Stupid CBEFM, never gave me a peak, but I O'ed

C_Girlie · July 2014

Yesterday when I put my temp in FF said I ovulated already. It said I was 3dpo, I'm so not happy. We didn't do that much bd, we bd 0-3 & 0+1, so I can pretty much eliminate myself this cycle

( . On a brighter note DH got his results back from the urologist. He's gonna take clomid, if all goes well I too will go back to my RE for a medicated cycle

Davie813 · July 2014

Boo! >:P I never tried the fertility monitor, but I hated the clear blue opks--for reasons like that.

On the other hand, 0-3 isn't totally out of the realm of possibility, and it's great news about your husband starting clomid. If this cycle doesn't work out, things look great for the next one!

marijaa333 · July 2014

This is the first month I'm using the monitor and so far I've found it wonky... I set it at 10am at the start of the cycle thinking if would allow me to test between 7am and 1pm per the instructions, however, now if I turn it on at 8:30am (or any time before 10am), it thinks it's still the previous day and won't ask for a test.

How many months have you been using it? I've heard that it takes a while to get used to (collect data) about your cycle. Did you have two bars or just one bar prior to ovulating? And did it detect ovulation in the end?

C_Girlie · July 2014

@marijaa333‌ I started using it in Feb., I think. Yes it does take a while to adjust to ur cycle. On cd6 it asks for the first test and from cd6 it only showed two bars (high). I didn't test today, but I did turn on the monitor. What's the point of testing this morning if I O already? I usually don't O till around cd16, I have a short LP, today is cd15. Lol my body continues to play tricks on me idk why. Maybe this us another wonky cycle. @Davie813‌ yea the clearblue ovulation sticks are quite confusing, I don't like them

marijaa333 · July 2014

How frustrating that it missed your peak. There doesn't seem much point to testing today, except that perhaps you could see if the monitor agrees with FF?

Now I understand why people say temping is the best method: you don't get a (evidently false!) sense of confidence that the monitor will tell you the exact date, so you're likely to BD on more days to cover your bases.

C_Girlie · July 2014

Temping is good at telling you that you O'ed. But by then it's too late to bd. I know sperm can live 5 days in us, but since we're dealing with dual infertility, it's a long shot. But anything is possible so I will pray for a real miracle

marijaa333 · July 2014

Crossing fingers and toes!

marijaa333 · July 2014

On a related note, I'm on day 11 and it still giving me a "low" reading. Is that to be expected for the first cycle I'm tracking with it?

All my other signs are indicating pre-O days (CM watery, temp relatively low, acne giving me a slight rest - which I swear I could chart by!).

marijaa333 · July 2014

Thanks! That does help. I guess I was just hoping for more for such a pricey device and claims of 99% accuracy. I have lots of CBFM sticks (enough for four or five cycles), so I'll keep using it (because I think it's kind of fun and could have been a lab rat in another life) and will report back on how useful I find it.

So far, I'm a bit disappointed. Perhaps I just have a faulty monitor - it doesn't seem to work on a 24h cycle and sometimes doesn't realize it's the NEXT day. This is also my second monitor, the first one wouldn't even turn on (with batteries installed properly, etc.), so I sent it back.

Samuelismomma · July 2014

*lurking* I did cheap internet one with my monitor???ok I'm a poas spaz! Lol my cheaply always gave me a line leading up to positive. Lucky if I got one day positive with monitor. I like to bd up to the positive. That being said I was on vacation when got pg this time. Bd two days before pos and night before. It worked though:)

marijaa333 · July 2014

I'm on CD 12 and still getting a "low."

Just came across this: a woman whose monitor always showed "low" fertility and yet she got a BFP. I'm seriously doubting the 99% accuracy claims now...

https://community.babycenter.com/post/a24435401/cbfm_always_reads_low_but_got_bfp

C_Girlie · July 2014

Lol looks like we all feel for this pricey device. I'm going to order some Internet cheapies

mdogan29 · July 2014

I'm also lurking... (sorry!), but wanted to share with @marijaa333 b/c I know how frustrated you've been with this! I was also getting VERY frustrated w/ the ovulation tests! I used the "Clearblue Advanced Digital Ovulation Test" w/ the smiley face (I think same as @murrt) and I was getting low every day. I bought a 20 pack since it was my first time trying it and thought it might last 2 cycles - it was expensive, but it was on sale at Walgreens, so helped a little (plus walgreens has those coupons it prints out when you buy stuff, so I got a coupon off Clearblue HPTs). So, I think I used it for 8 days or so and was thinking "is this ever going to be high??" I thought maybe things weren't working right... FINALLY on CD 17 I got a blinking happy face which meant 'high' and then a solid smiley face / 'peak' on day CD 19! Sheesh, thought I was going to drive myself mad. Of course, b/c of my Ovia app telling me that my fertile window was CD 12-18 (which I think was wrong), we had already been doing BD for a few days before and then we decided to do it for another 2 days in a row! I didn't want to miss any chances at that point (even though we were tired by then -- weeknight sex!).

Here's my FF chart if that will help!

I think my cycles are wacky anyway, I had 10-day AF in March, 13-day AF w/ lots of pain in April and then 5-day pretty easy going AF in May (also did cycle 1 Letrozole), then in June is was about 6 days, also pretty easy going, did cycle 2 Letrozole and felt the ovulation this time, big time cramping on CD 19 and half of CD 20 and then it all disappeared.

Are your cycles pretty normal? I think all those apps and tools are based on people with regular/28-day cycles, I think through all this I've learned I'm more like a 31-32 day cycle. I hope this helps!

Patience is definitely not a strong virtue of mine, so I feel for ya!

emsmama15 · July 2014

I also use the CBEFM and find it's somewhat helpful to detect the high days but it's never the same two months in a row. Sometimes I have gotten 3 high days and then peak, sometimes 6 days and then peak, and one time I got 18 highs and no peak (extra long cycle but I'm not sure why it went to high 2 days after I started testing). Like Samuelismomma, I also use the internet cheapies when I get the high because I like how they darken up as O approaches. I think it's a decent tool, but based on my experience, I wouldn't rely solely on it.

marijaa333 · July 2014

mdogan29! That's a really helpful perspective. Very happy you chimed in. I'll have to stalk you a bit to get an update on your progress! And--ha! I totally hear you re: weeknight sex.

My cycles are 26-30 days, most around 27-28, so relatively regular. This is my second month charting and first month using the monitor, so perhaps I'm being too impatient, but like I mentioned earlier, it is behaving erratically in other ways, e.g. the testing window shifts, as if it's not following a 24 hour day! I have a bunch of test sticks, so I guess I'll use them up and then see if I want to buy more or just retire the monitor and rely more on temping and perhaps try OPKs, etc.

marijaa333 · July 2014

Thanks for sharing!

Similar here - got lows through CD14, then high CD 15 and CD 16 (today), but no peak, even though all other signs (temp drop then sustained rise, CM, O pain, breast tenderness and a few extra acne) all point to O on CD 14). It's my first cycle with the monitor and I'm giving it another month or two's chance (since I have a bunch of test sticks already) but I am *not* impressed. It also seems to shift its testing window randomly.

If you do a Google search, you'll see lots of stories of people getting BFPs without ever registering a CBEFM peak, so my recommendation is to keep triangulating with OPKs, temps and whatever else you find reliable and don't get discouraged by the scamonitor. :P

marijaa333 · August 2014

Still same here, just highs, despite the fact I'm on DPO 4; here's my temp rise where FF agrees with me that ovulation was on CD 14.

My Ovulation Chart
Does anyone know what would happen if I stopped using the monitor for the rest of the cycle? I'm happy to turn it on every morning but don't want to feed it more sticks unnecessarily since I know it won't find a high. If I stop giving it sticks for the rest of the month, will that somehow (further) impair its accuracy next cycle?

--

PS Those of you CBEFM-ing may be interested in reading the answer by Beacon123 at this site:

https://community.babycentre.co.uk/post/a13058365/hmmmm.....not_convinced_cbfm_is_accurate

crankstergangster · August 2014

BFP mentioned/loss mentioned I pretty much hate my CBFM. It detected peak one time I think. One month, I never got the peak, but was using digital smiley face OPK's. I got my peak with those, but CBFM was still saying high. So we dtd and I got a BFP anyway. Ended up losing it a week later, but still....

I pretty much quit using my monitor b/c of the frustration and the cost of feeding it sticks every day. Rip off!

C_Girlie · August 2014

Yea those test test aren't cheap. Better off using the cheapies, to each own I guess

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