Smiley face on Clearblue Digital Ovulation with PCOS - Am I getting my hopes up that this will help us?

[HopefulDuck]

Hi all,

Since trying to conceive, I have realised it's consuming my little brain, looking for some advice and words of wisdom from others who know the feeling whilst I wait a couple of weeks before taking a pregnancy test...

I am mid 30s, have PCOS, recently husband and I started putting more focus into conceiving our first baby. I started using the Clearblue Digital Ovulation kit and began testing 20 days out given my long cycle as recommended. The first week I had the empty circle as expected, but one day to my absolute surprise I saw the static smiley face (skipped the flashing and went straight to peak), it was around the right timing with my average cycle length. I was so excited because I had been thinking the worst in relation to my PCOS and that it might make it impossible for us. But, since then have realised that the Clearblue test isn't recommended for people with PCOS.

So, my question - am I getting too over-excited about receiving that smiley face, anyone who has used this test with PCOS found that it actually gave an accurate reading / helped you find the right timing to conceive?

Hey. I am a fellow cyster. It’s good that you’ve got a smiley face! The only issue with this is that ovulation tests measure your LH. The presence of LH doesn’t guarantee that you’re going to release an egg. This blew my mind when my gynae told me this. With PCOS, it is beneficial to use more than one way to measure your ovulation. Measuring basal body temperature and cervical mucus is good too. Hopefully then everything aligns with your smiley face and you start to notice a pattern. Smiley face is a good start though and shows your LG is rising and trying to do something. Good luck x

Hi

Wanted to thank you for replying, it's really helpful. Will start testing in the next couple of days, I have the strangest "flutters" in my stomach for the last couple of days, probably butterflies caused by thinking about this way too much. :)

Hey! That’s ok. PCOS is confusing and it helps to have other people going through it to talk to. I hope you get your positive. I’m currently doing ovulation induction with a fertility clinic and due to test Wednesday 🤞 x

The thing with pcos is it varies one woman to the next. Some will say the tests don't work with pcos. I , on the other hand swear by them. I have quite severe pcos ( virtually zero periods) and recently underwent ovulation induction and ivf to conceive my son with one natural pregnancy in between but miscarried. I've had multiple scans and bloods, all confirmed i ovulated after positive test.
My opinion is they are worth a go if you can afford them. Could you pay for a private progesterone test ?

Thank you both for your replies, keeping everything crossed for you @CardiVee !

@VioIetMoon thank you - I was pleasantly surprised to see the ovulation kit gave me something (I expected a continuous empty circle to be honest). Yes I could, I don't know a lot about that test, but will research it - thank you.

Think I am 4 days away from expected period date (but can never really tell as you know), done a couple of early tests which are negative. Wasting a lot of money on testing far too early, promising myself I won't do this next cycle - we will see!

Hi, another cyster here. I’m currently trying for baby no 4 but pregnancy number 8.i used the cheapie strips for any time I was TTC and found them helpful but have found other ways of tracking my ovulation. I use flo app to record all and eventually it spits out a guesstimate for ovulation, monitor CM, don’t do BBT as I work shift work so it wouldn’t be reliable. Wanted to give you some reassurance that it does help but the more you get to know about your own body the more you understand when to expect ovulation and what you can do to help your body to ovulate.

@HopefulDuck I did a few tests with medichecks for few cycles and found them just as reliable as my tests with nhs gynae. A progesterone test needs to be taken 7 days after you think you may have ovulated and it will confirm if you have or not.
I also found temping a great way to know if I've ovulated as temp rises few days after ovulation has occured

By the way, I used easy at home sticks from amazon and they are brilliant and far cheaper than clearblue. I only used clearblue whenever my easy at home indicated I was ovulating to confirm and sure enough always got a flashing smile ever time I had a positive with easy at home.

My endocrinologist told me to only use cheapie opks because they are so unreliable for PCOS. I found clear blue would give me the ovulating smiley only for the fertility clinic ultrasounds / bloods to show no ovulation. So I guess no harm but don't waste your money if you can avoid it. We did letrozole for DD1, and had a natural conception for DD2 (after i lost 12kg on the fast 800 diet). I found tracking cervical mucus to be the most reliable sign of ovulation.