opk question

[Deleted]

Not sure what the general consensus is on asking questions here or in the Newbie thread. Plus I'm on my phone and can't figure shit out.

So I'm starting to use opk's and I wanted to know if there is a faint second line, will that get stronger as the days go on? I mean, closer to ovulation will they get darker? I was given a friends left over strips so I don't have a lot of direction with them.

Sorry if I put this in the wrong place, I wasn't sure if we are doing this here now if we have a question.

[longhornwino0907]

From what I understand, if you're surging prior to ovulation, the line will get progressively darker. Once they are the same color or darker as the test line, you count that as a positive OPK. Once you've ovulated, the line will get lighter and lighter. Hope that helps!

ETA: Definitely don't worry about asking questions on the main board! It's a TTC board, we encourage questions. I'd also recommend reading the Newbie Blog, if you haven't already, for more info on OPKs, there's really helpful info in there.

[kellybenelly83]

generally the LH surge is a small time frame to get a full positive. its recommended that you start using them a few days prior to your expected O. Use them daily or twice a day even to catch the surge. Your OPK is only positive if the test line is as Dark or Darker than the control.

[Deleted]

Some people always have a faint line. Sometimes people get a fade in pattern. But just because you have a faint line now doesn't really mean anything.

[Unknown]

I almost always have a faint line, and a strong + then the next day back down to just a faint line. Some women do experience gradual increases (I have, but it isn't my norm).

I use them once a day until closer to when I expect to O then I start testing twice a day.

[Unknown]

I almost always have a faint line, and a strong + then the next day back down to just a faint line. Some women do experience gradual increases (I have, but it isn't my norm).

I use them once a day until closer to when I expect to O then I start testing twice a day.

[Rama]

Mar 20, 2015 13:57:55 GMT -5 @erin2021 said:

Not sure what the general consensus is on asking questions here or in the Newbie thread. Plus I'm on my phone and can't figure shit out.

So I'm starting to use opk's and I wanted to know if there is a faint second line, will that get stronger as the days go on? I mean, closer to ovulation will they get darker? I was given a friends left over strips so I don't have a lot of direction with them.

Sorry if I put this in the wrong place, I wasn't sure if we are doing this here now if we have a question.

Yes, yes we are doing this now.  This is a TTC board, TTC questions are welcome.


Some women go from stark white to BAM POSITIVE back to stark white.  Some women fade into a positive, then back out.  Some women never get a true positive.  If this is your first time using OPKs, be patient with learning which of these your body does.  Good luck!

[anonymouseliza]

It's different for different woman. Some get progressively darker, some stay light until bam! positive.

eta: I'm a fade in person.

[akraus2015]

Mar 20, 2015 14:04:56 GMT -5 mistabinx said:

I don't see a gradual darkening of the line, mine are always faint and then suddenly positive, then right back to faint/nothing. I think it depends on the person.

+1

[virginiaorjohn]

I was a fade in and out but never got a true positive. It was frustrating.

[lemoncupcake]

I had a fade in/positive/fade out this cycle. It felt a little wasteful the first few days, but taking 2-3 tests per day was helpful for me.

[icequeen]

Agreed with what everyone else said about the OPK pattern being different for each individual and having the pattern change over time. Not everyone's positive looks the same (sometimes due to different brands or different testing times) or some have shorter surges and might miss the really dark line and continue to only get fainter ones compared to the control line.

For me personally, I usually O around CD 16-19 so I start OPK's once a day starting CD 10, then up to twice a day starting CD 13. My line always gets progressively darker and the actual positive OPK is darker than the control. Strangely enough, all of my positive OPK's have been in the evenings.

[joy]

POST QUESTIONS ON THE MAIN BOARD.

[longhornwino0907]

Mar 20, 2015 14:25:15 GMT -5 joy said:

POST QUESTIONS ON THE MAIN BOARD.

Joy, I knew you would have something to say about this

[tina515]

Mar 20, 2015 14:04:56 GMT -5 mistabinx said:

I don't see a gradual darkening of the line, mine are always faint and then suddenly positive, then right back to faint/nothing. I think it depends on the person.

This is me too. I see nearly nothing, then BAM super dark, and it's like that for a couple days, then back to nearly nothing immediately.

[Deleted]

K thanks ladies! I skimmed over the board culture last night but missed most of the convo. I haven't had the chance to sit down and look over it.

Thanks for your help!

[tippytop]

Piggybacking off the opk question, does anyone else get up to a week of positive opks? I know the test line has to be as dark or darker but I still get 6 or 7 days of glaringly positive opks. I've read conflicting info, some say that you won't o til after the last one and some say you should count the first one as the best indicator of ovulation. I'm going to start temping again next cycle to eliminate the guesswork of when I actually ovulated, but wanted to see if anyone had any insight.

[lazyreader]

I would suggest keeping a custom field of your as dark as lines and a field of darker than lines. Along with temps. That way you might only need to mark the darkest.

[meerkatmillie]

I use Wondfo OPKs. I always have a faint line, it gets darker near O, then fades back out to a faint line after O.

I used to struggle with never getting a truly positive (darker than control) OPK. I tried all the things - testing twice a day, holding my bladder for 6 hours, using first morning urine (FMU), letting the urine cool to room temp, etc. None of that worked. But I finally settled on a routine that is working - I empty my bladder before bed, sleep for 8 hours, hold my FMU for another couple hours and then test with the FMU - since I started doing this Ive finally gotten darker than control positive OPKS.

[ellewills618]

tippytop- I don't know a lot about this but I think I remember from my prior time on TTGP that multiple (like 5+) days of positive OPKs can be indicative of PCOS (but not necessarily). I'm no doctor and I don't know much about PCOS so take that with a heavy grain of salt and hopefully someone much smarter than I has some more useful insight. #imnotsohelful #butitried

[paloslee]

I use CB digital OPKs. I usually test twice a day starting at CD 9. I Usually see a faint then slowly starts to get darker as I get closer to O.

[ceejay]

Mar 20, 2015 14:46:46 GMT -5 tippytop said:

Piggybacking off the opk question, does anyone else get up to a week of positive opks? I know the test line has to be as dark or darker but I still get 6 or 7 days of glaringly positive opks. I've read conflicting info, some say that you won't o til after the last one and some say you should count the first one as the best indicator of ovulation. I'm going to start temping again next cycle to eliminate the guesswork of when I actually ovulated, but wanted to see if anyone had any insight.

Different brands of OPK's will also have different sensitivity levels. When I first started using OPK's, I used the Dollar Tree brand and I had 4 days of clear positives and 2 more days of almost positives (that became "positive" outside of the 10 min test timeframe). Now I use Wondfo's and only get 2-3 days of positives (testing once per day). So the test sensitivity level may affect how many days of positives you get.