Please tell me all about ovulation testing?

[babyjan]

Can I still use them even though I don't have regular cycles?

If so how and when?

Basically my body is messed up since my last and first shot of depo back in November 2012, finally got a period last month nothing since. I'm still breastfeeding but I don't think it has anything to do with this because my periods returned when I was 4 months pp and were coming regularly up until I got the shot.

So breastfeeding couldn't have anything to do with lack of periods, right?

Anyways I'm really impatient but would like to know if I could be ovulating at least.

I'm soo worried that I will never have another baby

 

[Amalee]

Hi Babyjan - you can definitely use O tests without having regular cycles. Do your cycles have any type of pattern, like always being 30-35 days, or are they really, really all over the place? If you have some idea of when to expect your period, you can get a good idea of when you should start testing for ovulation. The cycle is broken up into the follicular and luteal phases. The follicular phase is the first day of your period through ovulation. The luteal phase is from ovulation until the start of your next period. For most women, the luteal phase is about 10-16 days long. There is a much larger variance in the follicular phase, and that can change quite a bit month-to-month, while the luteal phase is pretty constant. So if you take the shortest possible cycle length for you and subtract 16 (the longest luteal phase), it gives you a good idea of when to start testing for ovulation.

For instance, let's say my cycles are generally 30-35 days long. 30 is my shortest cycle, so I subtract 16, which gives me cycle day 14. That's the earliest I am likely to ovulate. OPKs can detect ovulation a day or two before the lh surge occurs. Therefore, I would start testing on CD 12 and continue testing until I stop getting positives. I've read that it's best to test in the late morning or afternoon, and you don't want to drink a bunch beforehand, otherwise the urine will be too diluted to detect lh.

If your periods are completely irregular, you could just test every day to see if you ever get a positive.

Hope that helps!