When/how often should I use an opk ?

[Ikeepbuyinganimals]

New to all this but picked up my first box of ovulation sticks and after some advice.

I understand how they work but is there a best time of day to test with them? Is it once or more times a day?I have an app and a regular ish cycle so know my fertile window - is this the best place to start? I don't chart temps... yet.

It's best to test in the morning with your first wee of the day.
Start testing a few days before you're due to ov and test every morning.
If the test is almost positive you can test again in the afternoon to try and catch the positive (it can last for just a few hours so easy to miss).
If the next day the line has faded assume you've ov'd in the night 😊
Dtd on the days leading up to ov, on the day of ov and next two days (or every other day during that time) to catch the egg!
Good luck 😊

It depends on what the instructions say, but a lot of opks you're not supposed to use FMU.

Also, you can't use a negative opk to confirm ovulation. Opks test for an LH surge which causes the release of an egg. That release can be 12-48h after the initial surge, even later. A negative opk confirms the surge has ended (or is on its way back down) but as some surges only last 6 hours or so you still may not ovulate for a couple of days.

I read somewhere that you want to start testing on your cycle length minus 17 days. So 28d cycle start in day 11, 31d cycle start on day 14 etc

At this point I would test twice daily, perhaps early afternoon and evening, especially if you are seeing fertile cm, until you get a positive. Good luck!

P.S. Clear Blue ones work differently to above