on the brand. I spoke to a friend of mine about this to find out where she got hers from (she's the only person I've told that we're TTC soon as she's not a nag) and she said she found the brand "Wondfo" to be very effective and effective earlier.

'course I don't know this for myself yet but I figure $20 for 50 LH tests and 20 PG tests is a pretty sweet deal!

I used One Step tests off amazon that were incredibly cheap, they worked for me but you must not test first thing, they are most accurate used early afternoon. Also you have to remember that a positive is only when the test line is as dark or darker than the control line, so the fancy tests are easier in that sense, but not worth the extra IMO

We've just started TTC and as I'd just come off the pill I was curious about how long it would take to ovulate. I got the one step cheapies off Amazon. Nothing for a bit, then faint lines on cd19 and 20 then a really dark clear positive on cd21. It was so exciting that I can't even imagine how exciting a BFP must be!
As someone else said, test in the afternoon and you need a suitable pot for peeing and dipping. It says on the instructions about letting it get to room temp but I read somewhere this is only if a pee sample has been in a fridge and needs to warm up.
Give them a try, you can always go expensive if you don't get on with them.

Thank you all, I will give the cheap ones from amazon a go first - fingers crossed!

We bought a clear blue fertility monitor (£100) and test sticks (£1 each). I thought it was a total waste of money... You can only test once a day and the sticks didn't always seem to work (blurry/no lines). It also recommends testing in the morning but most other sticks recommend afternoon/evening.

What worked for us was a big bag of internet cheapies and a couple of Clearblue smilies. I wasn't confident comparing the two lines on internet cheapies so when they looked similar I'd confirm it with a Clearblue.

I tested both morning and early evening because I read some women only have a 12 hour surge so if you test once a day you could miss it....

Good luck!!

Def go for the cheapies first but be aware that if you're like me there's never a darker second line, just a stronger line x

What daughter said. Use the cheapies then when you even think that line looks the same, crack open a diggie. NEVER throw the pot of pee away right away as I did that before using the diggie once and was so mad but it was just taking the cheapie a little while to darken ... Was never sure that month if I had a +be or not. Just the way I do it fwiw.

Thank you all. Great idea to back up with digi one.

I used Internet cheapies with both my dc. as others have said, pee in a pot and apparently between 11am-2pm are the best times to test (2hrs after fluids) I used loads in the early months as it turns out I was testing around day 14 but my cycle length was longer and I actually ovulated around day 19-21 . for each dc it was when I tested every single day for 2-3weeks that I found my peak and got pg.

I'm using the One step cheapies for our first month. That way I don't care if I use two a day (and have found this to be effective way of getting time that start to ovulate and finish) whilst we figure out our cycle. I haven't been testing first wee of the day or letting go to room temperature and they seem to be giving me the right result I.e. positive lines. They actually corresponded with the right days on my app so have been feeling pretty smug like passed a test at school (pathetic).

The only thing I would say is that you definitely need to give them 5 minutes like it says on the packet rather than expecting a response within 60 seconds.

Am I right in thinking that you DTD as much as possible before ovulation and during rather than during? I've read a few posts on other threads where couples are doing it during and after ovulation rather than before.

I also thought that the money that I saved on the first step OPKs would mean I could splurge on actual pregnancy tests which give earlier results. The 2WW is killing me.

Thanks again, I was told by my GP to just DTD every other day if possible, or if trying to pin point ovulation then lots of sex leading up to and during ovulation. This is because sperm can live for a few days whereas your egg may last only 12 - 24 hrs - therefore having sperm already present when you ovulate gives you a better chance. DTD after ovulation seems to make conception unlikely but not impossible based on this info. But I have no personal experience to share as i conceived dd1 without trying after 15 yrs on the pill and now trying for #2 I've just been winging it for a couple of months but now want to activity try, so I guess we will see which method works in the end! Good luck all

My daughter was conceived using clearblue digital ( the ones with the smiley face). I have used various others and it always just ended up in depression/ not working properly/ ambiguous results with just a line etc.

The day you have a smily face :-) on your stick it is very clear!!! And so it means smily face for you until conception and thereafter.

I loved the test. ( Well I am a bit of a control freak. Dont like the idea of missing it and then waiting for nothing).

NOw ttc with the 2. child. Just doen 1 cycle. Had :-) and sex the day after. Tested again and had another :-) ( normally you should not but I did it anyway) and the 2. smily made me smile again. I know the little boys are swimming towards their goal ( they swim up to 24) and I know ovulation was imminent ( and an egg lives around 8 h).

Now have to wait and see ( and smile)...

Testing is easy. Getting your husband to be in the mood at the right moment ( or even be there!!! mine is travelling a lot for business) that is very tricky.

I've just splurged on a clear blue.. just a question though, do you only start dtd when you get a solid smiley? And do you dtd for a few days in a row?