Ovulation sticks? Do they really help?

[Stacey2007]

I was just wondering if anyone has tried the ovulation sticks ? If they helped and what ones are the best? I want to give them a try this month

I never used them as I have PCOS and apparently they're a waste of time. After internal ultrasound in March all looked good with my ovaries and almost 5 years ttc since DS I used them may June July. Clearblue advanced opk and Tesco. Got bfp mid July 😊 good luck🤞other factors may have helped. HSG in May good clear out of tubes and tried sperm meets egg plan (SMEP)

The first time we got pregnant straight away without using anything other than a rough idea that 'women ovulate on day 14'. Sorry if that isn't what you want to hear. I do know that it can take normal healthy couples a year/a year and a half. Give ovulation sticks a go for a few months, it can take that long to get used to them. You may find you ovulate much earlier or later than you had thought and that might just nail it. After that have a chat to your GP maybe? There is so much that can be done just to help kick-start things. I am sure you will be fine. But have a go with the sticks first! If anything it made me really understand my body, my cycles, signs, different feelings/twinges etc and what was normal for me. It was good for me. Before then I barely could even tell you how many days my cycles were!

I'm not sure of your age OP but if you are under 35 and have been trying for a year you need to go and have a serious talk with your GP. If older then go immediately.

It would help if you have been charting your periods for all the time you have been trying, and actually have done some basic research into what your fertile window is likely to be as many women get this stuff wrong.

If the GP you see is nice and you have done some charting they should send you to have some basic tests to check there isn't anything wrong with your fertility on the NHS. If they are not - and some GPs are rude and judgemental like everyone else in society - then you are a bit stuffed really and have to see whether you can afford to have some tests done privately.

Sorry I forgot to mention that. I’m 28 ive been to my gp they sent me for a few blood tests, they came back fine, my partners sperm test came back low ☹️ When we went back, there sending us somewhere else, but she mentioned we probs wouldn’t get ivf free as my partner already has a child from his previous relationship. 💔 so I’m just trying to try everything I can before paying the huge amount of money for ivf if it comes to that ☹️

I found basal body temperature worked better at confirming ovulation, but if I was going to do opks I'd get internet cheapies and do the Sperm Meets Egg Plan method. That's supposed to be the best at identifying it in advance.

If your partner has low sperm count it might be worth waiting the 48 hours so that he can build up a good supply again. We also found that a cock ring seemed to result in a more powerful ejaculation which might have done the job for us. Sorry if TMI.

You may be able to do IUI rather than IVF if it's that he has a low sperm count. That's cheaper I think.

There are also supplements he can take which can help and he should avoid hot baths, smoking, alcohol, caffeine etc. Realistically you have to give up a load of stuff when you get pregnant so it shouldn't be a massive hardship for him to give them up for a few months in order to conceive.

What’s the sperm meets egg plan? 🙈 ohhh really 😲 anything is worth a try 😁 I will have a look into that first then thankyou 😁

We’ve started taking the Pregnacare Him and her, not sure if they will help but the reviews was really good so thought they would be worth a try, yes I’ve looked up all the things that could help, told him what he’s not allowed 😂

I never managed to get a positive on them and I found they made me feel under pressure to dtd and everything felt a bit forced. I sacked them off and just went for the every other day method and that seemed to work for us!

You can Google it, it's a timing method for TTC.

Nope. Never got a positive and sent me loopy tbh. I got pregnant through temping. Most accurate for me - oh and BD every day for ten days. Poor DH!

I also did temping but I found it a bit annoying. I also wasn't strict with it in terms of waking up at the same time, not moving etc. I still saw a pattern though. Download the fertility friend app, I really liked that and again it was more about just understanding my body than anything else. As you can see some things work for some and not for others. You have to learn what works for you but I would say a massive thing is really understanding your body and 'signs'. Also I would suggest hanging out on the conception boards and just reading everything. I learnt so much this way. Good luck

I would highly recommend a zinc supplement on its own for DH as well as the pregnacare it can really help sperm. And maybe consider a good probiotic for you both. Sperm Meets Egg Plan would be good for sperm issues you don't want to burn out his supply doing it too much.

Definitely recommend temping. I found it so interesting and it turns out I was ovulating later then a normal cycle. Now 20 weeks pregnant. Ovulation sticks are great IMO but they don’t tell you for definite if you have actually ovulated. Only that you’ve had a LH surge. The spikes in your basal body temp will indicate that you’ve released an egg x

So take zinc aswell as the Pregnacare ? Thankyou everyone I’m going to give everything that your saying a go 😁

I got a solid smiley face on 18th, don’t know if I’m going crazy but today I’m getting a weird ache in my belly, like when you’ve done a lot of sit ups 😂 maybe it’s way to soon for anything or my body is playing tricks with me 😂 but has anybody else had this?