Calling all Clear Blue Fertility Monitor users...

[xxsammyxx]

Hi, my cycles are always 29 days (ok the month before last i was 5 days late but this is not normal) ok i have researched the last few months monitor results and this is what i have:-

JAN
CD 13 - HIGH
CD 14 - OV
CD 15 - OV
CD 16 - HIGH

FEB
CD 15 - HIGH
CD 16 - OV
CD 17 - OV
CD 18 - HIGH

MAR

CD 10 - HIGH
CD 11 - OV
CD 12 - OV
CD 13 - HIGH

APR
CD 11 - POS ON EBAY CHEAPIE (RAN OUT OF MONITOR TEST STICKS)
CD 12 - POS

MAY
CD 14 - HIGH
CD 15 - HIGH
CD 16 - HIGH
CD 17 - HIGH
CD 18 - HIGH
CD 19 - HIGH
CD 20 - HIGH
CD 21 - HIGH
CD 22 - HIGH

4 TESTS ON EBAY CHEAPIES OVER LAST FEW DAYS - ALL NEG

My last period was May 11th

 

[mrs_metal]

I'm definitely not an expert as I've never used the fertility monitor but it's just occurred to me that our bodies can build up to ovulation but not ovulate, due to stress or some other reason, and then build up again to actually ovulate, so it's possible your OV is delayed this month and you'd just had a lot of build up?

On the other hand if you did OV just before you got your test sticks and started ov testing on day 14 then you'd only be about 6 or 7 days past ovulation which would be too early for BFP to show up.

It's no wonder your confused, I am! But personally I hope you OV'd early and it's just to early to pick up your BFP, fingers crossed for a happy result

 

[xxsammyxx]

Hi, i just dont know hun. I have never missed ovulation even when some months i have been stressed to the absolute max! This month has been quite a relaxed month. I never had any test sticks last month as i couldnt get them sent through quick enough so i though sod it and didnt really bother much with being obsessive about BD'ing. Just went with the flow. Thing is this monitor picks up two types of surges (dont ask me exactly what they are as i read it earlier but have now forgot and it does not seem to be picking up the OV one! The ovulation sticks are all negative so they arent either but the monitor is picking up something! If this month was like the previous two months then maybe i ovulated on CD 11/12 (did not use monitor until CD 14) which would make me 8/9 days past OV. I wish either the monitor would ring up OV peak or go back to normal cos its racking me right off!

 

[xxsammyxx]

Oh this is fun! Another HIGH! Well i didnt expect that I am so lucky I will be able to spend all my money on monitor test sticks this month!!! Thats a full week of HIGH's.

 

[glittergirl]

Another HIGH again today

I had 19 HIGH results in a row so you prob will need to invest in another box of sticks.

When i was going through this i also tested with the ebay cheapie ov sticks as a kind of back up to my confusion and they varied from negative to faint so think that just confused me even more.

I so have my fingers crossed for you Sammy.

xxxxxxx

 

[Kittykins]

Sammy - it's possible that you ov'ed on CD13, especially given your past cycles. I know from experience that I have ov'ed the day before the monitor started asking me for test sticks (happened again last month in fact). I temp as well, so I knew when I saw the temp has jumped that I had ov'ed on CD9. Anyway, I used the CBEFM to see what it said, and it came up with High (as you'd expect the day after ov) and then carried on with High until I stopped testing.

The other possibility, and this has also happened to me, is that you had an anovulatory cycle. This is quite common - the majority of women will have one every 12-18 months. The body gears up for ovulation, but then it never quite happens. My cycles are usually around 30 days, but I had a weird 60-day one around November last year (you can see if you click on my FF link) The CBEFM showed high for days, but although my temp rose a little, and steadily, it did not jump up. I had a few days of spotting/light bleeding, but not a real period. Later, the CBEFM showed a Peak, my temp rose, and I got my period 10 days later.


Anyay, if I were you, I'd stop feeding the monitor with sticks. It's an expensive habit, and if you did ov on CD13, it will continue to read High until you tell it you've got your period. If you had an anovulatory cycle, it may eventually go back to low, but again there's a good chance it will say High till you stop feeding it.

By the way, I'm quite surprised that your cycles are always 29 days if your ovulation date varies between CD12 and CD17. Uusally your luteal phase stays the same, it's the time between the start of the cycle and ovulation day (the follicular phase) that varies. Your stats suggest that your luteal phase ranges between 12 and 17 days? But if the cycle that your period was 5 days late was the same cycle that you ov'ed on CD17, in fact your period wasn't late at all - it would have been bang on time. What happened, in fact, was a classic case of delayed ovulation. Had you been travelling, or ill, or stressed, earlier that cycle? And if so, have you been travelling, ill or stressed this cycle? If you have, it's possible that you're also experiencing delayed ovulation this cycle and that you haven't ov'ed yet.

I don't know if this actually helps you, but hopefully it reassures you that whatever's going on is in fact normal!

 

[xxsammyxx]

Crikey Kittykins - i have been blinded with science!!! I have read that if its the first time you use this monitor it may bring up 19 days of high's. However, its not my first time using it. I skipped last month as i had no sticks but it should still keep the info from the last cycles. OV sticks are still reading neg and PG test neg. I have learnt a bit from what you read and luteal phases. I was late that month 5 days and have been late for 5 days once before but as you said if i ovulated late i was not late at all so thanks, at least if it happens again i wont be getting excited. I havent been stressed this month but theres a high chance i could have been stressed the month i was late, i cant really remember. How long after you have ovulated are you supposed to have AF? Thanks for replying hun.

Glittergirl - yep same result and yes my OV sticks were neg although a couple had a really faint line but that was all. Im hoping that the same that happened to you, happens to me but i guess we will just have to see. Thanks for your support, ill keep you updated. Would you suggest to quit feeding this machine or carry on?

 

[glittergirl]

Well i carried on inserting the sticks as the machine requested, suppose you wont find out if it drops to LOW at any time if you dont keep going.

Its up to you but i know curiosity would get the better of me and i would have to keep going, just to see how the pattern continues.

I so hope you have the same result as me, i would be like then

When is your af due? About another 10 days?

I'll keep praying for you hun

xxxxx

 

[xxsammyxx]

Hi, well i didnt wake up in time to test thi morning but i switched the monitor on and its on CD 20 (the monitor and FF are a day out from each other for some reason!) and still reading high! Yes im due for AF on June 9th. Keep praying for me!

 

[Kittykins]

How long after you have ovulated are you supposed to have AF?

The "average" is 14 days. The "average woman" has an average 28 day cycle, ovulates on CD14 and gets AF on CD28.

"Usual" is anywhere between 12 and 16 days. "Normal" is between 10 and 18. The point is that the number is almost always constant in each woman. So, for example, I usually ovulate between CD16 and CD22, but I (almost always!) get AF 11 days after ovulation.

I'm not surprised your CBEFM came up with High today - it's almost certainly going to continue doing so until you get AF, whether or not you feed it (unless by some chance you haven't actually ov'ed yet, in which case your AF is not due in 10 days!).

By the way, the two surges are oestrogen and LH. OPKs pick up LH only. So OPKs effectively have Low (neg) and Peak (pos), no High. At the risk of blinding you with science again, LH has a similar molecular structure to HCG (the pregnancy hormone) which is why OPKs can pick up pregnancy.

Did your monitor not ask you for sticks earlier than CD14, or did you forget to check? It should have asked from CD9 at the latest...

My guess is that the most likely scenario is that you ov'ed on CD11, 12 or 13. In this case you'd expect AF around CD 25, 26 or 27, i.e. (if I've understood your posts correctly and you're CD22 today) on Tuesday 3rd, Wed 4th or Thurs 5th June if you have a 14-day luteal phase. If you do always have a 29-day cycle, despite your ovulation day changing each month, then it might be a bit later. Even so, it's unlikely to be as late as 9th June if you ovulated on CD11-13. That would give you an 18-day luteal phase if you ov'ed on CD14 and a 20-day LP if you ov'ed on CD11. So - don't be surprised if AF comes earlier than you expect!

Second guess would be that it was either a very weak ovulation or anovulatory. In this case, you will get AF normal time; you'd be unlikely to be pg because of the egg quality/lack of egg.

Third guess would be you haven't yet ov'ed. In this case your AF will be delayed this month by more than a week.

Fourth guess would be weak ovulation, but you might have caught it and it might just fertilise anyway.


I've posted elsewhere about this, but the main reason that Glittergirl got High and no Peak was that it was the first month she used it - the instructions clearly state that it takes a couple of months to get used to the individual and you may not get a Peak when you first use it. The reason for this is that the monitor comes pre-set with levels that trigger each response, and those levels are then calibrated. So, for example, if the average indexed LH surge measures 0.8 to 1.5, then the CBEFM may be pre-set with a required index level of 1 to produce a Peak reading. If Glittergirl's usual LH surge reaches 0.9, she would not show Peak in the first month of using it. The second month, the CBEFM would have lowered the required level - but Glittergirl didn't get that far because she'd already conceived.

On that basis, if your LH surge normally measures 1.5 on the indexed scale, but this month it was a bit weaker, say 1.0, then although you could still have ovulated, the CBEFM would have calibrated itself to recognise anything between 1.4 and 1.6 as usual for you, and would not see 1.0 as ovulation. Does that make sense? However, you won't have any more of an idea until AF turns up!

 

[xxsammyxx]

Okaaayyyyy.... mmm all seems to make sense. It does state that you can get 19 days of highs when you first use the monitor which i suppose may have been Glittergirls scenario. However, this is my 4th or 5th month so this cant be the reason its happening to me. Ive stopped feeding the monitor as i forgot this morning and it still read high and we are BD'ing every other day anyway. For this month im going to use ebay cheapies and if they produce a strong positive then i may insert another stick. Im not throwing 19 sticks at this machine they cost too much! Thanks for all the replies so far and fingers crossed i guess!!

 

[xxsammyxx]

Hi, I havent tested with the CBFM Sunday and yesterday but i did a test today and it was HIGH, same as always I did an ovulation test last night and there was a 2 lines, not as strong as the main line but definately there. I have test with an ovulation test this morning with 2nd MU and the line is darker just ever so slightly. I have tested last night with PG ebay cheapie and neg but i think its too early to test. AF is due 9th June. What do you think? I would have thought its too late for OV at CD22...

 

[Kittykins]

Well, I ovulated on CD21 this month, having ovulated on CD8 last month!

Ovulating on CD22 is still normal. Indeed, ovulating on CD25 is also quite common. Sounds to me as though your cycles are maybe not as regular as you thought they were. If the OPK is showing a second line which is getting darker, but the HPT is showing only one line, I would say it looks like you're likely to ovulate in the next 2-4 days. However, without seeing the tests, or knowing very much about your cycles. it's very difficult to say - it could still be that you ovulated early and you're about to get AF.

I'm still thoroughly confused by your cycles being exactly 29 days long when it is obvious that your ovulation pattern is irregular. Do you keep a diary?

If you don't get pg this month, it might well be worth charting - taking your temp at the same time every morning. The day after ovulation, your temp rises. So it's possible to know whether or not you've ovulated regardless of the OPKs/CBEFM. Click on my fertilityfriend link below, and you'll be able to see my chart, which demonstrates it - I use OPKs and CBEFM as well as temping.


p.s. If you ovulated before you started using the CBEFM, on CD11/12/13, then you'd have a good (but not definite) chance of it showing on an HPT by now. Depending on the sensitivities, and assuming you're using I/Cs for both OPK and HPT, if an OPK can pick up HCG now, then an HPT should too. It seems more likely the OPK is picking up LH than HCG at this point, but if it's much more sensitive than the HPTs you're using, who knows?!

 

[xxsammyxx]

Hi Kitty, god i dont know whats going on. I have just taken OPK and its the same faint line as earlier. Its only a fraction darker than last night and normally the IC go darker than this for me over that period of time. I have had random lines throughout this period of time though only for a few hours later to be neg again. I will list my periods for you as I record these on MMC every month, my recent OV dates are on this tread. Maybe you can shed some light because i dont know what to think! Forgot to say they average out on MMC to 29 day cycles, normally 28/29 days. BTW just to add to the confusion I have just looked on MMC and im on CD 24 and on FF im on CD 22, it appears there were two dates added into FF for AF so i have deleted one and it appears CD 24 is now correct (although fertility monitor states CD23 but thats because you have to enter CD 1 the next day if AF comes after the morning. On FF and MMC i take AF as the day it actually arrives. Confused? Im not surprised hun

CD 1

SEPT 15TH (2007) - 27 DAYS
OCT 13TH - 28 DAYS
NOV 11TH - 29 DAYS
DEC 13TH - 32 DAYS
JAN 10TH (2008) - 28 DAYS
FEB 8TH - 29 DAYS
MAR 9TH - 28 DAYS
APR 12TH - 34 DAYS
MAY 11TH - 29 DAYS

 

[Kittykins]

Are you already on FF then? can you do a link to your chart? I saw you had the fertility friend homepage url in your sig, but nothing to a personal homepage.


OK, your cycles make MUCH more sense now - they're not exactly 29 days. You're quite similar to me, in that I know which week to expect AF (most of the time) but rarely exactly which day until I've ovulated. I'm usually around 31-33 days. Regular enough to be normal, but definitely not clockwork!


Well, I just had a quick look at the calendar and dates, and I think you may be a day out on your calculations - and you made a typo for April, making you out by 11 days! I have a feeling you're not including CD1 in your cycle length (easy mistake to make, if you're adding up, your starting point is usually 0, not 1!). Not that it makes much difference, it means your cycles are usuallly 29/30 days, not 28/29. Unless I have misunderstood your post, of course. I'm also not sure whether your cycle length indicates the cycle finishing on that day or starting on that day.

Anyway, I have put all your info together, and based on the cycle days of oculation you gave before, and the AF dates in that last post, the list below shows luteal phase length, with my additions in blue (you should be able to check if youhave your ov dates. If they don't match up with what I've calculated, there may be a mistake in the cycle days or cycle start dates). Obviously I couldn't do 2007. Now, what looks to me to be really odd is the March/April cycle. This is the one that you may have down as being either 28 or 24 days - but the dates you've given actually add up to 34 days. Also, if the ovulation data is correct, you had a luteal phase of 22 days that cycle. There are three explanations:

1) I'm not working off the same data as you (in that I'm matching the ovulation dates to the wrong cycles)

2) the ovulation date is wrong

or

3) You got pg and had an early m/c that month.


If (3) is the correct explanation, it could explain a lot. I had an early m/c (chemical pg) last November, and it totally screwed up my cycles - not the one immediately after, but the one after that. The CBEFM never detected a Peak, even though I'd been using it for 4 or 5 months by then, and I had a very odd period. However, the temps showed I didn't actually ovulate - it was an annovulatory cycle that ran into the next one.

What do you think? If I've misunderstood the data you've provided, feel free to copy and paste, editing it with corrections, and I'll take another look.








SEPT 15TH (2007) - 27 DAYS
OCT 13TH - 28 DAYS
NOV 11TH - 29 DAYS
DEC 13TH - 32 DAYS

(2008)
JAN 10TH - 28 DAYS OV CD15 (Jan 24) AF CD30 - 14 day LP
FEB 8TH - 29 DAYS OV CD17 (Feb 24) AF CD31 - 13 day LP
MAR 9TH - 28 DAYS OV CD12 (Mar 20) AF CD35 - 22 day LP
APR 12TH - 24 DAYS OV CD12 (Apr 23) AF CD30 - 17 day LP
MAY 11TH - 29 DAYS -

 

[xxsammyxx]

Hi, yes your right it is 34 days for April. The dates I have put down are the last day of my periods and no i didnt include the first day of AF I just took the dates of the periods from CD 1 to the last day (before i bled) so yes they would all need to have 1 day added on. These are all the exact dates of my periods though and ovulation as far as the monitor has told me. When i previously mentioned in this thread the cycle day of OV, i did mean when the monitor showed a PEAK so i presume I ovuled sometime 12 - 36 hours after that. Im not very good at this am i? Sorry

 

[Kittykins]

you're right about the 24-36 hours thing - but it's after the first Peak. So that means that usually (not necessarily) the second Peak day is Ov day.

I said before that I temp too, and you see the temp rise the day after ovulation - every month that I have used the CBEFM, I have had Peak day 1, then Peak day 2, then a temp rise on day 3, confirming I ov'ed on Peak day 2. Except this month - I had a temp rise on day 4 - which I guess proves the rule. So I have assumed you ov'ed on the second Peak day. Well, I guess if you're happy I've used the same data, and that the ovulation date is correct, then it leaves you with (3), a probable luteal phase of 22 days in April, which almost certainly means you had a chemical pregnancy (there are other possible reasons, not least that sometimes the body gears up for ov, you get an LH surge, but no egg, then a few days later it does it again... Also, without temping, you can't confirm that you definitely ov'ed at that point) but given it's so abnormal for you, they seem less likely). Did you test at all that month? Anyway, it can take up to 3 months for the hormones to settle down again, so I guess keep using the CBEFM, if you don't mind the expense, or OPKs. But if this is the case for you, it could be a little while - I think I finally ov'ed around CD40-something. TBH, that blip kind of throws everything out and makes it impossible to guess what the situation is. But 22-day luteal phases are not generally considered normal.

Unfortunately you have very little info really, so it's a case of suck it and see... so to speak. But if you're not pg this cycle, you may want to consider temping - at least then you'd know if you definitely ovulated.

 

[xxsammyxx]

Hi Kitty, what exactly is a chemical pregnancy? I would have tested, i test every month and it was BFN as usual! I took a PG test and OV test early this evening with ebat cheapies and there was a definate faint line again on the Ov test although I would not say this was any stronger than yesterdays. The PG test brought up a faint line as well but fainter than the OV test although I could see it and even called OH and he could as well but whether it was an evap or not, i dont know. The line is still there on the OV test but the PG test line is not visable under artificial light now so i presume it was an evap. I think all in all this month has been a disaster! I would put on a link to FF but i dont know how! Thanks ever so much for all your help girls. I guess i will just have to wait and see!

 

[Kittykins]

Hmmmmm

well, if it passed the DH test, there was definitely a line. As I'm sure you know, you should test with FMU... so I assume by the time you read this, you'll have tested again!

"A chemical pregnancy is the term given to a pregnancy that ends very early in the first trimester. Chemical pregnancies are confirmed by testing for hCG, the hormones that indicate the presence of a pregnancy. These hormones are typically detected by a urine or blood pregnancy test. [...]

It is believed that chemical pregnancies occur when the fetus dies immediately after conception. This happens before the embryo has a chance to implant in your uterus where it can grow and develop."



Personally I don't trust ebay cheapies - I've managed to get a faint line on an HPT on CD4! It might be worth buying a FRER or ClearBlue and using that with FMU tomorrow or Friday? If the OPK line isn't getting any stronger, then I don't have a clue, I'm afraid. My internet OPKs always come up with a faint second line, no matter what time of the month, but it's obvious when the line becomes darker.

How frustrating for you!

you can find the FF link by going to your page on FF, then click on 'sharing' then 'homepage setup'. At the top of the homepage setup page you will see a box containing a URL. You can change the name at the end if you want to, and haven't already (I changed mine as you can see) - make sure you save it before copying. Otherwise copy and paste it into your sig file on here.

 

[xxsammyxx]

Morning Kitty...! Yeah, i agree with the "OH test" my OH would definately NOT say he could see it if he couldnt and it was there but if i look back on the test i cant see it now so it was probably an evap. I dont trust ebay cheapies either. I have two new predictor tests here (i would have prefered digital ones but OH went abroad and this was all the airport had!) as we dont have clearblue digital tests in Spain I'm going to do another ebay cheapie today and an OV test just to see if anything has changed. MMC says im due AF on 9th June, would you say this is correct? Of course I suppose nothing is 100% since we dont know when i ovulated or what the hell is happening. I wont disallusion myself into thinking either way, all I can do is keep testing and if its neg then i hope next month is back to normal... sigh, yes its really frustrating. Ill let you know shortly the latest... thanks again Kittykins