need an intro to OPKs

[gizmo77]

ive only tried an opk once in my life and it resulted with "positive" and had no idea what i was doing. that was 2 yrs ago.

i have the clearblue digital and it says to use urine any time of day, but having held it for 4 hrs and not drinking much liquid.

i read countless times on here and other sites that mid day is the best urine to use, but in order to make it concentrated, should i withhold drinking as much? does it really matter if i use 1st morning urine?

it also says as soon as the display reads that there is an LH surge, there is no need to further test, and to DTD within 48 hrs and that most likely i'd O 24-36hrs later. i thought i read that those of you who use OPKs keep testing until you no longer get a positive for LH then DTD 24hrs later???

my point in trying the OPKs is to try to dtd as close as possible to O and only once. of course i also chart temps, and my cm for about 7 mos now.

cycle is 30-31, O is cd17-18, LP is 13-14days long.

i guess i dont get how long after opk tests positive to dtd??

[zanacal]

I think it depends on the invididual to be honest.

I use a Clearblue digi too (a smiley face is much less ambiguous than a line which may or may not be darker than another line!) and I take the test when I get home from work, which is mid-afternoon. I usually get a + 2 days in a row and I O on the second day. This past month when we had our attempt I got a + 1 day, we DTD the following morning and I got a - the next day so I suspect we DTD almost exactly as I was ovulating (though obviously we're ttc pink!).

If you waited until 24 hours after you no longer had a + your egg would have died I think.

Do you have another month before your attempt? I would use the OPKs alongside your temping and you'll know when you O'd because your temp will rise and you'll then be able to relate that back to what the OPKs were telling you and how much warning they gave you!

[gizmo77]

im not attempting till oct. so thats why i wanted to "test" to see how these things work.
but i thought that youget your LH surge then 1-2 days later you O. vs, you dont O necessarily on the same day that you get a positive opk...??

[zanacal]

That's right around a day or two after your first +OPK, but then you'll likely continue to get +OPKs (if you keep taking them) and you'll only get a negative after you've ovulated. So in my case, I would usually ovulate (I think!) on the day of my second +OPK.

[gizmo77]

okay, gotchya. so with some ppl, you can get a +OPK and that MAY mean that you are currently ovulating (or of course ABOUT to also). i thought that you get your lh surge/+OPK, then at LEAST 1 day later, you O (i didnt know that you could get a +OPK and be O'ing at that moment). i assumed by the time you O, the LH surge has decreased as it has done its job and the egg is on its way out. and that you could get a -OPK (after having had a couple +opks) and be O'ing at the time of that -opk.

huh?

sorry. i confuse myself and OTHERS.

[gizmo77]

also when i eject the test stick from the clearblue digi, there is one dark line (control line im assuming and then another line that is faded.is thatw hat you guys call the "fade-in." or "fade-out?"
how can you tell teh differnce of fade in, fade out (or am i just making up words here).

if the i am in the days leading up to O, and the 2nd line is faded, does that mean that there is slight LH detected and i may be on my way to a +opk?

the instructions command EXPLICITLY "NOT TO READ THESE LINES!!!!"like 50 times over and over. so now im curious, obviously, whats the big secret? ;-)

[gizmo77]

That's right around a day or two after your first +OPK, but then you'll likely continue to get +OPKs (if you keep taking them) and you'll only get a negative after you've ovulated. So in my case, I would usually ovulate (I think!) on the day of my second +OPK.

now the instrcutions say, once you get a +opk there is no need to take another test and to just BD within the 48hrs.
so you guys continue taking them just to make sure you keep getting +OPKS to make sure to pinpoint O right?

also how often do you guys take the OPKS? (every 12 hrs?)
and finally, SORRY!!! whats wrong with taking OPKS with FMU (first morning urine)/why is it better to use midday urine?

[atomic sagebrush]

There is already so much awesome info out there on OPK, I just made this thread and posted links rather than rewrite it.

http://genderdreaming.com/forum/show...rted-with-OPKs

1) I think it really does matter what time of day you test. Midday urine is def. most reliable. I would just try and hold it for as long as I could and not worry about the 4 hours exactly.

2)For people who are really concerned with timing, they might want to keep testing but I honestly think people should just quit testing when they get a positive.

3)Personally I think you should just DTD the next night after a pos OPK if you're trying for Shettles timing. If you wait until you no longer have a pos and then DTD 24 hours later, that seems to me that you could totally miss the egg doing that (or hitting O+12 timing!!)

[atomic sagebrush]

now the instrcutions say, once you get a +opk there is no need to take another test and to just BD within the 48hrs.
so you guys continue taking them just to make sure you keep getting +OPKS to make sure to pinpoint O right?

also how often do you guys take the OPKS? (every 12 hrs?)
and finally, SORRY!!! whats wrong with taking OPKS with FMU (first morning urine)/why is it better to use midday urine?

I just think it's easier to BD the next night after the pos OPK. So get the positive OPK in the afternoon of day 1, DON'T BD that night (if you're trying for Shettles boy timing, that is) but you can try and have a female O that night! Then BD the night of day 2.

It's better to use midday urine because your body doesn't put the surge hormones into your pee until later on in the day. You will end up with false negative tests (you'll be Oing but getting negative OPKs.) and you can end up missing your ovulation all together.

[zanacal]

I just think it's easier to BD the next night after the pos OPK. So get the positive OPK in the afternoon of day 1, DON'T BD that night (if you're trying for Shettles boy timing, that is) but you can try and have a female O that night! Then BD the night of day 2.

I think if you're only using an OPK once a day you have to be careful with that. Usually I would have 2 days of +OPKs and O on the second day but this month I only had 1 and if we'd waited until the following evening I would probably have even missed an O+12!

Obviously using them for a trial cycle or two helps to understand how the OPKs work for us individually but we're changing so much of how 'we' work with the diets and supplements that I don't think even that can be relied on!