OPK

jennicole85

I have a feeling I'm going to be posting a lot on this forum  

Anyway, I took my first OPK test this morning (positive btw!) but I was curious... Is there a need to take it twice a day? I've read on other forums that some women do. I know that the test is most reliable first thing in the morning.

We're not planning on TTC until march, but I want to get all of my ducks in a row so we're not going in blind (so to speak). Any advice anyone could give me on OPKs would be extremely helpful! 

ball.and.chain

Some people will actually tell you not to take OPKs with FMU (first morning urine) because supposedly LH is synthesized during the day and sometimes you won't have enough of it in FMU to detect a surge.  There are also lots of people who will tell you to test twice a day because if you have a short LH surge (only 12 hours), you might miss it if you only test once a day.

However, the midwife practice I go to has always instructed me to use them first thing in the morning and that's never been a problem for me -- in fact at one point I was testing once with FMU and once in the evening (right after I got home from work, around 7 pm) and I found that even when I had a + with FMU, I would still get negatives in the evening on the same day.  I suspect this is because I drink a lot of water during the day so my urine is more diluted than in the morning, but even when I would stop drinking water 4 hours before the test and would hold my urine for 2+ hours, I would STILL get a - in the evening.  My best advice is that it might not be a bad idea to test twice a day during this cycle because it will give you a sense of how your body works.  I usually get 2-3 + OPKs in a row (2-3 consecutive mornings), so I can be fairly certain I don't have to worry about a short 12-hour surge.  If that is true for you, you don't really have to test twice a day in the future.  Every woman's body is different, every woman's LH surge is different, and I applaud your decision to do a few "test run" cycles before you start TTC because all information you can gather now will help later!  I screwed up the OPKs in my first month and had to postpone a cycle and I was TOTALLY frustrated.

Also, if you got a positive on your first test, you might want to start taking them earlier in your cycle.  Since some women do get several consecutive days of +, you may have actually started surging yesterday.  In order to estimate most accurately when to inseminate, you will want to know when your surge starts, which means you should see at least a few days of negative OPKs before you get a +.

Sorry this is long but I know when I was starting out I was absolutely hungry for information.  Hope this helps and good luck!

jennicole85

Please do not apologize for length! I'm obviously new to this whole thing, so all of your advice is a HUGE help! Thank you! I'll keep that in mind for next month... But out of curiosity, when should I start taking the OPK tests?

ball.and.chain

What do the instructions say?  I use the First Response Daily Ovulation Tests, and they say to start testing the day after your period ends if you have a cycle less than 35 days and 3 days after your period ends if you have a cycle equal or greater than 35 days.  Obviously they are trying to sell as many tests as possible, but the earlier you start, the less you have to worry about missing an early O.  My first month using them I started the day after my period ended even though I knew at that point from charting for several months that I typically ovulate around CD 19, but I wanted to try it "the right way" first.  Now I usually start 4-5 days after my period ends (this month on CD 9).  You can O early or late (though I am usually around 19-20 I have ovulated as early as CD 17 and as late as CD 24) and I just would rather go through more tests and know I've caught the surge than the other way around (I buy the 20-packs so I have plenty to make it through that cycle).  Again, I think it's something where as you get more comfortable with your cycles and your body's responses to these tests, you will get a better sense of when the right time is for you to start testing.

Alysia82

I was testing twice a day per doctors request.