? Re OPK Test Time...
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| Fri, 08-15-2003 - 6:42pm |
Cali was nice enough to share the info regarding when the best time is to test with OPK on a post this morning. Below is part of her post.
I need a little help interpreting...
My question is I have always used FMU, which now I know you should not do. What does this mean though. For instance, this month, I got a peak on my monitor on cd17 testing at 7am. On cd16 I did not have anything at 7am. Does this mean, had I waited to test until 2pm on cd16, I probably would have gotten a peak a "day" earlier?
Either way, next month (if needed..let's PRAY I won't need to..), I will start testing at 2pm each day, the right way. I don't know why they don't tell you this in the info they give you!!!
Thanks again Cali for the info!!! It's great!!!
-Donna
here is part of her post.
We don't like early morning testing because of the nature of the LH surge. The LH "surge" is well named. It is a sudden dramatic release of hormone, with an immediate, very dramatic rise in the concentration of LH surge in the blood usually (but not always) occuring in the ealry morning. By the time the surge shows up in the urine, several hours have passed. One of the best studies we've seen on this subject indicates that a woman is most likely to detect the LH surge when she tests between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
So if you are going to test only once a day, pick a time between those hours and test each day at the same time during your testing period. The same study indicated the hours between 5 and 8 a.m. are actually the worst times to test. The second best time is between 5 and 10p.m."

"But if you plan to rely primarily on these tests to help you predict your ovulation time, we strongly recommend that you test twice a day, once between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. and once between 5 and 10 p.m. Try to leave as much time between the two tests as possible, while staying within those time frames. Testing at noon and again at 10 p.m. would be an excellent choice, giving you a ten hour spread.
The following scenario will help you understand why twice daily testing is recommended if you plan to use these kits as the primary means of determining when you ovulate:
Mrs. H., following the instructions in her test kit, tests only once a day and always early in the morning, when she first gets up at 7 a.m. The test strip does not change color when she tests Sun. morning. But on Mon. morning it does change color. Her instruction booklet tells her this means the LH surge has begun and the ovulation will follow in 24 to 44 hours......
In fact, this timing schedule might work in some cases, depending upon when the LH surge really began. But let's suppose in this case the surge actually started on Sun. morning. Since Mrs. H. tests early in the morning the surge of LH could already entered her blood but NOT shown up in her urine on Sunday morning. By testing to early she missed detecting the surge that had already take place. She and her husband assumed that the surge actually began on Mon. morning but in reality, ovulation could already have taken place by Mon. morning. By waiting another day, Mr. and Mrs. H placed themselves in the gray zone, with their attempt to conceive occurring a day or more after ovulation has taken place.
You can imagine many other scenarios where things could go wrong as result of once-a-day testing. The point is, when you test only once a day, the "surge" you detect may already be a day old. These test systems continue to indicate the LH surge for TWO or THREE days. They only cease to do so after ovulation has occurred and the progesterone phase of the cycle kicks in.
Despite all the conflicting figures on when ovulation occurs in relation to the surge, the best studies indicate that it takes place, on average, about 32 hours after the onset of the surge. Remember however that by the time you detect the surge in your urine - again assuming the ideal situation in which you are testing twice a day- the surge has already taken place 5 or 6 hours earlier in your blood. So, in general, once you detect the surge in your urine on the twice daily testing schedule, you can assume ovulation will take place about 24 hours later.
Again though it is wise to continue to pay heed to your CM and BBT data at the same time. If you have very clear cut CM and BBT information - that is, if your cycles are quite regular and CM and BBT tend to agree - it is unlikely that you will have any need for these ovulation kits to begin with. But if you do use them and get disagreement, we urge to be cautious. If your CM data are very good, we'd go with that before we'd rely on a strongly conflicting test-kit prediction result. Better yet, try another practice cycle.....See how long the surge continues to test (OPK) even after you've detected the surge. See how long the surge continues and correlate your results with your CM and BBT findings. Since these tests are expensive you won't want to start using them until you think you are within, say, three days of ovulation during your practice cycles. "
Lots of love and sorry for any small typos!
Cali
Thank you SSSOOO much!!!! You are a doll for typing all of that info for me, it definitely answered my question and I am printing it out as I am typing my BIG thank you to you!!!!!
Throwing LOTS of baby dust your way for helping me so much!
-Donna
ttc#2, c2,2-3dpo
Ahh gosh! No thanks needed. I see you are also trying TTC#2. Just curious how old your first is? Mine is a 6 yr. boy, a little angel.
Cali
ttc #2, 5dpo
Lynn ttc#2,c2,cd5
My DD will be 2 in October. She is SUCH a Mama's girl and I hope when I do get pg and finally have a second child, she can share me some how. Something I worry about even now.
Lynn,
You are also ttc#2, how old is your first??
-Donna
My dd just turned two this past June, I hear what you say about a mama's girl. She has gotten so much better lately though. My sister is getting married out in Arizona next October and I am feeling pressure to get this show on the road. I figure if I'm not preggo in the next few months I will have to put it on hold for a couple of months. Won't be able to travel from FL to AZ in last months of pregnancy and don't want to head out there with a really new newborn. I'm sure if it wasn't that, I would still be putting the pressure on myself for some other reason. Would really like the kids to be three years apart, so that's the other pressure. So glad one more cd has past. Talk to you soon!
Lynn ttc#2,c2,cd6
Sorry, I have been BBQ ing all day today and am now getting to the board. My litle one is 6 (not so little anymore) and he is also a big Mamma's boy. He always wants to know if I have a baby in my tummy yet. I am very excited about having a 2nd child but I do agree with you that I worry about the adjustment of having a sibling. My only saving grace will be that the older one will be in school during the day while adjusting to another baby. I do not feel pregnant at all this month but then again the same went for my 1st pg. Good luck and I will be watching for you this month!
Baby Dust
Cali