OPKs & Temping Questions

[ClassyMrsA]

My experience with OPKs was they would be very light, then almost positive or positive for 1-2 days, then back to light. My understanding is you get a surge of LH so it can go from super light one day to positive the next. TBH, I only used them for 2 cycles, but that was my experience. You can also Google image search for OPKs and there are many that show the progression for a cycle.

[luciddreamer]

Mine would get progressively darker, but I know that's not the case for everyone. I think 3 hours of sleep is kinda short to be accurate for temping, 4 is the minimum that I've read. However, you can try it out anyway and see if you get a temp shift.

[puglife5869]

When I was charting M would wake me up at random times so I tested to see what gave me better results. Turned out that I needed to take it at the same time everyday. When I took it only after a long stretch of sleep it was all over the place, I have heard that just depends on the person.

As for opk's, those are hard. I would usually get a fade in and once they started getting darker I would test every 8-12 hours to make sure I didn't miss a truly positive. I would get almost positives a couple of times a cycle so it was important to catch. Plus I loved peeing on sticks

[luciddreamer]

Mar 11, 2015 15:58:19 GMT -5 DoesItComeInPink said:

Mar 11, 2015 15:32:24 GMT -5 luciddreamer said:

Mine would get progressively darker, but I know that's not the case for everyone. I think 3 hours of sleep is kinda short to be accurate for temping, 4 is the minimum that I've read. However, you can try it out anyway and see if you get a temp shift.

Oh! I always thought you just needed at least 3 hours...4 is going to be super hard because of our schedule...I guess I'll have to see how this cycle goes. Glad I'm using OPKs in case temps aren't helpful.

I just looked it up again and you are right, it's 3 hrs. I'm sorry. I thought I read 4 hours somewhere and that's what I've been thinking.

[happyin14]

I was an OPK fanatic. I will say with the 3 pregnancies used them for, it varied. Overall yes, I felt like they were somewhat progressively darker. But there was always a clear day for me when it seemed "go time".

The third time, the line didn't get darker than the control. Just equal to-FYI. And it was still the right time. The next day was lighter. To be safe, if it's equal to, I would say that's a sign.

[KMW08]

I think your best bet is to temp at the same time. Even with a 1-2hr difference, I bet you'd still see a temp shift.

As others have stated, opks vary. I typically had a fade in pattern, but not always. It also depended on the brand, the fade in was more obvious on some brands compared to others. Pics and opk info are located on my blog under the OPK tabs: kmw08itsmylife.blogspot.com

[muirmaid]

My OPKs seem to go from nothing to something really quickly--I wish I had a fade-in pattern! Seems like that would help a lot with timing sex early in the FW.

When I was TTC DS, I was temping at the same time every day regardless of how much sleep I got, and when I compare those charts with my last few, my temp is more consistent after three hours of sleep, regardless of what time I test. I'd stick with what you're doing for this cycle, then consider making a change if it's hard to see a temp shift. FWIW, my charts became a lot clearer (pre-DS) when I switched from oral to vaginal temping. The combination of mouth breathing and ceiling fan was wreaking all kinds of havoc!

[ksyknelvr73]

My OPKs never turned fully positive when I was using them, I have a weak LH surge. I relied more on temping.

I have to be honest, I was never able to consistently get 3-4 hours of sleep before temping like I was supposed to and I still was able to capture a very clear temp shift every time.

[docamy]

I don't have any advice on OPK's cause I used a fertility monitor but if you ever have any questions there let me know! Also I agree about the temping that to keep doing it at the same time and see how that looks.


Mainly I just wanted to say SQUEeeeeee, I'm so excited for this step for you!!!

[mrsbutton]

Mar 11, 2015 19:45:23 GMT -5 puglife5869 said:

When I was charting M would wake me up at random times so I tested to see what gave me better results. Turned out that I needed to take it at the same time everyday. When I took it only after a long stretch of sleep it was all over the place, I have heard that just depends on the person.

As for opk's, those are hard. I would usually get a fade in and once they started getting darker I would test every 8-12 hours to make sure I didn't miss a truly positive. I would get almost positives a couple of times a cycle so it was important to catch. Plus I loved peeing on sticks

this - I love peeing on sticks too lol

Like muirmaid I don't really fade in (although I'm mostly speaking from just this current cycle - I haven't used OPKs since summer of 2012...

[serenla]

With OPKs I had pretty much nothing then BAM positive, so it does happen.