online about 6 months ago but gave up on them as my cycles were outrageously long and even at .99 a strip I didn't feel 20-30 per cycle was a good investment.However, now that I'm having a decent cycle length (no more than 32 days) I thought I'd give it a whirl. They can be very useful as one of the few things that can predict ovulation rather than confirm it after the fact.
In reading the instructions for an OPK they instruct to hold your urine at least 4 hours before testing and that the best time to test is around noon. Many of my cohorts on the forums suggest testing twice per day to ensure you don't miss an evening surge, but it is inadvisable to test after 8-10pm.
I knew these things but was only half-heartedly testing. Yesterday, according to my chart, my temp started to rise and today it's a full 3/10ths of a degree higher than the the highest of my last 6 temps. I am hopeful that insh'allah (God-willing) my temps will continue to rise or stay at that level and ovulation will be confirmed.
If that's the case, then did my OPKs fail me? I wasn't making sure that I held my urine a full 4 hours nor attended to the times I took the test...it might have only been the same time two days at most. Also, I may have taken a few outside the recommended time period.
Taking all of these factors into account I would say that it is user failure, not test failure. But then again, one or two high temps does not guarantee ovulation and it could be that my temps will drop again tomorrow. However, if I have ovulated according to my temps, will I choose to continue using OPKs?
If I have ovulated, this would give me the belief that I CAN and I would attempt to be more diligent in the use of the test strips and follow directions. If I found it too difficult for the luxury of knowing in advance that I am ovulating, then I may not buy anymore, however, as I do have some left, I might as well give it a whirl!
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