PCOS - have OPKs worked for you??

[Soulsta]

Hi there

Question for ladies with PCOS. Theres a thing that ovulation kits are not accurate for women with PCOS, so wanted to throw this question out there

Have you used OPKs to help predict fertile days, and how effective have opks been in your journey?

What other ways have you accurately predicted your fertile window? I had EWCM 4-5days before fertile window, so not sure I can rely on this method

Trying to prepare ahead for the next cycle. Please share your journey, or anything else you did that helped know when you were fertile in the cycle x

Hi, I’m on my first TTC cycle, and I’ve been using ovulation tests this month and last month. So far not had a single positive, but from what I’ve read it’s usually the opposite problem with PCOS (eg elevated levels of LH). All the advice I’ve seen related to this issue is to have sex every 2-3 days throughout the cycle, and pretty much disregard OPKs.

i suffer with PCOS too and it feels like a completely different journey for us! I can’t imagine knowing when I’ve ovulated and I’m pretty sure I’d never be able to accurately calculate a 2WW!!

happy to keep you company on this thread and see what other PCOS tips are out there 🙂

Hiya!

I've been ttc actively for about a year now, off contraception for two with one chemical in that time. I've found I can use ovulation strips but they tend to be pretty dark from the get go. I use premom and very often throughout my cycle it'll be registering 0.5-0.6 and my peak will be 0.9-1.6. Having said that I absolutely still have peaks and I've found tracking my bbt has been really helpful in confirming ovulation.

Personally my cycles are usually 35-50 days so I test when I've finished my period once a day, and then when I start getting EWCM I'll test twice a day and I tend to find my bbt drops around that time and will rise after my peak.

Wishing you all the best 😊

OPKs aren’t accurate for PCOS because of Lh. But if you aren’t getting any positives you may want to widen your testing window to your entire cycle.

OPKs never worked for me. DD1 we only ended up conceiving via help from the fertility clinic in the end. DC2 i conceived naturally on something like day 29 - i had given up on OPKs that month but i had noticed an increase in EWCM. I also lost 12kg so i think that had helped too.

@FantasticalCat yes would love to stay in touch pls. Being on here is helping me stay away from the testing strips haha. I'm only 4dpo and trying for my first. What about you?

Yes I feel having pcos definetely adds to the difficulty. My cycles were 35- 45 days but current cycle reached 70days and ovulated (according to BBT chart a few days ago. So if this is going to be a new cycle length, I cant imagine dtd every other day!

I bought a ovulation kit months ago but never bothered. But I did a random test, funnily on ovulation day, and I got a 'O' which apparently means low levels of whatever its looking for. So confusing

@greentree16 sorry for your loss hun, hopefully this cycle will bring you news x

I've heard alot about premom, is this like clearblue testing kits but you read the test strips yourself as opposed to putting the strip into clearblue stick and then it gives you an O or smiley? Would you say that the peak shown on your strips have been in line with the BBT chart showing your peak days? Also do you see a change in your temperature when fertile window opens ie does it drop or rise slightly or stays the same?

How many test strips is that in one cycle? When I bought the clearblue ovulation kit only had 10 strips for £20 and thoight that's expensive!

This could be quite expensive I assume. Are there any reputable Opks that a good value if bought in bulk?

Hi @NoIncomeTaxNoVAT , may I ask how long were your cycles back then when you fell pregnant with DC2?

I've been wondering if a cycle's length is dependant on when ovulation takes place ie if it's a 45 day cycle is it because the ovulation happened later, or can luteal phase prolong the cycle?

Yes of course! The 4 cycles prior to falling pregnant were 55 days, then 38 days, then 59 days, then 39 days. I've often wondered the same as you but i've always assumed that the cycle length is driven by ovulation and its when ovulation is late that it then delays a period. So my assumption has been that ovulation has been around 14days prior to a period, but that could have been 30-40days+ after the last period in the longer cycles? No idea where i got that idea from though! 😅

@Soulsta oh interesting, how did you know that you were ovulating?

from what I’ve read, best and cheapest way to keep track is to do BBT and monitor cervical mucus. Those bloody OPKs cost a fortune and just seem like a hell of a lot of money when you’re on a 34 day cycle with no idea when to test!

Thank you for sharing, so the cycle you got your BFP was 39days long?

This gives me hope as my cycles usually vary from 35 to 45 days however current one being an outlier 74days! Never wanted a period so bad lol. Hopefully it'll go back to 45days, I'll take that 😂

And I think your theory is right, apparently I've ovulated on CD70 (4days ago) so if I get period in another 10days, kind of answers my question!

@Soulsta yeah I've attached a photo of my last cycle but you can see the peak then my bbt went up! Didn't manage to capture the end of the cycle as I was unwell but you should be able to see the pattern 😊

I use the easy@home LH tests, you can get them in a pack of 50 with 20 HCG tests for about £16-£17 I think. If you download the premom app, then you can take a photo of the tests and it'll give you a ratio and let you know if it's high, low or a peak. That's what I've used for the attached graph!

The cycle prior to the cycle getting my BFP was 39days long. Then i had my period. We dtd a lot in the weeks after that period because i was having increased discharge (which i never normally got), so i was hoping that was a positive sign that i might ovulate. Whilst all this was going on, i was also starting referrals back to the fertility clinic, who wanted me to have a test to check whether i had any tube blockages. You can't have that done whilst pregnant so i took a pregnancy test whilst waiting for my period just to check as by now it was like day 39 i think? and it came back with a very faint BFP!

I was diagnosed with PCOS over 10 years ago now i think? And in that time, i've definitely had super random really long cycles. Mine are really affected by my weight - when i lighter, they tend to settle around 39-45days, and when i'm heavier it's a lot worse. There was one year when i only had 3 periods in the whole year 😣Hopefully yours will return to your normal soon!

PCOS adds an extra level of stress for sure but make sure you are taking all the PCOS recommended supplements etc as well, as that will definitely help.

@FantasticalCat

I don't know for sure. I started tracking BBT 20th Nov, had a drop on 3rd dec, followed by rise (see chart below). According to the app I've ovulated, but I didnt have EWCM a few days leading upto 3rd. I keep reading contrary things on here, some say EWCM will always be present before ovulation, some have said they got pregnant and didn't have EWCM. As if Pcos wasn't complicating things enough 😂

Any thoughts on my BBT chart, are welcome x

Thank you @greentree16 , this is so helpful. Is the blue line BBT and red LH level?

£17 for what your getting, isn't too bad! Like I said, I bought 10 clearblue ovulation strips for £20

@NoIncomeTaxNoVAT wow, I can only imagine how amazing that moment would've been, getting a BFP! May I ask how often you dtd once you noticed discharge?

Maybe I should've started trying the day I also notice discharge, I remember it wasnt egg white like, as apps and people said it should be, so I continued to wait for it to change, I think only had egg white discharge one day and after that it became sticky and then dryish. Accordong to the app I ovulated just over a week later, but I'm doubting as keep hearing about having egg white like mucus the day before ovulation

I think definetely a good idea to start dtd as soon as I notice dischatge out of the norm. I know drs reccomend doing it every other day throughout the cycle, but with work life and long cycles, it's a real struggle!

Today in another thread read that dtd 3-4 days in a row reduces the sperm count therefore reducing the chance of fertilisation?! This is news to me, going to look further into this

@Soulsta yep that's right!

No it's not bad at all. Must admit I've looked at the clearblue ones in the past but the money has put me off.

The easy@home ones really are great in my opinion so I'd definitely recommend 😊

I have pcos and didn't have an issue with opks

Thanks for sharing @MissKH84

Which OPKs did you use?

Hey @Soulsta OPKs worked great for me.
I'd always heard they don't work for pcos too but that couldn't be further from the truth in my personal experience. I'd no problem identifying peaks.
It might not work for some women with pcos but it's definitely not a certain that it dosent work for all of us.
I used the cheap easy at home tests you can buy on amazon. Once I got to grips with them I bought the clearblue ones alongside them. Clearblue would always pick up on the surge before the cheap sticks.
My clearblues would be postive hours before the easy at homes. Sometimes as much as 8-12 hours

@greentree16 thanks, I'm considering giving it a go

@MoonIightDreamer thanks sharing, wow 8-12hrs is significant, maybe that's why they cost an arm and a leg

Can I just run through the process, I start dtd with hubby after period finishes or notice change in CM, and also start using the strips right up until have period or when BBT indicates ovulation?

Is the effectiveness of 'easyathome' strips like BBT, only works if previous entries have been recorded, to compare against?

Sorry to jump in on this thread but thought I’d just share my experience too.
I’ve almost given up on OPKs just because I found I was getting random surges of LH, I do sometimes do them if I’m suspicious I’m about to ovulate when tracking cm.
in august I subscribed to OvuSense wearable skin thermometer to track my BBT. I find that with being a nurse and working shifts using the standards oral thermometer less accurate as I can’t always temp at the same time every day.
the OvuSense tracks over night for you - it’s FDA approved.
once you’ve had a few cycles it begins to learn your cycle trends with bbt and predicts fertile windows.
I haven’t yet conceived myself but I find it useful to confirm when ovulation occurs.In the 2 years we’ve been TTC I had 3 cycles in the first 12 months and I’ve had 7 since then. I vary between 45-105 days. Something I’ve really began to struggle with. I’ve lost 8kg in weight recently and have not got my BMI to the point in which I can enrol into an ovulation induction drug trial (my bmi is too high for nhs) I’m going next week for my initial appointment to discuss the trial. But essentially it is ovulation inductions drugs combined with either a placebo or metformin. I figured it’s worth a try while I continue to lose weight and get my BMI down below 30. It’s currently 34.8.

sorry for the long post. Hopefully manage to keep in touch with some of you.

@Soulsta when your doing your opks for a few months you should notice your own Individual pattern. Some women surge quickly, it's over in flash and therfore opks can miss the surge. For those people it's usually recommended to test twice a day . For me my surge would last around 1 day before gradually coming down the next. I personally always knew once I got up 0.50 on premom that ovulation was coming. As I said , it'll just take time to become familiar with your own pattern.
Yes I found bbt very accurate to confirm ovulation had taken place. I ovulated the egg 1-3 days after a postive opk so it's worth doing it for a few days after a postive. I was always told by the fertility consultant every other day is enough
Do it every day and it can actually lower the sperm count as it needs time to regenerate

@MoonIightDreamer thank you for the advice, really helpful. Are these the one you got from Amazon?

Easy@Home 100 x Ovulation Test Strips, Fertility Tests Ovulation Predictor Kit, Powered by Premom Ovulation Predictor iOS and Android App, 100LH Strips https://amzn.eu/d/ijC3B8e

@Ncl31 Congrats on losing 8kg 🎉thats brilliant. I understand how difficult the journey can be to weight loss. Hopefully they'll also see the progress you've made. Happy to stay in touch and keep company here :)

Worked for me.
I had an odd cycle our first try. EWM but didn't peak. About 5/6 days later I had a smaller amount and it was around day 21. Peaked again and fell pregnant.
Dates all matched to falling day cd22/23.