Really dumb OPK question.

[Smitten]

With the urine OPK's the instructions say when it is positive that ovulation could happen 'within' the next 24 to 36 hours. What does that mean?

Does it mean it could happen in one hour or in 36 hours??? Or sometime in between??

My head is so full of information about TTC that my brain cant think properly anymore:dizzy:

[Craftymum]

Correct, it will happen anytime in the next 36 hours and the egg generally hangs around for 12 hours. If you temp you will know you have ovulated when your temperture rises and stays high for 3 days in a row.

[lilbird]

hello! I too get a bit confused with the OPKs - and CM! I udnerstand that when the OPK is positive, ovulation will occur within 12-36 hours. What I get confused about is the CM! sorry if its TMI - but i notice that a day or 2 before i get the positive OPK i have loads of stretchy egg white CM - i dont get it at the same time as the positive OPK ??
Is this normal??

[MEKISS]

Lilbird- that is totally normal & nothing to worry about.

Sperm really needs to close to or in the fallopian tube before the egg is released. Sperm can last for up to 5 days & the egg white cm helps them to get to the fallopian tube faster & also nourish it as well.

[maybe1more]

Its not a dumb question. It can be a bit confusing. When i get a + on my OPK i can sometime o later that day or the next day. So its within the time frame. As long as you bding then you`ll be fine :)

[Jaawest]

I am also having trouble this month. I started using OPK and i am temping but i am only CD15 i have EW CM and my temps are still the same. I was only doing OPK in the late afternoon and have been getting a faint line over the past few days. someone told me to test in the late morning as well when your about to ovulate so i did that yesterday and got a postitive.
But when i tested later in the afternoon got a negative again. Was it that it was too concertrated in the morning? was it a quick surge? why haven't my temp dipped or gone up?
Is it true that if i have a faint line over a few days that i could have a hormone imbalance?
Sorry thought OPK were going to help but very confused. Any help would be gret... thanks

[Jolea1]

Jaawest I'm new to the OPK thing myself but from what I understand you can get faint lines on any day and that's normal as we always have some LH in us but if you get constant positive/dark lines then it can be a hormonal problem. I think in some cases you can get a fade in and/or fade out pattern too. FMU isn't recommended. I got some internet cheapies so I've started doing a morning (second urine) and a late arvo test to make sure I catch the surge (figure it could be sort at my age!).

[treasurehim]

CM - It is sticky in the days LEADING UP TO ovulation. CM will stop at the time (about 12 hrs) of ovulation. And as people have mentioned, this is the fertile CM, getting you ready for O, but it doesnt mean that you are ovulating at the time.

OPKs - They detect the LH surge, which rises before Ovulation. So a positive test means that O is approaching. I had positives once for 2.5days, so now I test 3 times a day when I get a positive, and I know O is going to happen when the positives stop.

BBT- I generally get a steeper dip, followed by a higher temp that arrives on the day of Ov. The only problem with this, is that you usually cant tell that this was the pattern, until looking back on it.. Good to keep track of your cycles though.

If you are tracking your cycles each month, you may notice other signs... eg I get pimples around ovulation, and also around my period. Which sounds like I have them all the time haha, but they actually go away in between!

[treasurehim]

Jaawest I'm new to the OPK thing myself but from what I understand you can get faint lines on any day and that's normal as we always have some LH in us but if you get constant positive/dark lines then it can be a hormonal problem. I think in some cases you can get a fade in and/or fade out pattern too.

Must vary, because when I get negative OPKS, they are very negative!
My positives start off faint and get stronger as I catch Ov.

I'm a pee stick hugger :)