Bloody OPKs! Can anyone help me understand them..?

[Namechangenumber10]

I have been pregnant twice in the last year but heartbreakingly I miscarried both times (one was early, one was late).

With both babies, we conceived using the Clearblue dual hormone OPKs, and both times I had a number of 'low fertility' readings followed by a 'peak', there was no 'high fertility' / flashing smiley thingy at all. I know 'high' is supposed to indicate your estrogen surge, so it looks like I never had one, but I must have had, as I ovulated and conceived!? (It looks like my miscarriages were due to sticky blood syndrome, and not hormone-related, if that's relevant.)

I've recently started using OPKs again and on my first cycle using them I had one 'low', followed by about 7 or 8 'high fertility' readings and no peak. This is almost the exact opposite of what I was getting last time I used them - can anyone think why this is?! Have I now stopped ovulating?!

I've been having a lot of acupuncture and I'm wondering if it has shifted my hormonal balance about a bit. Is it possible to have missed the LH surge? (I was only testing once a day). The kit seemed pretty straightforward last time I used it and now I just don't know how to interpret it!

Thanks for reading if you made it all the way to the end any insight gratefully received!

Hi, I'm not really sure what to reply to this as I'm only on my first month TTC and using the cheap Internet Ovulation tests. I hope someone can give you advice though. Sending you lots of good luck and baby dust! X

Hi OP, so sorry to hear about your losses but I'm so glad you have some idea of why they happened.

I use clearblue dual OPK and would never get a static LH face with first morning wee. As soon as I start getting the flashing faces I start testing at midday (when LH level would be much higher) as otherwise would definitely miss the surge. Also weirdly each month it varies with the number of flashing faces (last month had it for one day, month before 6 days of flashing before my peak!) My periods are regular and pretty sure I ovulate so not sure what that's about. I think the reader machine gets to know our bodies and levels though so maybe that's something to do with it.

Good luck!

Ah thanks ladies. HeyJupiter that makes a lot of sense, the instructions say you can test more than once a day once you get a "high", presumably because it is quite possible to miss the 'peak' if you only test every 24 hours. I will try that next month.

Wishing you both lots of luck too.

Thanks Namechange

Namechange - sorry you have been through so much.

I've learned quite a bit about OPKs as I was using them to time fertility treatment.

Don't use FMU (first morning urine) for testing. LH synthesises in the early morning so often hasn't made its way into your urine by the time you get up.

Best to test twice a day (say 11am and 4pm) and I would switch to a more basic test. I know quite a few ladies find the dual tests a bit confusing, where as the internet cheapies you can see a progression in the darkness of the line.