need an intro to OPKs

[atomic sagebrush]

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...??

All the pos OPKs are detecting is the presence of hormone in your body. Not what your ovary is actually doing. So if you still had the hormone floating around in there after the egg had been release, you could still get a pos OPK even if the egg was practically on its way out the door or had been out for a little while (because the hormones take at least some time to go away). So when you wait 24 hours after a pos OPK (esp. on the second day of a positive), you might have Oed as long as a day prior already!! That also puts you at much greater risk of an O+12. For Shettles timing, it's much better to have the sperm there before the egg is released than afterwards. Usu. the day before O is considered boy timing.

[atomic sagebrush]

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.

You can BOTH have a neg. opk and be ovulating (or about to) or also have a pos. OPK and be ovulating or about to. A pos. OPK tells you nothing about what is actually going on, other than the presence of luteinizing hormone in your body. LH doesn't just shut off like a light switch 10 minutes before the egg is releasesd, it takes time to clear your body.

That's why you (for Shettles blue timing) need to go off of the FIRST positive OPK rather than waiting for a negative OPK, because by the time you have a neg. OPK it can be too late. And it's also why pink swayers shouldn't rely on a neg. OPK for pinpointing O+12 timing, because you can ALSO get a negative OPK and not have Oed yet. It's all about the level of LH in your system and what the OPK even picks up on, which can vary.

[atomic sagebrush]

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!

Those are both really good points Zana - when practicing with OPKs you very well MAY want to take them for several days to see how your body works and get a feel for it.

But, even if you do that, with swaying, there's no way of knowing if the same thing will happen next month or not!!

I also agree about the OPKs and when I say it's easier, I'm talking about for people who are trying to do strict timing. To my mind, it's easier in terms of getting pregnant, to DTD the night of a pos OPK and the next night and even the day after that. But people who are trying to DTD once right at O or just before will prob. not want to do that, even if it means they may not get pg the first month of trying.

[Hobbermittens]

I get the Wondfo cheap tests from Amazon. They work great. I usually test starting on day 11, 2x a day until I get a positive, and then I start testing 3x a day until I get a neg. It has helped me figure out my O day. This cycle, I started testing on CD11 and got a positive--which was really early for me! Glad I was testing though, or I may have completely missed O day (CD12). Not that I was doing my attempt this month, but it has shown me that next month I need to start testing earlier!

I typically get 2 days of positives. I plan on dtd the first positive day, and possibly the following morning.

[atomic sagebrush]

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? ;-)

The fade ins can indicate when you're gearing up to O, but the problem is that not everyone gets fade ins and they don't seem to be the same from month to month. LH in small amounts is always there and will be detected (the light line) even if your HUSBAND POAS!!! And so it's only when it's as dark as or darker than the control line that it indicates ovulation (and the Clearblue is designed to pick up on that better than your eye can see).

I assume they tell people not to read the lines simply because it's confusing and doesn't count for ovulation until the Clearblue says it does, so they don't want people seeing a kinda dark line and thinking "ovulation" when the test isn't even positive yet.

[zanacal]

I also agree about the OPKs and when I say it's easier, I'm talking about for people who are trying to do strict timing. To my mind, it's easier in terms of getting pregnant, to DTD the night of a pos OPK and the next night and even the day after that. But people who are trying to DTD once right at O or just before will prob. not want to do that, even if it means they may not get pg the first month of trying.

I'm with you - the first option definitely sounds easier but I understand

[TTC5]

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.

Quick question... Last attempt I tested late at night at like 9pm and was a clear neg using smiley opks and then I tested 2 hrs later at 11pm. We DTD at arounde 1/2am that same evening. IF I had not of tested at 11pm i would have missed my surge, is that right? Or would it have been better to have just waited till the following day to find a +smiley opk and DTD THAT night instead???

[LolaInLove]

I get the Wondfo cheap tests from Amazon. They work great. I usually test starting on day 11, 2x a day until I get a positive, and then I start testing 3x a day until I get a neg. It has helped me figure out my O day. This cycle, I started testing on CD11 and got a positive--which was really early for me! Glad I was testing though, or I may have completely missed O day (CD12). Not that I was doing my attempt this month, but it has shown me that next month I need to start testing earlier!


I typically get 2 days of positives. I plan on dtd the first positive day, and possibly the following morning.

This is me also, exactly. Wondfos, 2x a day (at 1pm and again at 8pm) and test through till negative. You get 40 in the Wondfo pack (plus 10 hpts, all for $9) so I don't care about using a ton. I also get 2 days of + and I will O about 24 hours after the first + is picked up. If my 1pm test is ALMOST positive, I will do another at 4pm and it usually is way +. Then I O at about 4-5pm the next day, I can feel it.

[LolaInLove]

Quick question... Last attempt I tested late at night at like 9pm and was a clear neg using smiley opks and then I tested 2 hrs later at 11pm. We DTD at arounde 1/2am that same evening. IF I had not of tested at 11pm i would have missed my surge, is that right? Or would it have been better to have just waited till the following day to find a +smiley opk and DTD THAT night instead???

Well, that's why I use a bunch of them, I like to know exactly when I get the surge, give or take a few hours. I think you would have been fine to wait till the next day, though, as long as you dtd that night, or even waited till the next night, like Atomic was saying about the Shettles timing.

[gizmo77]

well i got a smiley (+OPK) yesterday at 1pm and didnt test again. that was cd16, and that night i felt the familiar O pressure/pain. ive never O'd on cd16 before (since charting from feb 2011). and same pressure felt today (cd17). when i tested cd15 with FMU, it was negative (and didnt test again till cd16 1pm). does this mean FMU just really doesnt detect lh surge and that i MAY have gotten +opk had i test later in the day of cd15?