OPK Error? Did I start testing too late?

[bthjnry]

Did I mess up with OPKs?!

My cycle tends to be anywhere between 22 days and 28, with my last two being 22 days. I bought standard OPKs and started testing at day 6, but kept getting negatives for about 4 days.

I then stopped testing and bought clearblue advanced on day 12 as I noticed EWCM and ovary pain. I took two tests within about 4 hours - the first blank and then a flashing smiley and two very solid lines. On day 13, I had more EWCM and more ovulation pains. Every day since day 12, I’ve had a flashing smiley (now day 17).

I was panicking that I’m not ovulating, but now I realise that I was possibly already ovulating or at my peak on day 12? I’m such an idiot for not reading the test properly, but now I realise that clearblue needs to get your baseline from the first day of testing and I should have started way earlier.

What I’m asking is, does it sound like I probably did ovulate and there’s no point in continuing to test? I have never ovulated as late as day 17+, so I’d be really surprised if this was just a long cycle.

Please help and don’t judge me for being a fool!

You are probably right if your cycles are that short! I normally start testing a couple days after my period (this is my second cycle) with the digital CB and the strips. My cycles are normally 32 days and it seems I ovulate around day 20 (although my CB had me on CD13 this month). I get negatives for about 2 weeks 😂 it’s a tiring game.

i think just keep testing and see if you get a solid, I know they’re expensive but then at least you know you probably ovulate earlier. Or go back to the OPKs as they are cheap.

with OPKs, just be consistent. I am the absolute worst for this and I think I missed my peak this cycle. I had a chemical last month so went crazy with testing but had made me more stressed. Do it a few days after your period at 11am and then at around 5/6pm! When it looks like it’s getting darker you can add another test in somewhere.

at the end of the day, if you’re having sex frequently enough, you’ll have maxed out your chances so it doesn’t really matter if you miss peak or not because you probably would have hit it without realising!

hope that helps ✨🤞

I used clear blue and easy@home one month and I think I misused the clear blue because it straight away told me I was high -smiley face. I started on day 9/10 (usually ovulate on day 18 but I used ewcm to figure that out). The easy@home were low at this point. I kept going with them both for a few days and I got frustrated with the clear blue so I gave up with that. I kept going with easy@home and also bbt. So I took my temperature each morning at 6am. This was to confirm ovulation.

Don’t assume that you will never ovulate late though, it can happen. I would have said I always ovulate on day 18, except one cycle I ovulated on day 24. I only found that out by doing the lh tests way after I had ewcm and it stopped. Luckily I kept tracking because that’s the cycle I conceived ds. Although if your cycles are 22 days then you could ovulate between day 8-12 or further depending how long your luteal phase is. I suppose if you say it varies between 22-28 days then your ovulation moves. If your luteal phase length is 10 days for example you could even ovulate on day 18.

You could try using bbt as well to check when you ovulate next cycle? If you do it again next cycle that is. Fertility friend was good to see the graph. It’s been a while since I used the app though.

@GreenPickle

Thank you for replying!

I’ve been so fed up seeing that flashing smiley for even 5 days, so I really feel for you!

We started having sex from day 6, then every other until day 14. We won’t have another opportunity until day 20 at the earliest now, so I’m tempted to just call it here and see if I get my period (I’m predicting this cycle being 26 days). But at the same time, I get what you mean because it might still be useful information even if I don’t get a positive.

I’m also terrible for being consistent! Plus I’m out of the house from 7:30 until 5:30 every day, so since day 12 I’ve only tested once a day (around 10pm). I do think it’s possible I was already ovulating when I first tested, but this is my first time using OPKs so I have no idea what to make of it all.

Thank you again for your help 💖

@Blue2020

Thank you for the reply! To be honest, I stretched it from day 22-28 more for ease because I feel like I could go into too much detail 😅 but I track my cycle on the Moody app. In the last 2 years, around 90% have been 24 days, with some 22s, 26 and 27s and very very rarely 28 - although it has happened. Moody predicts a 24 day cycle as my average.

I definitely could ovulate late, I realise I shouldn’t dismiss that so soon. I suppose because my physical ovulation signs are impossible to miss, I always assume that’s it. I’ve never tested for ovulation or temp before, so really I might be completely off the mark in terms of what I think I know.

Thank you for taking the time to reply and for your advice! 💖

@GreenPickle also I’m sorry I didn’t acknowledge that you had a chemical. I’ve been there, I’m so sorry you went through that.

It’s hard not to get stressed, having a monthly cycle makes it impossible not to be aware of your body/fertility, but definitely be kind to yourself during all of this.

Worth continuing to test in case it is late ovulation but it's possible you had a really rapid surge and decline in the window between testing.

The clearblue establishes a personalised baseline for oestrogen but I understand there's a set LH threshold for it to show a static smile.

Do you know what the LH threshold is?

I only ask because last month I got a static on CD17 and e@h had my peak on CD20. (I did get a BFP but chemical).

this month it went from blank to static (CD13) but my e@h strips are all over the place! I didn’t find my peak and I think maybe because I use FMU and don’t test until the evening so I may have missed it.

@bthjnry The first test that you do on a clearblue is always blank so your LH was probably already high.

@GreenPickle 40mIU/ml.

People can have different kinds of peaks. Some plateau on high LH for several day etc. Others have their rise and fall extremely quickly.

Some of the variations mapped.

@GreenPickle @sirensong

from the research I’ve just done, it looks like clearblue digital looks for 40, but the clearblue advanced also works by establishing your personal baseline for LH first as not everyone’s LH surges are as high as that. So you can still have a surge, because it’s a surge for you, if that makes sense?

@sirensong thank you! Super helpful!

@bthjnry gotcha! Mine are always a few days out from each other, and it doesn’t help that this month my OPKs didn’t show an obvious ‘peak’ (assuming I missed it). I went off my OPK last month (CD20) and it lined up with my positive pregnancy tests (I think anyway, it was a chemical do I could actually be totally wrong!).

only on cycle 2 and already fed up 😂

@GreenPickle it’s just so confusing! I thought ovulation testing would give me some answers but I’ve genuinely ended up with so many more questions 🤣 my google history looks insane.

How many dpo did you take a pregnancy test? This will be my next battle 😅 I had a chemical about 2 years ago, but this is also only my second cycle of active trying!

@bthjnry I had loads of cheap pregnancy strips so I was taking them from like 3dpo out of excitement 😂 but I guess my first actual positive was 12dpo on a digital. Before that, I saw faint lines on the little strips hit not enough to say I was pregnant (which I guess was a symptom of the chemical!). Maybe 10dpo I saw a faint line?

this time I’m waiting until af is due… and then some 😂

i find the TWW honestly hard and I find myself becoming really obsessive. I still have a week and a bit to go 😩