To OPK or To Not OPK

lindsayloo1212 · July 2014

I am CD41 - Have been temping for about a week and a half now, all staying right around 97. I really have no idea if I ovulated yet since going off the pill. Any benefit to starting to use OPK now? Or should i just continue to wait for AF and use then use them after AF returns? Any personal experience with deciding when or when not to use them?

delujm0 · July 2014

I would wait until after your next period...it's entire possible that you already ovulated, so it would be a waste of time and money to start using them now. If you get to CD60 without a period, call your doctor, she might be able to give you something to get it started.

You don't really want to start using OPKs until about 5 days before you think you'll ovulate. Last cycle was my first off BCP, and it was 34 days. Assuming that was my "normal," it meant i probably ovulated around CD20. For this cycle, because i didn't know whether 34 days was normal for me, i started using OPKs at CD10. It wound up being a waste - and actually i'm apparently one of those people who has a secondary mini-LH surge earlier in my cycle. So i got almost positive OPKs on CD 11-12 and was all excited to ovulate, but then on CD13 they disappeared and didn't show up again until an almost-positive yesterday and a full positive today (CD19). So it looks like 34 days is a normal cycle for me - and i won't bother with OPKs until CD14 in the future.

It's also a good idea to use the OPKs a few times a day the first cycle so that you can catch your surge and know what works best for you. Mine seem to be best with Second Morning Urine (which for me is around 7am). When i test in the afternoon, my urine isn't concentrated enough, and i usually get a fainter line than i do in the morning. So next month, i'll probably just test once a day in the morning. Some ladies are only capable of getting +OPKs for a 12 hour time period each month, so they usually test twice a day to ensure that they catch it. It doens't look like I'll need to go that route. But it's difference for everyone.

KingLED · July 2014

Is this your first cycle since going off BCP? Either way I would say wait until next cycle. I mean, you're obviously free to do whatever, but I think at this point I would probably just temp and wait it out.