Can someone tell me about OPKs please

[Mrs Dolphin]

Ok so as the title says can someone please tell me about OPK. Are they worth getting - are they reliable?

Also, is is better to go to the chemist and get them or are the ones you can buy in bulk off Ebay just as good?

I have decided I need to start knowing when I O as we want to TTC#2 around August and I would like to get a good idea of my cycle before then. I have been off the pill since August last year with a regular 32 or 33 day cycle but all of a sudden the last couple of months have jumped out to 41 or more day cycle and am not sure why. I also want to make sure that I am actually ovulating!

If I need to see a doc about it all I would rather know what is happening with my body first!

Any info would be great thanks!

[sniper wolf]

I get mine from mum's the one dot com. I get 25 of them for $18 and they work really well. fully recommended from me.

[bgbgbb]

I got mine from lullaby conceptions. I cannot rely on the temp method as 4 young kids equals a lot of broken sleep. But opk's gave me, with a 12 hour variance, a very good idea that a) I was ovulating and b) when I ovulated. I found that trying to temp just before and just after ovulation helped to confirm this.

One tip, when you're suspecting you may be about to test positive, test twice a day. It's not recommended to test first thing in the morning as it takes up to 4 hours for the luteinising hormone to register in your urine, but maybe test at 10am and mid-evening. Sometimes the surge opk's detect only happens over a number of hours, so you might miss it if you only test once a day (I by chance tested in the morning and got the surge, but when I tested back at my 'regular' time of 4pm it came up negative, so just as well I tested twice).