PCOS and OPKs

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-20-2009
PCOS and OPKs
6
Sat, 04-11-2009 - 6:27pm
I was just reading the directions on my OPKs and it said that PCOS (and some fertility drugs) might affect the results of the test. Does anyone know why that is? Does this mean my results are unreliable?

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Cycle 1 - BFN. Diagnosed with PCOS.
Day 3 Blood Work - Appears to be normal, with slightly high prolactin. Must re-do next cycle.

http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/221fba

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-20-2009
In reply to: ambinsi
Sat, 04-11-2009 - 6:30pm
Kinny - you actually got me thinking about this because you responded to another post I had, saying how OPKs can be unreliable due to out of whack LH levels. How can I tell if my results are accurate?? What should I do?

*********************************************************************
Cycle 1 - BFN. Diagnosed with PCOS.
Day 3 Blood Work - Appears to be normal, with slightly high prolactin. Must re-do next cycle.

http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/221fba

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-29-2009
In reply to: ambinsi
Sat, 04-11-2009 - 6:59pm
You can't know if your LH levels are out of whack unless you get a blood test, the LH issue is just one among many many possible symptoms of PCOS you can have.
Ovulation ticker
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-20-2009
In reply to: ambinsi
Sat, 04-11-2009 - 7:39pm

Do you think they could tell this from day 3 or day 21 blood work? So far all I've had is the day 3, and I haven't heard anything about my LH being "off". She said the blood work in general was normal, minus the ever-so-slightly high prolactin.

The thing with this PCOS is that its such a recent "diagnosis", and the NP told me I have it based on my U/S or sonogram or whatever it was. All my life, I've had fairly regular periods, anywhere from 29-35 days. Within the past year I've had two super-long, possibly anovulatory cycles. That was my only concern that something might actually be wrong.

The NP is telling me not to worry, that my regular periods and + OPKs are a good sign that I am ovulating on my own. (This is my 2nd cycle doing the OPKs, last cycle I got a + on day 18 and got my period 14 days later, this time I got a + on day 19, yesterday). She wants me to do the day 3 blood work again, and the day 21, and have an HSG, and then wants to start me on 50mg of Clomid.

What do you think?

*********************************************************************
Cycle 1 - BFN. Diagnosed with PCOS.
Day 3 Blood Work - Appears to be normal, with slightly high prolactin. Must re-do next cycle.

http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/221fba

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-29-2009
In reply to: ambinsi
Sat, 04-11-2009 - 8:18pm
I'm pretty sure they will want you to test after you know ovulation has occurred, they will just want to see what your LH levels are like not during your fertile period.
Ovulation ticker
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-07-2009
In reply to: ambinsi
Sun, 04-12-2009 - 8:47am

I also have PCOS and thought I'd share with you.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-20-2009
In reply to: ambinsi
Sun, 04-12-2009 - 1:54pm

Hi Laura,
Thanks for sharing your experience. As I continue this journey I can see that PCOS does truly affect every woman differently. I know that it's hard to ask if something is "normal" because everyone's body is different. I suppose that like the rest of us, I'm just really anxious and want that BFP immediately! Don't you want to smack people when they say "Oh, just relax and have fun trying!!" Ugh, please.

Anyway, this is only our second month officially TTC. We had one cycle where we decided to just be careless, and nothing. Then the next cycle I decided to start temping and doing the OPKs. It was during that cycle that I found out about the PCOS. Now we're on our 3rd cycle, but 2nd "official" cycle.

I know that it's pretty early in the TTC journey for us. I have friends that tried for years to conceive, so I'm trying very hard to be patient. Unfortunately, I guess that's just not who I am. I feel like I need to be in control of most aspects of my life, and this is one situation where I feel like I have very little control, and that's so hard! I know that stress is the enemy here, but I'm finding it so hard not to obsess. I'm sure many women on here can relate.

I just want to find out all the info I can so I can move full speed ahead. I totally need to chill out. LOL.

Thanks for sharing your story. I might have questions for you as I think of them.

*********************************************************************
Cycle 1 - BFN. Diagnosed with PCOS.
Day 3 Blood Work - Appears to be normal, with slightly high prolactin. Must re-do next cycle.

http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/221fba