PCOS Club!

[lolageorgia]

Hey guys, I have a question to those of you who use OPK a lot On cycles when you know you've ovulated (temps confirming), with Clomid or on your own, do you get second test line on OPK AFTER ovulating? I hear it's supposed to be pretty much non-existent past ovulation for girls without PCOS, because LH is supposed to drop under influence of progesterone and stay put until next cycle. But what about us?

Also, once ovulated, do the cysts shrink for the duration of luteal phase or are they still there just the same?

speking from my own experience, my OPKs dont saty positive for long, ie under 12 hours and so I need to catch it quick! Some people I know get +ve OPK's for 3-4 days, dont know if it is to do with PCOS or not. Im pretty sure some people just ave shoort surges, though whether this affects when you O or follie size or what, Im not sure

 

[lolageorgia]

Clobo, my doubt is not exactly that I know it can take a few days for LH to clear off after initial surge, but say you're supposed 10dpo and know for sure you're out with pregnancy (were preventing), should your baseline LH stay elevated because of PCOS or should it go down a lot, because of progesterone?

QUOTE]

I think that PCO suffers can have higher than average levels of LH anyway, and also we can have false surges, trying to make our follies pop! This is why OPK tests are not that helpful for PCOS suffers if yu fall into that category. I have tested at times when I know Im not ovulating and they have always been neg, and O got my pos CD13 after Clomid so I was fairly sure it was real. It only lasted around 12 hours though so who knows...I think the only sure fire way to tell if you have O'd is prog blood tests. Regarding the LH levels after O, in theory they should go down again if you are not PG but still may be at a higher level than someone without PCOS if u get what I mean, so you still may get a +ve OPK....They do manufacture less sensitive OPK's for people with PCOS however I have never tried them and dont know how reliable they are .......
confusing!!

oxox

 

[sunshine1217]

Clobo, my doubt is not exactly that I know it can take a few days for LH to clear off after initial surge, but say you're supposed 10dpo and know for sure you're out with pregnancy (were preventing), should your baseline LH stay elevated because of PCOS or should it go down a lot, because of progesterone?

QUOTE]

I think that PCO suffers can have higher than average levels of LH anyway, and also we can have false surges, trying to make our follies pop! This is why OPK tests are not that helpful for PCOS suffers if yu fall into that category. I have tested at times when I know Im not ovulating and they have always been neg, and O got my pos CD13 after Clomid so I was fairly sure it was real. It only lasted around 12 hours though so who knows...I think the only sure fire way to tell if you have O'd is prog blood tests. Regarding the LH levels after O, in theory they should go down again if you are not PG but still may be at a higher level than someone without PCOS if u get what I mean, so you still may get a +ve OPK....They do manufacture less sensitive OPK's for people with PCOS however I have never tried them and dont know how reliable they are .......
confusing!!

oxox

this is all a bit confusing. both my obgyn and the fs i saw told me to use opk and that they would give me correct results. i use first response. they also both told me that the progerstrone test is not useful for me bc my period is sometimes longer than 30 days. they did say that they think i ovulate each month so to not do the progestrone test b/c it would show a negative if my cycle last longer than 35 days.

also, when i use the opk it gives me a definitely positive for 2 days and the rest of the cycle is up and down, though never quite darker than the control line.

I wish i had more data to go by but I haven't been too knowledgeable until recently.

 

[BabyForMe83]

Hi guys hope you're all well! Just a quick question- for any of you that are on metformin and clomid. Didi your doctor have you try metformin alone first before introducing clomid or did you just start them together? I've started mine together and wondering if metformin will have any influence on me ovulating for this first clomid cycle...

What dose of metformin are you on? I remember when I fist started MF I had horrible side effects for days, and I did with Clomid so hoping you dont feel too ill with them put together! xx

Awww thanks hun. I'm on 1000mg of MF. So far it's not been too bad but I'm only on CD3. Did you find that it worked for you even though you had a horrible time with it?

 

[lolageorgia]

this is all a bit confusing. both my obgyn and the fs i saw told me to use opk and that they would give me correct results. i use first response. they also both told me that the progerstrone test is not useful for me bc my period is sometimes longer than 30 days. they did say that they think i ovulate each month so to not do the progestrone test b/c it would show a negative if my cycle last longer than 35 days.

also, when i use the opk it gives me a definitely positive for 2 days and the rest of the cycle is up and down, though never quite darker than the control line.

I wish i had more data to go by but I haven't been too knowledgeable until recently.

Yes for some PCOS people the OPK's will work. they do for me. Just the advice my doc gave me was that in PCOS some people have elevated/False LH surges which is why you may get false readings. If your OPK's are saying your are ovulating then i would go with them, perhaps confirm with temps and CM for backup.

 

[lolageorgia]

Awww thanks hun. I'm on 1000mg of MF. So far it's not been too bad but I'm only on CD3. Did you find that it worked for you even though you had a horrible time with it?

If you mean BFP then not yet!!! But i definately feel better when I'm on the Metformin. Gave me the most awful stomch upset or the first week but since then been fine! Good Luck hun x

 

[LadyE]

Clobo, my doubt is not exactly that I know it can take a few days for LH to clear off after initial surge, but say you're supposed 10dpo and know for sure you're out with pregnancy (were preventing), should your baseline LH stay elevated because of PCOS or should it go down a lot, because of progesterone?

QUOTE]

I think that PCO suffers can have higher than average levels of LH anyway, and also we can have false surges, trying to make our follies pop! This is why OPK tests are not that helpful for PCOS suffers if yu fall into that category. I have tested at times when I know Im not ovulating and they have always been neg, and O got my pos CD13 after Clomid so I was fairly sure it was real. It only lasted around 12 hours though so who knows...I think the only sure fire way to tell if you have O'd is prog blood tests. Regarding the LH levels after O, in theory they should go down again if you are not PG but still may be at a higher level than someone without PCOS if u get what I mean, so you still may get a +ve OPK....They do manufacture less sensitive OPK's for people with PCOS however I have never tried them and dont know how reliable they are .......
confusing!!

oxox

this is all a bit confusing. both my obgyn and the fs i saw told me to use opk and that they would give me correct results. i use first response. they also both told me that the progerstrone test is not useful for me bc my period is sometimes longer than 30 days. they did say that they think i ovulate each month so to not do the progestrone test b/c it would show a negative if my cycle last longer than 35 days.

also, when i use the opk it gives me a definitely positive for 2 days and the rest of the cycle is up and down, though never quite darker than the control line.

I wish i had more data to go by but I haven't been too knowledgeable until recently.

Last month I took a progestrone test which said I didnt ovulate, after my af was late my doctor then said to rely on the OPK's and temps since my cycles are such a wide range (23-38?) Im now on day 38 and no af, so confusing and frustrating...Im in limbo right now as I wait and see what happens either or the . In my experience the progestrone test just confused me more and made me doubt my body since I literally have to take about 10 of them a month to figure out when I ovulate.

This is all new to me too

 

[MariaF]

Hey Lola - where about in Sussex are you? Im also 5DPO today and am 29!! Talk about coincidences

I used to be on this thread all the time but now there are only new faces - the good news is that most girls who were on this thread a year ago are now pg so there's hope for all of us

 

[lolageorgia]

Hi Maria! Am in brighton, where are you? How weird!!
Am so hoping I wont be in this thread for long if you know what I mean... Ha!

Re the prog tests, I don't have them as my cycles are up the creek and opk seemedto work for me so my doc said to stuck with them, don't know that much about them to be honest! Xx

 

[MariaF]

I'm in HAywards Heath now but we lived in Kemptown for years!

Yeah, I also hope to move to pregnancy-1st trimester soon

 

[lolageorgia]

how funny, I just moved back from haywards heath about 6 months ago!!!
When do you start your IUI? x

 

[LadyE]

Ladies, have any of you tried using those ovulation test strip kits 'deluxe packages' I see online? Are they good? accurate? I'm tired of buying the fancy smancy expensive one's at those major pharmacy places plus I dont think those are helpful for PCOS-ish woman like me.

hope everyone is having a good Monday morning!

 

[Kubb]

... Does anyone else find OPKs confusing? I'm on CD18 of my first cycle of Clomid & my OPKs results have been all over the place really. On CD14 I had a darkish line, then CD15 it went light again, CD16 was even lighter, CD17 was lighter than that and today, CD18 - it's as dark as CD14. Whattt??

 

[sunshine1217]

... Does anyone else find OPKs confusing? I'm on CD18 of my first cycle of Clomid & my OPKs results have been all over the place really. On CD14 I had a darkish line, then CD15 it went light again, CD16 was even lighter, CD17 was lighter than that and today, CD18 - it's as dark as CD14. Whattt??

kubb i've decided that you really have to just use the opks as a binary test. it either is darker or lighter than the control....unless that is, you have a different type of opk. i was driving myself crazy seeing the lines not quite as dark but "darker or lighter than yesterday's". What type of opk do you have?

 

[Kubb]

I've been using Freedom OPKs. The line has to be equal or greater than the control line to be positive.
I really hope the Clomid is doing something for me. What OPKs do you use?

 

[sunshine1217]

I've been using Freedom OPKs. The line has to be equal or greater than the control line to be positive.
I really hope the Clomid is doing something for me. What OPKs do you use?

i use first response and it's the same. i'm waiting for the darker line as well...it keeps going close to it but not quite there.

 

[Kubb]

I know the feeling! I get close and then the next day it goes light again which is so frustrating! I have my CD21 blood test on Thursday so hopefully when my Gyno gets my results he'll be able to explain things better.

 

[sunshine1217]

I know the feeling! I get close and then the next day it goes light again which is so frustrating! I have my CD21 blood test on Thursday so hopefully when my Gyno gets my results he'll be able to explain things better.

yes i've been wondering about the blood test. it's not clear to me why neither my gyno or my fs wanted me to do it. they said it's not useful to me if my cycle is longer (29-38). do you know if it's b/c they think it will show that i have not ovulated at that point? if that's the case, i wonder why they don't do the blood test at cd 25 for ppl like me.

 

[Kubb]

I'm afraid I have no idea... my cycles are a lot longer that 29-38. I've only had one bleed in 12 months and I had to take Provera for it! Last year I only had one period too. Strange. I don't know why your FS said it's not useful to do it. I would have thought it was useful.

 

[Soili]

Sunshine, they say Progesterone test would be useless probably for 2 reasons. First, it's likely you're ovulating on your own if your cycles are 29-38 days. Second, to confirm ovulation, the test must be done in the middle of your luteal phase, which is normally 6-8 days past ovulation. So only if you know when did you ovulate on particular cycle (pos. OPK, confirmed by temp shift), you would be able to schedule to test on right day. Which (see reason 1) would be rather pointless anyway, since it basically just proves you've ovulated, which you'll already know yourself anyway