in the interests of research... pics of OPKs!

[Kittykins]

One of the more frequent posts on here is "is this OPK positive?" Several women say they never get a +, and others think they may not have ov'ed. So I thought I'd post some of my pics on here, which demonstrate that some women (like me!) need to POAS more than once a day to catch that surge...

I normally POAS between 2pm and 3pm from CD7 - the instructions suggest early afternoon. This is the set of OPKs from that time of day, from CD12 (first faint line) to today, CD20 (CD18 was Sunday, and was done at 12noon as I spent the afternoon travelling):

You can see a faint line on most of the sticks, but it doesn't look like I've ov'ed yet. If I only POAS'ed at 2pm each day, I would not have got a +OPK at all.

From the first day I get a faint line, I POAS at least twice a day. This shows the same OPKs before, plus the interesting ones:

So on CD18, there was a faint line at 12noon, slightly stronger but still faint at 5pm, then + 10pm, and at 9am and (slightly fainter) 12noon on CD19. By 2pm on CD19, the line had faded completely.

For anyone who uses a CBEFM, or is thinking of using one, here are the peesticks from that, from the first High day:

The oestrogen line is on the left and the LH line is on the right. The oestrogen line fades as oestrogen surges, whilst the LH line gets darker as LH surges - so the monitor shows High as oestrogen starts to surge (before LH), then Peak when both the oestrogen and LH surge.

Both the OPKs and the CBEFM suggest I'm ovulating today - I guess I'll confirm that with my temps over the next three days!

Anyway, I hope this helps someone using OPKs for the first time, or wondering why they never get a +. For the first couple of cycles I used OPKs, I POAS'ed just once a day, at 11am, and never got a +. I've obviously got a short sharp surge, and for me, that surge tends to start mid-afternoon, not early morning.

Happy peeing!

 

[sally12]

Love it, love it, love it!!!!

I bow down to your POAS addiction!

On a more serious note, it is v interesting! I always used to get a + on the more expensive OPKs but since my husband bought me enough v cheap OPKs to last at least 10 years I have not got a + one yet...will now def POAS twice a day (probably every day!)

Thanks Kitty

 

[Kittykins]

I prefer the term 'dedication' to 'addiction'


On a more serious note, you don't get any choice about when to POAS on a CBEFM - it tells you when it wants feeding with a stick, and it keeps asking every day till you get a Peak! I had one cycle when I ovulated early, before the monitor had asked me for the first stick, and as a result the monitor was useless that cycle. Fortunately I had my OPKs as back-up

 

[Petra]

That's brilliant post. Thanks hun

 

[Loola]

Brilliant Kitty!! I thought my window sill of OPKs was impressive but that pissed on them! Quite literally

It is really interesting and helpful though Kitty, thank you

 

[Kittykins]

It does look a bit extreme But my cycles are really irregular - over the past eight cycles, ovulation day has ranged from CD7 to CD24 and the overall cycle length has varied from 18 days to 35, so I have to start POASing early and if I didn't use OPKs/CBEFM (recommended by my GP) I wouldn't have a clue when to BD! There is method behind my madness...


Anyway, DH is now relieved that having taken a photo, I can throw away the sticks!