Why do people prefer to temp over OPKs here?
Is one more reliable or less expensive? Reasoning please!
I got my first smiley face this morning! I like testing but temping seems like more work if you have to do it for more than 5 or 6 days a month at the same time.
i started temping 4 months ago and then eventually added OPKs. so after 2 months just temping, and then 2 months doing both here are my opinions so far:
temping
PROS
-low initial cost and no additional cost each month
-only actual way to confirm that ovulation occurred
-helps pinpoint when AF is due (after a couple cycles, based on your LP)
-you get to look at pretty graphs (if that's your thing - i love graphs and numbers and patterns)
CONS
-you have to do it EVERY day, at the same time, and bad sleep makes for hard(er) to read charts
-i often over analyze each temp (logically speaking, one temp means nothing. the pattern is more important)
-my temp tends to affect my mood for the day, good or bad, more than i should let it
-it doesn't predict O so by the time you know you Oed, it's too late to do anything
opks
PROS
-they alert you of impending O, so you know ahead of time when you should get busy
-you get to POAS a lot (if that's your thing! haha)
CONS
-they may detect a surge, but don't confirm that you actually ovulated after the hormone surge
-you have to buy them each month (though, buying bulk online saves you that)
-sometimes are confusing to read or give contradictory readings (2nd surges, several days of positives, etc.)
i think the major con of temping is that you don't have any "heads up warning" for O happening soon, but OPKs give you that. and the major con of OPKs is the lack of confirmation if O happened for sure or not, but temping does that. so they each cover what the other lacks.
i will probably always use them together or, if i ever do a more relaxed approach to TTC, i would use neither. one or the other will always leave me wondering about the information i can only get from the one that i'm not using. if that makes sense?
)
