How reliable?

katieg520

How reliable are those ovulation testers? The ones that you pee on the stick and it shows whether or not you're ovulating....

lindsayandjamie

Reliable as long as you understand how to read a positive.  They don't work the same as a pregnancy test.  A positive is when the test line is darker than the control line, not just when it the test line is visible.

lilliesandvino

They only show detect LH surge. So, they are accurate in detecting the surge (which is what triggers ovulation) but they cannot tell you if ovulation is triggered or if it actually happens.

RockABye

Depends on the person. For most people, as long as you do them correctly they're pretty reliable. If you have crazy whacked-out hormones like me (thanks PCOS!) they are not reliable b/c you'll get false positives all the time. If you're pretty normal though, they should work just fine though

ILoveRedVino

Ditto RAB. They aren't reliable for me for the PCOS reason.

Sewilson33

I second everything above! You just need to understand how to read the test.

LooneyLife

I think PPs covered it, but it's also worth mentioning that they just don't work for some women.  I think there are a few people on this board that never get positives even though they are still ovulating.

LuckyAngel07

Ditto PPs re: not working so hot for ladies with PCOS but otherwise being pretty spot-on. You also need to catch your surge. Some women have very short surges so they need to test at least twice a day when they're getting close to expected O time. My surge seems to be longer and practically goes right up until the day I O (surge is often 24-28 hours before actually O-ing).

islandmonkey8

OPK's hate me. Not really, my body just likes to fuck with me and give me false hope that I might O.

PP's are right. I'm just in a bad OPK mood today. GL!

brij2006

Just going to ditto what others have said. With PCOS, they weren't valid. The only time it actually showed me a true + was when I O'd on Clomid.

But if your cycles are regular (or close to it), then they should work for you.

Aimothy

I do have PCOS and was still able to get accurate readings on them.  I just never used them that often because my cycles used to be crazy long and I got tired of wasting money checking to see if I was surging yet. 

katieg520

Thanks for letting me know! I was just trying to figure out if they really work. I am still on bcp until March, so I know I'm not ovulating now, lol.

lindsayandjamie

Aimothy said:

I do have PCOS and was still able to get accurate readings on them.  I just never used them that often because my cycles used to be crazy long and I got tired of wasting money checking to see if I was surging yet. 

This is me too.  I may have well been pissing on cash because I get EWCM several times a cycle so I don't bother.

sparklingdiamond

Aimothy said:

I do have PCOS and was still able to get accurate readings on them.  I just never used them that often because my cycles used to be crazy long and I got tired of wasting money checking to see if I was surging yet. 

Same for me.  And I do agree with what the PPs have said that you just have to know how to use them correctly for them to work.  Do you have fairly regular cycles?

katieg520

sparklingdiamond said:

Aimothy said:

I do have PCOS and was still able to get accurate readings on them.  I just never used them that often because my cycles used to be crazy long and I got tired of wasting money checking to see if I was surging yet. 

Same for me.  And I do agree with what the PPs have said that you just have to know how to use them correctly for them to work.  Do you have fairly regular cycles?

Honestly, I can't give that an accurate answer. The last time I was off of bcp was only like two months, so I never got to establish a pattern. I got back on it because I started having really bad acne and I couldn't stand it. Bcp was a good solution, plus, it is a contraceptive.

Before I had my daughter and when my ex-h and I were TTC, my cycles were SO irregular. It was crazy how different my cycles were every month. I'd go from 20 days, to 30 days, to 60 days sometimes. After I had my daughter, I got back on bcp immediately and have been since, minus those two months.

CincodeMayoLove

I was one like Lillies was saying who got an lh surge, therefore positive opk, but when I went to doc wasn't ovulating. That's the exception not the rule however. Use the opk but if you've tried for a year and still nothing, don't be surprised if doc says you aren't ovulating even with (+) opks.