Do Ovulation Tests work if you had a miscarriage/baby in last few weeks?

[MillyH]

Sorry if this is a dumb question but I am new to this topic. Due to various horrible complications (thread elsewhere) I am now in the game of actively trying to concieve. Rather than my old technique of just the crossing my fingers and having a good excuse for lots of nookie .

General surfing has left me confused. Do Ov Tests (sort you get from Boots or E-bay) work if you have been pregnant recently? Found all sorts of conflicting advice, so wondered if any of you lovely mumsnetters knew? How long do you have to wait for them to work?

Tx.

Hi as far as i know you need to have a regular cycle for tests to truly work, but prob ok to start after first normal period.

Thanks Klover, beginning to think I was on my own out there . It just all so confusing this ovulation and hormone stuff.

Sorry to hijack your thread but have had online problems to start new one. Can you not have a positive OPK test and still ovulate? Does anyone know? Had a MC in August and totally erratic cycles since. Gynae prescribed Clomid to stabilise cycles, and have just taken first cycle. Also was using Clearblue Fertility Monitor for 2nd cycle now. Never got positive on LH surge but had all charting signs - high and open cervix, and rise in BB temp for 6 consecutive days now. Could I have ov'd without test picking it up? Can Clomid interfere with results? Wondering if anyone been through this and knows. Thanks.

Hi

I ha a mc in Sept an tried OPK's when bleeding stopped and all it seemed to show me was hormones all over the place with several +ves. Had first AF and tried OPK's as well as temp charting and it showed that OPK +ve coincided with temp increase so much more reliable this cycle.

But as they always stress everyone is different. Obviously people do ovulate after a mc because there are babies out there to prove it!

I think that OPKs respond to the the pregnancy hormone HCG, so if you have miscarried recently then they may not be reliable. I miscarried at 12 weeks and the OPKs kept showing positive for up to 4 weeks. I know I didn't ovulate in this time because I was still testing positive on pregnancy tests. In all it took about 5 weeks for the HCG to leave my system. I don't know how much HCG needs to be in your blood to show up on an OPK though. It may be much more than a pregnancy test.

The opks pick up both luteinising hormone and hcg because they are very similar according to the peeonastick lady. Therefore, if you still have hcg circulating following a mc you may get a positive opk even though you are not producing LH. You can have up hcg circulating for up to about 8 weeks post miscarriage and so it is recommended that you wait until you've had 2 periods post mc before using opks. I only waited for one and then the opks worked for me. Some women with ovulated before their first period post mc and so if you get signs then there's nothing wrong with trying them.