Ovulation pain but no LH surge?

[Rosiestraws]

Wondering if anyone can share their experiences/has advice..

I've always experienced what I think is ovulation pain midway through my cycle (a dull obvious ache on one side of my ovaries which does change every month). Once I had a ultrasound scan about 5 days after having experienced it on one side and I told the scanner and she looked and agreed that she could see I'd recently ovulated from that ovary so I feel pretty sure that I'm familiar with what it is.

However I am about to begin egg freezing and because of my blood tests I have to start taking oestrogen 7 days after my LH surge so I have been tracking with the ovulation sticks every day since day 11 (I was only notified by the clinic to do this then). Day 14 for the afternoon into night I had these pains but had no LH surge at any day from day 11 to now (day 18). If it was ovulation I should have had a surge around then or 2 days before right? My last cycle was 35 days (it is a bit irregular but this was far longer than before and I actually think I remember feeling the O pain twice- about a week apart and wondering what was going on then too!) So perhaps if my cycle is going to be as long as the last one then I won't be ovulating for a bit longer still (my app says fertile period ending tomorrow therefore should be ovulating today or tomorrow but not always v accurate) but I'm just so confused as at least once before (when I had the scan) I knew this pain was linked to ovulation! Could it be that this pain is the ovary getting ready to release an egg or something but it still hasn't done so yet...or did the LH surge get missed somehow? I followed the instructions to the T about doing the test first thing every day, first urine and not having been to the toilet for at least 4 hrs before but it is also always very pale (sorry if TMI!) as I'm very good at being hydrated throughout the day (and sip at a glass of water if I wake up overnight)

Any thoughts/advice or experiences about ovulation pain and LH surge etc welcome!

Obviously if I did ovulate on Sat then I need to start my medication this Sat but I also don't want to take it the wrong time if I am yet to ovulate! (Ofc I will contact clinic on Friday if still no positive LH test)

Hey @Rosiestraws, could they not do a blood test maybe to check your levels? After my experience today I don't trust OPK's. I had 5 days of flashing smileys followed by a static smiley yesterday (peak), pain which I was convinced me ovulating and today had a scan which showed I haven't ovulated or going to ☹️

@Crazydoglady123 How strange! So the scan confirmed it? That's good to know. They've offered me a scan tomorrow morning but £160 so seems expensive if if doesn't resolve it but I guess in the grand scheme of things it's best to pay it if it confirms I haven't ovulated yet and therefore I carry on testing and waiting...or that I have ovulated and I can start the medication this Saturday.

@Rosiestraws yeah I thought it'd confirm I ovulated but total opposite 😔 Wow £160 for a scan! I pay £90 for private scans (not at an IVF clinic).

@Crazydoglady123 Is that with a clinic you're having treatment with or just completely on its own? I'm in central London so may be why? Did think it was expensive but I guess if it means not messing up a whole egg freezing cycle (or indeed having to delay it a month so it happens when we're not in lockdown and causes more issues) then I guess worth it!?

I'm on the NHS for my Clomid treatment still but I've use a private ultrasound company a few times over the years. I'm south east so a bit further out than London so that may be why and like you say if it means not messing up your egg freezing cycle it's worth going with. You'll have to message back and let me know how you get on ♥️

@Crazydoglady123 Scan showed I did indeed ovulate! Phew! Shows that these home ovulation kits etc aren't always correct and I was right in listening to my body :) Glad I paid the money now as means can start the oestrogen I need on Sat and hopefully the egg freezing cycle begins in a couple of weeks.. scary!

@Rosiestraws that's amazing! Yeah I really don't trust OPKs anymore! Best of luck with your egg collection. I start my ivf in April hopefully 🤞

What kind of OPKs were you using and are you sure you used them correctly? You could have just missed your surge potentially?

@Juno231 I was using the Clearblue ovulation kits that just specify LH surge smiley face or no surge O face- what the pharmacist recommended. I honestly think I did them completely correctly as I was even thinking if I woke up in the night and needed a wee I stopped myself as I knew it had to be held for more than 4 hours etc! I said to the sonographer earlier today about it and she said she'd heard of quite a few people not getting the LH surge with the ovulation testing kits 🤷🏽‍♀️ The only other thing could be that the surge was maybe on day 10 (before I started testing) but seems a.bit unlikely as it would then have been 4.5 days later I felt the O pains. Or maybe I was too hydrated even first thing in the morning to pick up a surge? 🤔