Clear blue OPK question

[Denguin]

Hello All, I am new to mumsnet but have been watching curiously and finding all of the threads helpful :) I have a question about the clearblue OPKs. I have been using the kit with just the static smiley rather than flashing. I have bought two boxes so for over three months of trying to conceive. The first and second month I used different white testers that came with the different new kits and got a static smiley. This month, I reused one of the white testers as I had lots of the pink test strips left so did not need to buy a new box. However, I am now on cd22 without a static smiley, which seems late compared to previous months. Also, when releasing the test strips, the part which shows the lines seems to be slightly smeared with dye. As such, I wondered if there would be some reason why you cannot reuse the white test part as I’ve read different things regarding this. Has anyone else had an experience like this or could it be that I’ve not ovulated this month? I’ve tested with FMU as advised by the instructions and some days tested in the evening as well. Sorry if my post is confusing, I’m unsure how to label the parts! Thank you in advance for your help.

You can’t reuse the plastic testers- you need a new one every cycle. You can reuse the test sticks, but will need to buy a box for the tester.

For more info- the plastic tester with the screen is what reads and remembers your hormones. As far as your plastic tester is concerned, it already found your peak last month so won’t detect for this month.

Hello OP

I’ve actually posted a thread myself about the CB tests and I’m thinking maybe the machines shouldn’t be used for more than one cycle as I’ve had some weird things happen with mine.

I used them last cycle and I got 3 days of static smiley rather than just 2 days. Then this cycle I tested on CD7 (the day after AF finished) and straight away I got a peak static smiley. No blank, no flashing just a straight away peak. My Femometer line OPKs don’t match and are negative.

I thought I would use the same machine as I read that it’s good to do that as it has learnt your cycle from before but it seems it hasn’t worked that way for me.

I have a new machine that I’m going to open and start using instead

It even says on the clear blue website that the holders are reusable…

This is what it says
“Only brand with a re-usable reader
If you have ovulation test sticks left after detecting your first LH surge then you can use them with the same test holder to identify your fertile days next cycle, if you're not already pregnant.”

So I may just have a faulty test reader or maybe they aren’t as reusable as it says 🤷‍♀️

Thank you all, that’s helpful to know. I guess with each month of trying we are figuring out more and more. I think next month I will use different OPKs.