OPK's : tips and tricks?

[patienceiav]

Hello lovely ladies

I'm kicking cycle #2 off with my plan to use OPK's along with my temping and i don't know much about it, I wondered if anyone has general advice on when/how to use them, their favourite tips etc?

I think so far I've read you're meant to start around cd10? And test each day until the line is really dark? Is it then you need to DTD asap, how long would you have? I'm a little mistrusting in my temp after last month plus it'll only be a hint if the temp drops around the right day etc.

Any experience welcome! ^_^

 

[Electricat]

I can at least give you a tip that I have discovered, it might be different for you though - just try different things.

You're generally told to test in the afternoon as to let the LH build up in the urine, then maybe test twice a day to catch your surge.
I did that a few cycles and didnt always get a pos opk.
Now I test with fmu and I catch it every time.

So definately test a lot in the beginning to learn when your body surges.

Good luck

 

[lillypad123]

Hi there
Im using opks too and have a great friend who has been using them for all 3 preggies and this is what i have learned, yes use opks from cd10 once on 2nd pee of morning and then again about 7pm. Ypu will see the line get darker each day. The line needs to be as dark or darker then the control then you have about 12-24 hours, but thats if you want to try for a boy. if it dosent matter what you concieve then go for it 24-36 hours before o, as well as on the day for good measure. Hope this helps and good luck to you, im starting to use opks on my cd10 .

 

[patienceiav]

Lovely thankyou! so in reality I have a day or 2 before O? My and OH schedules basically cancel out any BD this month so I might have a tiny tiny widow to give it a shot! So the tests actually work later in the day? Not like a pregnancy test that needs morning pee?

 

[Electricat]

Lovely thankyou! so in reality I have a day or 2 before O? My and OH schedules basically cancel out any BD this month so I might have a tiny tiny widow to give it a shot! So the tests actually work later in the day? Not like a pregnancy test that needs morning pee?

don't know if you read my answer, but it's individual and you learn how your body works by trying both.

 

[patienceiav]

Hehe I did ^_^ was just thinking that the swimmers usually survive a couple of days so despite when my O is if I get to squeeze in some BD before the OPK's hit dark then I can have a moment of hope this month will be fun to test, I think morning and evening is a good start, thanks ^_^

 

[MrsWKJ]

Tested once a day with sm, worked for me. I also used CB digital it gave me a peace of mind since the lines were driving me crazy. GL for your second cycle dear x

 

[Abii]

Yes start testing cd9 or 10 never use fmu, test around afternoon or evening, your gonna want to test anywhere from 2-3 times a day when you get around cd12 until you get your positive and bd every other day from when you start your opks
Goodluck

 

[Abii]

I use digital also

 

[patienceiav]

Thanks for the advice everyone ^_^ So the fmu will be inaccurate because the hormones are extra strong? Starting to understand it now, looking forward to trying it out soon thankyou

 

[chelsealynnb]

Thanks for the advice everyone ^_^ So the fmu will be inaccurate because the hormones are extra strong? Starting to understand it now, looking forward to trying it out soon thankyou

Not necessarily. Everybody is different, but this is what works for me: I start taking them cycle day 10, once in the afternoon. Once I hit CD12, I start taking them twice per day. One mid morning and another in the evening. My trick is I line them up and tape them to a paper to follow the darkness of the lines. Once I start seeing the lines getting darker, I take them three times a day and I can usually catch my surge within hours. I'll attach a pic to show you.

 

[chelsealynnb]

(I took some of those really early in the morning though because of my work schedule. But it still works for me.) Your most fertile days are the two days leading up to O. So you need to start BD when you see that line starting to darken faster, because you'll probably get your surge the following day. And ovulation happens between 12-24 hours after you are able to get that first + ovulation strip. Some people will have positive tests for a few days in a row. Don't worry about that. It's when the test becomes positive that matters, not when it becomes negative.

 

[Krissykat1006]

Thanks for the advice everyone ^_^ So the fmu will be inaccurate because the hormones are extra strong? Starting to understand it now, looking forward to trying it out soon thankyou

Not necessarily. Everybody is different, but this is what works for me: I start taking them cycle day 10, once in the afternoon. Once I hit CD12, I start taking them twice per day. One mid morning and another in the evening. My trick is I line them up and tape them to a paper to follow the darkness of the lines. Once I start seeing the lines getting darker, I take them three times a day and I can usually catch my surge within hours. I'll attach a pic to show you.

That's a really good idea...I took one this morning and it was a light line then this evening it was much darker, so I think I will do 3 from now on till O.

 

[patienceiav]

Holy mother of lines on that last one Chelsea ;D it practically jumped up and hit you shouting "go home and DTD!" so they don't get affected by evap like pregnancy tests? I'll definitely keep track like that thanks! So as soon as the line gets properly darker I'll have my O within a day - generally speaking since I won't know till I've got some previous months to go off

 

[MrsWKJ]

No dear I've used fmu and smu never had a false positive. But I prefer smu cuz I drink water before sleeping so its abit dilute and smu is concentrated. Days I don't drink water before sleeping I test with fmu.

 

[ange822]

I have a question about doing this Chelsea - when you compare like this what if they turn darker after the 5 minutes? Does it still count as getting darker ? It's still negative but within the 5 min window it looked the same as Mondays but after 7 mins it was a lot darker. Wish I knew to save Mondays strip. I'm going to start comparing now.

 

[Abii]

after the time frame, any darkening of test is innacurate