OPK's

[dancn226]

Can someone tell me how they work, and if they are worth it? Better than charting or not!!?!? I want this month to COUNT!! :p

[Scooter]

Can someone tell me how they work, and if they are worth it?

Before you ovulate, your body releases a hormone (called LH, the luteinizing hormone). OPKs test for this hormone surge. If it's in your body in large quantity, then you're most likely going to ovulate sometime in the next 12-36hrs.

Better than charting or not!!?!?

Well, IMO, it's definitely not better than charting. But that depends on you, and how much you want to know about what's going on with your body. OPKs predict ovulation. Charting consists of several things; checking CM or CP tell you when you're fertile and when you're probably not. Temperature only tells you when you ovulated in hindsight.

One problem with OPKs is that it's common to miss the LH surge, so you can O before you realize it. Another problem is that you can have a positive OPK, but due to stress, illness, etc, your body can actually decide not to O. So if you stopped BDing, thinking you O'd, you would O later in the cycle and miss it. So OPKs are not proof that you O'd. You also don't know which day O is going to be on. So when you test, you're not exactly sure which day you need to test on.

With charting, you are able to tell when your fertile window is and BD during that time, and then look back and see when you O'd. Easier to tell when to test. Easier to compare cycle to cycle. Easier to know when you are really "late." The best scenario if you're just starting to use these methods is probably using both methods together, although if you chart for awhile you'll probably find that OPKs are just another unnecessary expense because charting gives you the same information, really. ;)

[msnicolea]

Well, it may just be a coincidence, but they absooutely helped me. I did a combination of temperature and OPK charting, and it was right on the money!

[Heidi9771]

Ladies. I have wacky temps that seem to indicate a very short luteal phase (8 days or less) and I have NEVER had a positive OPK (test every day passed period.)

Any ideas what could be going on?

[Scooter]

Ladies. I have wacky temps that seem to indicate a very short luteal phase (8 days or less) and I have NEVER had a positive OPK (test every day passed period.)

Any ideas what could be going on?A few questions:
Are you testing at the same time of day each time?
What time of day are you testing?
What brand of OPKs are you using?
and
Do you get a faint test line that just never gets as dark or darker than the control line?

[Heidi9771]

A few questions:
Are you testing at the same time of day each time? Yes
What time of day are you testing? Evening around 7pm
What brand of OPKs are you using? The brand from Walmart...not sure of name
and
Do you get a faint test line that just never gets as dark or darker than the control line?Yes, at times this is the result.

Thanks for your help! :)

[Scooter]

It sounds like you're probably missing the surge. You're getting lines sometimes, which means you're probably seeing some of the common fade in, fade out pattern, but you're missing the positive in the middle. Since you're testing late in the day, chances are that your surge is in the morning or afternoon. A lot of people have good luck if they take it late morning or early afternoon. If you try that and still aren't having luck, you could also try switching brands of OPKs, since some are a bit better than others. HTH! :)

[Heidi9771]

Thanks Scooter!