LE Standard or PCOS?

[onelittlewish]

Interesting to know! Temp spiked this morning by 0.4c so I guess O happened on time and now into the tww!

Wishing you a jolly Christmas and may your heart and home be filled with all the joy this festive season brings!

[atomic sagebrush]

Thank you so very much!! I wish you all the same, and a wonderful 2022!!

[onelittlewish]

Hi Atomic...need your insights please because I am driving myself crazy! As you may have read from my other post, I got a ghost line 10dpo, then neg HPT 11-13dpo. Temp also dropping slightly day by day but still 0.2c above coverline but with the trend and neg tests I think my period should show up soon today or tomorrow.

What confuses me is that I used OPK from 11dpo after I got a neg hpt because I know sometimes they can pick up hcg when it’s too low to be detected by HPT and surprise surprise I got almost as dark 11-12dpo and as dark today on 13dpo. It doesn’t make sense to me that the positive is from hcg because last time with DS2 when I got pos opk my hpt tests were quite dark and yet today I only got stark white neg. Then I started wondering if I actually ovulated? Or is it from another surge before period? I know only time will tell but I can’t stop wondering what is going on

Here is my chart and my pos OPK from today

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[atomic sagebrush]

First off, you have it backwards with the OPK. They CANNOT detect HCG prior to a pregnancy test and anyone saying they do is spreading misinformation. While OPK can detect a pregnancy, it is only after an actual pregnancy test would have given you a positive. There is NO POINT to using OPK for a pregnancy test unless you have missed a period already and are out of pregnancy tests. Pregnancy tests are the only thing to use during the 2WW because OPK are not reliable.

The reason why OPK are not reliable during this time is because it is very common to get a false positive OPK around the secondary estrogen surge (6-8 DPO) and also a false positive just prior to AF coming. and even more common than a false positive is a very dark test that doesn't go fully pos at this time. So all you've done is detected that rise in hormones that occurs just before AF arrives and have gotten upset over something that was based in bad information.

Or, think of it this way - if OPK worked better than pregnancy tests, what would the point of pregnancy tests even be? Wouldn't they just sell one test for both functions? But they don't, because it does not work to do that, and whoever told you otherwise was sadly mistaken.

If your pregnancy test is negative the odds are all but 100% that you aren't pregnant, unless you ovulated later than you thought you did. Looking at your chart, it does seem possible to me that you ovulated later because we still see a bit of lower temps and then a much bigger and more consistent rise later.

I will say this, though, looking at your chart (and forgive me if we've already talked about this but it's important) you need to continue with BD after you think you've ovulated. I'm assuming where you have marked "PM" is where you had sex (and not the # mark??) but if so, you went a long time without having an attempt. If ovulation took place later you were not covered for a full week with no attempts. One of the main reasons we do e4d is to guard against delayed O, and it doesn't work if you stop having attempts.

Now, it may be something happened, hubby had to leave for work or something like that, I will go back and reread this thread, but I just wanted to mention that before I did as that jumps out to me - both the delayed rise and the lack of attempts.

[atomic sagebrush]

I'm assuming that the lack of attempts the week after O was due to the disruption in your vaginal flora this month, but in future if at all possible I would continue with attempts after O.

[onelittlewish]

Temp dropped and got my period this morning. 13 days LP just a day longer than my usual LP so my O can’t be later than a day or two? And I thought my last attempt would have covered that but I might be wrong.

Yes we couldn’t have attempts post O for the last three cycles because every month a day or two after O my bartholin gland swell up. It is partially blocked but my doc says surgery is not needed as long as it can shrink on its own. That’s why we couldn’t have sex for a long time because it usually goes away entirely only right before my period arrives. This time we tried having sex when it didn’t pain but still there i started to bleed. So I don’t know what to do about that too…

My weight is steady I have gained abit over the holidays. We were travelling so I was off diet for about a week. I will take a break from clomid and do e4d and try to continue post o. I am just upset and defeated and I think ive tried my best but I just don’t know what else can i do or not do anymore.

[onelittlewish]

Yea I understand now, pregnancy can cause positive OPK but positive OPK doesn't always mean pregnancy. I only had 1 experience with my last son when I got the ghost line at 8DPO (too early i know...) and took an OPK to see if that was really a line or was i hallucinating and got an pos opk. This time I used it for the same reason and was happy that I saw a positive too with the ghost line. Then when I got neg preg test I thought maybe the level wasn't high enough or the urine was too diluted. Then after a few days of neg tests I knew I was out but just clutching at straws. Temp dropped further this morning and period came right on time.

We couldn't continue BD post O (for the past 3 months when I was doing e4d and e4d+1) because my bartholin gland always flare up a day or two post ovulation. The lump makes it uncomfortable while walking and sitting and very painful to have sex. My doctor said it's partially blocked but surgery is not needed as long as the cyst can shrink on its own. With that being said, if it recurs every month after O there is no way for me to guard against later ovulation. This cycle my LP is 13 days so just a day longer than my normal 12 days LP, does it mean even if I ovulated later it can't be more than a day or two, and my last attempt should have covered that? I might be wrong.

So this is my 5th month attempting and 6 full months on diet. We were travelling in the last week and I was entirely off diet, only tried to eat less meat but eating normally otherwise. I gained about half kilo so now my bmi is at a healthier range 18.5-18.7. I will continue to do e4d and try to keep the attempt longer. Coffee & alcohol & exercise. I will take a break from Clomid as well. Can Clomid reduce my chance of conceiving in anyway? What else should I do/not do?

[atomic sagebrush]

Yes since your period arrived on time then it's more likely you Oed when you thought.

Oh gosh yes that is a complication, but the good news is since you did ovulate when you thought it doesn't matter anyway. It just wasn't the month unfortunately. If you wanted we could talk about doing "turkey baster method" in the 2WW in an e4d pattern.

I get that you understand, just to stave off any confusion for anyone else who still thinks that can work, the positive OPK with your son wasn't caused by pregnancy, it was just from hormones rising 6-8 DPO. You can't get a legit pregnancy-caused positive OPK usually till 14 DPO at the soonest.

What we can do is go to e4d plus one more attempt at positive OPK if you're ready to do that. I don't want you causing yourself injury having attempts past when you are able so we'll just give that a try.

Clomid can cause lowered odds of conception over time but as long as you take a month off the effects are mitigated.

[onelittlewish]

Yea...it's no biggie but just really annoying and unfortunately I think it might be hormonal since it kept recurring at the same time in my cycle. Fortunately, judging from my LP I think I ovulated pretty much on time after pos OPK.

Can you tell me more about the turkey baster method? It is at home artificial insemination right?

Last month my hubby only cycled 2x but they were right before our attempts in my fertile window. Do you thing that could lower the sperm count too much? Should I stop him from cycling entirely or at least not right before our attempts? Should we do that before adding in attempts?

I will definitely not use OPK during the TWW now knowing for sure that I can get positive preg or not...and I will try to test only after missed period. I still couldn't believe that I got ghost lines two times in a row. Seeing a line then gone was much more heartbreaking than seeing stark white negatives

[atomic sagebrush]

I have an article about the turkey baster method here (and ignore the warnings, I was trying to stop people from using it as a sway tactic, not for general conception. It can be a good technique if people have some physical barrier that prevents conception)

https://www.genderdreaming.com/forum...+baster+method

I ~doubt~ that cycling twice did any real harm. If you can get him to skip it, that's fine, but many times men just need to do their "stuff" in order to keep going with swaying and TTC.

Regardless, I think it's time for you to add an attempt. I feel the frustration coming through, and to my way of thinking that means it's time to make some adjustments to boost chances of conception. You don't HAVE to, but it's just what I would do on your behalf at this point.