I never ever get a true positive opk! Other opk misfits?!

Hi All,

I've noticed a couple of new opk threads today & I thought I'd throw my two cents worth into the forum.

This is my opk story, so far.

I started using opk's mid 2006. The first month I just couldn't get a positive which was pretty upsetting and my mind raced with thoughts of troubled ttc ahead. Then my usual cycle length came and went. I almost had AF three times from day 30 onwards but then the spotting and cramps would stop. In the end I had a 40 day cycle. That was the first time EVER that I've had a cycle longer than 31days. I've never had problems with my af so it was ironic that the very month we finally decide to ttc, the cycle was so long and the actual af was sooo heavy. It completely freaked me out!

I figured that the stress & obsessive opk quest had caused me not to ovulate.
My doctor agreed. I gave opk's a rest. My Doc sent me off to a ob/gynie who told me there was nothing wrong, he looked at my ultrsound and said that I do ovulate, he could see that clearly. I've had two ultrasounds since ttc and both saw that I was about to ovulate or had just ovulated.

I got back into opks when we didnt fall pg after a few more cycles. It has been a further 6 cycles, gave them a break over xmas but otherwise used them each month. I have still never had a true positive.

However, I have a theory, I really think that the manufacturers may have it wrong and some women only ever get a dark line but not as dark as the control. I also get a fade in with the test line getting progressively darker towards ov. Fertility friend and other indicators seem to agree with me.
Plus I usually have ov pain.

I know you are supposed to disregard dark 2nd lines unless they are as dark or darker than the control line but I have found that those dark lines do actually line up with my ov day. I test twice a day now which has helped too plus I switched from fortel (pricey) to lullabyconceptions.com (fantastic!).

I still use them but I have recently started temping (though that has affected my sleep pattern a bit) along with cm observation which I've always done and it gives me more confidence.

I guess opks are quite exciting and all information helps. We all want control, eh?

I'm trying to relax but it is sooo hard.

A bit of a rambling message.

Does anyone else share my frustration at being a opk misfit?

Cheers, sassba

Sassba,Hi there this is Penny.
You have described my life with the OPK tests to a T! I have been TTC since Oct.12th
06 my self. Started taking Clomid this month on my CD's 5thru 9 and started using the OPK tests on day 13 till present with no luck,my AF usually comes every 23 days but now I'm a little confused and these tests are wearing on my nerves,one time I look it looks pos. the next it looks neg. My temps have stayed pretty much 97.7 to 97.3 this cycle. Today I'm on cycle day 20 and my temp was 97.3 this a.m. I wish I knew what day I was going to O.It seems like I want to BD but then I pray that in the a.m. that my temps would just go up and stay up!AAARRRGGGG!!! So far they have not.
Calm-how do I stay calm trying to get this right? My DF says to just take it one day at a time...easy for him to say,LOL! I swear I need those tests that have a smiley face if it's pos. and a frown if it's neg. I "use" to say who can't read a test? Well it's me..I know that now. So I guess I'm a OPK misfit also.
Goodluck with your TTC,hopefully soon you won't need those tests.
Try not to stress....I know easier said than done.Same here!
Have a great day,

I'm just starting to use okps and last Saturday had a 'nearly but not quite as dark' test line. The next day the line was barely visible and then the next day faded completely. I had no other signes that I'd O'd, so I took it as a negative and further tests were also clearly negative. So I began to wonder if I had O'd. Tested at about 12 noon yesterday with Fortel and completely negative - no second line - but then tested at about 4pm in the afternoon with Confirm and got a very clear second line - although still not stronger than the C line. I'm going to continue with Confirm and see how that works for me.
I've recently come off the pill and have no idea what my cycle is (so far have not had a regular on) so for me so it's very much still the learning phase.
Good luck

Hey guys. I didn't get any positive OPKs when I used them to test for O - the only positive I got was when I used them to see if I was pregnant. Hopefully you will get your BFPs soon. All the best.

I am in the same situation. I have never gotten a true positive and its really depressing!

I am using up my last two opks then changing to temping. Its terribly frustrating as I have been ttc for almost 6 months now, with no hint of a positive opk! I have a stupid 22 day cycle that sometimes goes 24 days. I have NO idea when I ovulate now and feel pretty defeated that I'm not rejoicing over a +HPT yet! I'm 26 and was on the pill for a good 12 years or so...

Sashba I am another OPK misfit. I never ever got a positive OPK. I could get a second line no problems but never got a true positive. I used two to three a day from the day after AF finished until I got AF next. Even the cycle I fell pg I still didn't not get a positive OPK. So don't worry if you don't get a true positive cause you can still be ovulating just fine.
Good Luck.

Yes, I have had poor luck with OPKs. My last DD was conceived in a month when I never got a dark line!

Thanks so much for all your replies,

I am not the only one which is quite reassuring, especially you lucky ones who conceived in months where opk's never gave a positive result!! yey!

As I said in my first post, I really think my ovulation was delayed due to the stress the first month I used opk's, thinking perhaps I never O'd but in fact they probably caused me not to O until well after I had given up testing. ahhhrg!

Now I am starting to know that I need to test more times a day around my expected O day, up to 4 or even five once I see darkening line, it is less stressful. I know I do O (luckily).

Does anybody else count their darkest 2nd line as postive? I find that it does seem to correspond with other indicators ie charting and mc.
I know everyone says a dark line is only positive if it is darker than the control but I beg to differ despite the manufacturers advice.

Looking forward to your opinions.

Gee this is theraputic!

thanks, sassba

I got 3 days of strong lines last week, but still technically a negative -(although 1 line on a different brand was much paler) and then now my second line is almost not there. FF has said I O'd last Tuesday - so I think I may have missed it. So based on this - I am wondering if my 2nd lines were in fact positive. Will wait to see.

Hi starting out,

Thats what I would think! After all if fertility friend thinks you o'd around the same time you got darker lines it makes sense.
Good luck in two weeks time or so!

sassba

I finally got my positive OPK test today,CD26! Iwas so excited...YIPEEE!!!
Ok settle down hummmmm...Is it too late for me to get preggo this cycle?
I started AF on 3/1 took 100mg of Clomid CD5 thru 9 and then started OPK tests CD13
thru today and finally got the positive.My temps have stayed pretty much the same 97.8 97.5 with the exception this morning it was 96.6...any clues? I want a baby soooo bad and now I'm just as confused as b4. Any help would be great!
Thanks a bunch!