Negative OPK but a lot of Egg White CM

roberthe10 · December 2015

I took my last bcp on 12/19 and cd1 started on 12/22 (period from 12/22 - 12/24). I started tracking O on cd5 since I had been taking birth control and sometimes your body can O early after stopping the pill. I have had 3 days of negative OPKs, but I have a lot of egg white cm today. Any ideas on what this could mean?

ShallowSeas · December 2015

OPKs are not always reliable. You can have a positive test and not ovulate, or you can have a negative test and still ovulate. It detects an LH surge...which means you could possibly ovulate soon, or not. Some women get multiple surges a cycle, some women can't even turn it positive yet they still ovulate. The only way to know for sure whether or not you ovulated and when you ovulated is temping. The ladies on this board are advocates for temping so if you haven't started temping yet, I recommend it.

If you have EWCM then I would consider yourself fertile...although it does seem early if AF just ended on 12/24. HIO to be safe. Your body does weird things, especially after coming off BC when its trying to regulate itself. You'll have to give it several months to see what your body does off BC.

LadyMillil · December 2015

roberthe10 said:

I took my last bcp on 12/19 and cd1 started on 12/22 (period from 12/22 - 12/24). I started tracking O on cd5 since I had been taking birth control and sometimes your body can O early after stopping the pill. I have had 3 days of negative OPKs, but I have a lot of egg white cm today. Any ideas on what this could mean?

it can mean a lot of things. Ewcm can happen for several days before you O. You could have missed your surge, your surge may not have happened yet, it could just be a random day of ewcm. Keep taking the opks and tracking cm. if you aren't temping you should start because it is the only way to confirm O.

TheBorg7of9 · December 2015

roberthe10 said:

I took my last bcp on 12/19 and cd1 started on 12/22 (period from 12/22 - 12/24). I started tracking O on cd5 since I had been taking birth control and sometimes your body can O early after stopping the pill. I have had 3 days of negative OPKs, but I have a lot of egg white cm today. Any ideas on what this could mean?

It means you are having an estrogen surge, but haven't had an LH surge yet. Estrogen causes fertile cervical mucus, but opks are triggered by LH, which is released by the ovaries when estrogen reaches its peak and tells the ovaries to release the eggs. Keep taking OPKs, keep having sex every other day. If you want to know when you ovulated, you'll have to learn to temp. Everyone recommends a book called Taking Charge of Your Ferility by Toni Weshler and the website/app fertility friend to learn more.

NamelessAria · December 2015

I don't know what's "normal" exactly but this cycle I had EWCM start on CD9 and very negative OPKs till a brief positive (maybe 3 hours??) on CD14 and then negatives again till CD18. It looks like I didn't actually ovulate till CD20 and now on CD21 I'm still having EWCM.

From what I've read fertile CM tends to start around the start of your fertile window. The fertile window is around 5 days with O being the last day. Many women don't get a positive OPK till the day before, or even day of, O.

Like @TheBorg7of9 said, EWCM means you have higher estrogen levels. The negative OPK means you don't have enough LH to turn a positive OPK yet, so more likely than not you're not having your LH surge.

It's also worth noting that for whatever reason it seems some women never get a positive OPK and still ovulate. They could have urine that's just too diluted. Maybe they just missed their surge when testing. Perhaps their LH levels still aren't quite high enough even while surging. Who knows.

MonaLisaRalphio · December 2015

I had EWCM for like three weeks straight after I went off the pill. I chose not to trust a single damn thing my body was doing after I went off the pill. I'm 2 months off, and I am still choosing to believe that my body is doing wild, unpredictable things. Until I have several perfect charts in a row, or I have an actual baby in my arms, I will continue to believe that. You might want to consider a similar policy - it makes me feel a whole lot less crazy.

DumbledoresArmy · December 2015

My body took months to regulate after the pill. I had EWCM randomly off and on that whole time and never ovulated. So, it really could mean nothing at all.

DCHokiemom · December 2015

I have EWCM multiple times throughout my cycle. For some people it isn't super reliable for predicting O. Also, it seems super early after getting off the pill and just having your period to already be ovulating. Not saying it is impossible, but I remember from my own experience it took a few months for my body to get on track.

roberthe10 · December 2015

Thank you for your responses! One thing I forgot to mention... my cervix does feel soft and high as well.

TheBorg7of9 · December 2015

roberthe10 said:

Thank you for your responses! One thing I forgot to mention... my cervix does feel soft and high as well.

A high soft cervix indicates ovulation. So, maybe you are ovulating now. Or maybe it means nothing at all. Seriously, you have to temp if you want to know when you are ovulating.

babymish · December 2015

Everything already said above if you are willing to temp, it's the only way to really know what your cycles are like and that's crucial in my opinion when you first come away from bcp, I would have wasted my first cycles without doing it.

JRB3 · December 2015

My first two cycles off BCP were super confusing with random CM cramps moodiness etc. honestly just start temping. You will be so glad you did.
Edit spelling

kickassi78 · December 2015

If I solely relied on OPK's this month I would have never detected O. I never got a positive but all other signs that O was approaching were there. eggwhite CM, open cervix, ovulation pain, and very mild temp fluctuation. But no positive OPK. I honestly didn't think I O'ed at all this month because of that, but clearly I did because I got my BFP last sunday! So I would trust what your body is telling you before anything else!

roberthe10 · December 2015

Congratulations!!

BostonBaby1 · December 2015

***lurking***

I agree with what was said above. When in doubt, HIO!

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