Ovulation Predictor Kits any good?

cufroige

Hello! I'm 33 & this month I bought an ovulation Predictor kit to pinpoint my fertile days. I have been off the pill for 2 years now & we tried back 2 years ago to concieve for about 4 months, but it was all very casual & a "let's just see if it happens" kind of effort. We don't make love much anyway & needless to say, it (preg) never happened

Considering our seldom "tumbles" Now I would like to optimise my chances this time so that if it's a thing that we fail over the next 6 mths with these kits we can start looking to outside help.
Has anyone had any experience with these kits/ concieved with them? I'm on day 12 of a 25 day cycle & have detected no ovulation so far. (my periods are consistent)
Apparantely if you ovulate 10 days or less prior to your next period there's a luteal defect. A fertilised egg will not get sufficient time to remain implanted..

I hope I get a positive ovulation result in the next day/2.. according to all the bodily signs of ovulation I tend to notice them quite close to my period. I have a strange feeling I could have a short luteal phase..ie time between ovulation & following period which is about 12-16 days for most women

I get all the ovulating Signs less than a week before day one!

Anyway...hands up who has had any luck or even if no luck did it lead to the pursuit of further testing on fertility?
Any experience would be grrrrrreat! Thanks

Dfens

Just looked at these kits on the shelf but haven't used them, seems that they could work out quite expensive if you had to keep buying packs to pinoint your ovulation time.

You can also monitor your basal temperature (slight rise in temp at ovulation) or watch for vaginal mucus changes to help determine when you ovulate (link). To maximise your chances of conceiving, best to be active in the bedroom at least once a day 2-3 days before and after ovulation occurs.

TargetWidow

Used the pee stick one (cant remember the name -sorry) just like a pregnancy test except it tells you when you are ovulating. At 36 I wasnt messing around. I was only 6 weeks off the pill and in the middle of a house move so we were only christening the rooms in the new house and not really seriously expecting anything to happen.:D But on the first night in the new house I was ovulating and two weeks later I did and early preg test which was neg and another one a few days later(because I was really hormonal and thought I was getting my period) which was positive. I recommend lots more tumbles and don't be worrying too much about all the other stuff. Have fun trying!

mel123

i bought a well known brand and they didnt work for me, thought i just wasnt ovulating, went to the doc and she told me to change brand, i bought a load off ebay very very cheaply compared to the shop prices and they worked...still not preg tho, but they do work. the doc told me u really need to do the biz about every two days to increase ur chances properly, hard work tho, sounds fun but when ur consciensly doing it for a reason i think the fun comes out of it!! look up tho the natural signs to look for in ur body, once u know its as good as any kit.

cufroige

Hmmmph...I dunno what I'm even on about. I can't even get to the 'trying' part...trying to get a 'tumble' out of my husband is just bloody impossible. It'll never happen..he thinks once a month is generous, we already missed this month's ONCE off tumble...

Would piss you off really, I haven't a snowballs chance n hell.. Think I married the only man on earth who's 'not interested'

...and no, there's nobody else gettin the goods either, trust me..he just can't be bothered

Dunno what I'm going to do:(

beaushalloe

cufroige, you sound very down and deflated. have you spoken to your dh as to why he dosnt have any sex drive? has this always been the way or somthing that is unusual? he may be down or fed up with something, why dont the two of ye have a chat about how your relationship is as you dont sound very happy at the moment. get that sorted, and you shouldnt have to worry about the trying to concive business. best of luck

TargetWidow

Have had a date night every week for the last 10 years. Never fails to cheer us up & re-connect us. The cinema is our thing or going out to dinner or for coffee together. It came about because we went through our share of dry spells and difficulties too. Sought counselling through a Relate qualified therapist specializing in the area. It did wonders and I highly recommend it as you'd be surprised how much can go unsaid in a relationship which can be making people feel a bit off without their even realizing it. Difficult to get the average guy to try counselling though but if you were to ask my DH now he'd recommend it too. (The homework you get is alot of fun!) A check up with the doc might be a good idea too to rule out any health causes. Good luck and chin up! It will all work out for you.;)

barbiegirl

On th enot wanting sex thing, see can you persuade him to have his testosterone levels checked as sometimes they can be knocked off line and then he stops being horny. Can be hard to persuade a guy to do it, but in truth considering all us girls so the pee in cup, pee on stick type things, he needs to do something too :-)

curly_girly

It's comforting to know that those ovulation kits may not work as I'm on day 18 now and there's not a sign of an egg!!! Can anyone tell me where I can get a basal thermometer? (If that's what they're called?)

aquarius10

Hi
We have been ttc for 6 months now, got pregnant first cycle but then had miscarriage at 10 weeks, waited 2 months and now trying again with no success, this month i bought the clearblue digital ovulation kit, smiley face one, I am now on day 9 of 24 day cycle and have done test the last 3 mornings - as it says to test in the morning - but no success. Is the test as accurate using morning urine ? should i use it in the afternoon ? does anyone have any experience of this product and its accuracy ?
I would have expected a smiley face today on a 24 day cycle, I have ewcm and cervix high and open, so i think i am ovulating now, so bd last night and tonight again once hubby gets home - please advise... maybe we'll get a smiley tomorrow or is it that the test is not as accurate with morning urine ?

aquarius10

curly_girly wrote: »

It's comforting to know that those ovulation kits may not work as I'm on day 18 now and there's not a sign of an egg!!! Can anyone tell me where I can get a basal thermometer? (If that's what they're called?)

You can get them in an chemist, its just a digital thermometer, will tell you exactly 37.1 or 37.2 etc.

paper cut

HI there, ive had a bit of trouble with the clear blue digital tests also. I have about a 31 day cycle and think i have ovulated this month as i get ovulation bleeding but the pee tests never gave me a smiley face at all so far, have done 4. this month i also used the fertility monitor by clearblue and i got 2 peak days from it, have been using it for 6 months now. Just wondering what your outcome was, did you get smiley faces in the end. I had 2 blue lines on the sticks for 2 of the days but no smiley faces , not sure does that mean anything???

aquarius10

Hi all, I used all the digital ones, but never got a smile at all as I think I was testing too early in the morning around 7.30am as that was the time I was getting up , I even phoned the careline and I was told it was ok to test then, but i simply don't think that's true, every website or book i've read says the LH is released slowing during the morning.

Anyway I went and got some more on the internet, www.inhealth.com with next day delivery, they are much cheaper and got a strong + on day 13 when testing in the afternoon around 2pm. I tested again the next day and it was very faint. Well i got a Negative Pregnancy Test this month, ( i honestly think we had no sperm left by the time I ovulated as we had done it every night for 7 nights, we're wrecked ) so hope to get it right this month, Am on day 2 today of a 28 day cycle so would will start testing again around day 10 but will try and test at 2pm after holding urine for at least 2 hours. thanks for all the replies and I'll keep you all posted when we get a Positive Test !

paper cut

Yea i kinda agree with you too, i never got smiley face and never did it in the morning either. I just dont understand why the clear blue fertility monitir would give me positive result as i do it in the morning also. Wondering does it just give you a positive on day 15

tinydancer77

Myself and my partner were trying to get pregnant for over a year. I was reluctant to use the fertility monitor or stick because I thought it would take all the joy out of trying and make our love life too timetabled...it was bad enough already! (When you have been trying for over a year and trying to watch dates it can sometimes feel like a chore and I hated that because I love making out with my fella!) My friend then gave me a fertility monitor she was not using any more and we said we would give it a whirl. On the first month I was getting worried because by day 15 there was no sign of an LH surge. My period was a regular 29 day cycle and all the online calendars etc had told us to concentrate on days 12 - 14. By using the fertility monitor I discovered I was ovulating on day 16 and 17. On the second month of trying we were pregnant! I'm now almost 6 weeks. It was a great relief to know there was nothing wrong except we had been doing it on the wrong dates all along. We were due to go to the fertility clinic in March and we were getting stressed about it.
Just on a slightly separate point - it's very important that the female of the species climaxes when you are trying to make babies. Best again if you can go Hollywood style and come together. It's not easy but can be done the man just has to wait for the woman. Best of luck to everyone who is trying - it can be very frustrating; hope you all get the positive result for all your hard work

Grawns

Have been using the sticks for the first time and I got a strong + on the morning of day 17 of a 28 day cycle ( average). When I tested in the afternoon the + was gone. Just goes to show you!

aquarius10

Just an update to everyone, I'm pregnant ! Sorry about the delay in updating but was so nervous after the miscarriage......well we're 16 weeks tomorrow... due July 26th , have had a scan and all looks good. We concieved at end of October about 3 months after micarriage. Baby dust to everyone

Grawns

Yay!!! That's brilliant, congratulations and best of luck

Cat Melodeon

I used a well-known brand of OPK this month and found it utterly useless. The 2 lines that were supposed to appear didn't appear at all on one of the mornings and appeared vertically instead of horizontally another morning. I got what I think was a positive on one (the last one) which would have tied in with other signs, so here's hoping. We didn't take any chances, I'm wrecked!

By the way, kinky films or erotic literature (tasteful wordy porn) works wonders on a bed-shy partner (male or female). Nothing too seedy or bosomy or you'll end up calling your future offspring Capri or Randy or some such. Not a good story for the in-laws when they ask how you chose the name...

sowdublin

hiya,

using OPK for the first time. does the kit show positive AFTER ovulation? or does it show negative? can anyone pls clarify? i've been testing for 5 days continuous now. and all the results so far are negative.

Neyite

ovulation predictors work by detecting your LH surge - its a hormone your body releases prior to ovulation. Usually your LH surge happens a day or two before you actually ovulate, so gives you time to have sperms waiting for the egg to pop.

now, testing is a bit hit and miss - its easy to miss if you drink lots of water and your urine is very diluted, or if your LH surge only lasts a few hours and you end up missing it. Dont panic if you dont get it - pay attention to your cervical mucus and get to know what it looks like when you are fertile, and if you have ovulation pain this also occurs prior to ovulation so you have time to do the deed.

The best time to test is afternoon or evening. I used to test when I came home after work but some months I got my surge in my sleep so missed it on the kits but blood tests at the time showed I did ovulated anyway.

I would recommend using either cheap internet dip-stick ones that can be bought for cents apiece, so you dont mind wasting them, or a Clearblue unit. The expensive chemist ones will quickly bankrupt you !

zebra12345

I was trying for over a year after a miscarriage to get pregnant without any help and my cycle was all over the place so we had to try constantly over a two week period. It was a big strain for my OH -he works really hard during the week and is always so tired, normally once a week would be fine for him so all the days in a row was too much.

So I bought a bulk pack of ovulation strips and pregnancy tests combined from amazon for the price of one popular brand pregnancy test! When they came, they looked just like flimsy strips of paper, so I was a it dubious. They said it was best for the ovulation strips to not test the first urine of the day, and to try and test every day at the same time, and also as someone mentioned, that the second line should be darker or as dark as the first. I got a positive result on day 14 and started trying after that. It seems so obvious, but changing places from the bedroom worked quite well in changing the hubby's mood -and now we both have very nice memories about how our baby was conceived!

Got to try out the pregnancy tests, a couple of weeks later and got a positive the day my period was due

Sorry for the long post, just wanted to show that I fully recommend the throwaway cheap strips! Best of luck to everyone

Oh and by the way, my doc told me not to have sex til I have my next appt (which means we've gone the last 6 weeks without), and NOW it's driving my hubby crazy! Of course, he's been really supportive and he wouldn't even dream of trying for fear of something happening to the baby -but I'd say that's his karma biting him in the ass