OPKs and PCOS

[Daisy545]

Good evening 😊

Looking a little bit of advice please. I have PCOS and have been using OPKs and temping for a couple of months now. I have had so many peaks with the OPKs that I'm not sure it will give me an accurate result with PCOS?

One week I could have two peaks, it's completely random. So really just wondering if anyone has been in the same position.

TIA x

I should add that at the beginning I was only using Clearblue digital but have recently started using one step also.

@Daisy545 you'll get a peak every time your body tries to ovulate and with PCOS this could happen multiple times a month, but your temp should confirm when it was successful by rising at least 0.4C the following day and staying up until the end of your LP X

Thank you @Gemster19

When I look at my temps they look a mess though. Looking at this when do you think I would have ovulated then?

Oh wow your temp looks a bit confused 🤔 - are you taking it at the same time every day, after a consistent amount of sleep and before you even sit up in bed?

I work 12 hours shifts so on my work days it's always the same around 4.30am but on my days off it's usually about 7.30am.

I sit up in bed and do the temp. So I need to literally not move an inch?

They do say you should take it before you sit up, but I imagine the change between your working days and days off is having more an impact - its really hard to see a pattern otherwise. I know it's a pain but I take mine at 5am every day, as that's the time I wake up when I'm working, as even just an hour difference can cause quite a big jump.

Thanks @Gemster19

Looks like I'll be awake at 4.30 every morning from now on to see what happens.

Hopefully then you'll be able to see a clear rise once you've ovulated 🤞🏼.

If you're using the femometer thermometer as well as the app it will store the temp automatically - my alarm gets switched off, the thermometer in and out of my mouth and the lid back on without me even opening my eyes on my days off now lol, then I just sync it when I wake up properly.

I will do this, hopefully it works.

Can you explain to me what I should see with the temps please? So when it rises I've ovulated?

Hi sorry, just jumping onto this as I've just been diagnosed with PCOS! If you've not already I'd really recommend reading either Taking Charged of Your Fertility or Period Power, both have really helpful sections on PCOS! From what I can gather, after you ovulate your temp will raise above your pre ovulation level and will remain at higher levels until just before you have your period, if they stay high that's an indication that you could be pregnant. Hope this helps

That's right - it might be a bit difficult to tell this cycle as you don't know what your baseline is (because your recorded temps are so variable), but it will increase, probably by about 0.4-0.5, and stay at that level throughout your LP. Generally, if you're not pregnant, it will then drop back below your baseline the day before your period is about to start.

This is what mine looked like last cycle - you can see the jump on CD19 and then it stays above the baseline

Thank you both 😊

@Gemster19 yours looks like such a steady line. So once I see that increase that is peak?

No problem 😊.

Mine does vary slightly day to day but you can see after ovulation it never drops back below the line.

The rise will show the day after you've ovulated, so it confirms ovulation rather than predicting.