EllieBelle
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I always keep an eye on the TTC forum, as its where my journey began.....recently there seems to be a lot of questions regarding OPK's (Ovulation Prediction Kits), so wanted to post my experience of them, hoping it may help others (Im also hoping other people will post their positive experiences too). Please remember this is just my experience though, and others may have totally different views on what worked for them:
I was lucky and got my BFP 2nd cycle off the pill (I was on the pill for 18 years) - but more importnantly it was also my first month using OPK's, so am a firm believe that they do work.
I purchased the cheapie ebay ones, and bought a pack of 30 so I had plenty (they are only a few pounds for a bumper pack
). I used fertilityplan on ebay (and also used them for HPT's).
As it was only my 2nd cycle off the pill my AF was obviously irregular, and I had no idea when I would ovulate. I started using the OPK's on CD 8 (about 4 days after AF finished), and used them religiously twice a day - around 2pm and then before bedtime.
When first testing there was no line at all, by CD 10 there was a light line - on CD 11, I again used them twice - at 2pm the line was the same as the previous days and very faint, however when I tested before bedtime the line was much darker, but still not as dark as the control line regardless of the colour I took this as a positive.
The next morning I woke up with pain in my left ovary and had a bad upset stomach - I then knew I was ovulating (a week earlier than the previous month), I tested again that afternoon and the line was completely gone.......if I hadnt have been testing twice a day I would have missed the line altogether, as got my surge and ovulated within 12 hours of each other!
We BD'ed the day of ovulation......hadnt bothered before as wasnt expecting to ovulate so early! 9dpo I got my BFP
So in my opinion (and its only my opinion):
Its best to test twice a day - early afternoon and last thing at night (never test in the morning as this can give you false positives).
The test line can be lighter than the control line, despite what the instructions tell you (I took the darkest line I had ever had as a positive, and trusted my intuition).
Buy a large pack of tests and start testing early in your cycle - especially if your cycles are irregular.
I hope this helps a little, and am hoping some others will post their experiences too!
I was lucky and got my BFP 2nd cycle off the pill (I was on the pill for 18 years) - but more importnantly it was also my first month using OPK's, so am a firm believe that they do work.
I purchased the cheapie ebay ones, and bought a pack of 30 so I had plenty (they are only a few pounds for a bumper pack
). I used fertilityplan on ebay (and also used them for HPT's).As it was only my 2nd cycle off the pill my AF was obviously irregular, and I had no idea when I would ovulate. I started using the OPK's on CD 8 (about 4 days after AF finished), and used them religiously twice a day - around 2pm and then before bedtime.
When first testing there was no line at all, by CD 10 there was a light line - on CD 11, I again used them twice - at 2pm the line was the same as the previous days and very faint, however when I tested before bedtime the line was much darker, but still not as dark as the control line regardless of the colour I took this as a positive.
The next morning I woke up with pain in my left ovary and had a bad upset stomach - I then knew I was ovulating (a week earlier than the previous month), I tested again that afternoon and the line was completely gone.......if I hadnt have been testing twice a day I would have missed the line altogether, as got my surge and ovulated within 12 hours of each other!
We BD'ed the day of ovulation......hadnt bothered before as wasnt expecting to ovulate so early! 9dpo I got my BFP
So in my opinion (and its only my opinion):
Its best to test twice a day - early afternoon and last thing at night (never test in the morning as this can give you false positives).
The test line can be lighter than the control line, despite what the instructions tell you (I took the darkest line I had ever had as a positive, and trusted my intuition).
Buy a large pack of tests and start testing early in your cycle - especially if your cycles are irregular.
I hope this helps a little, and am hoping some others will post their experiences too!
) before I dipped the stick I checked how dark the sample was, if it was quite light then I wouldn't test and just flushed it away, if it was darker next time I went to the loo then I'd test. For the first time this month I got two strong positives, friday night and saturday afternoon, so I'm gonna do the same again this month.
