Clear blue fertility monitor test kit

[TrickyBob]

Does anyone use this? They have a bundle of the monitor, 30 tests, and 3 pregnancy tests on Amazon for $209.00 + free shipping for Prime. 

My cycles are so wacky and average 41 days, sometimes 90. My gyno wanted me to temp but we both agree that my sleeping is SO erratic that temping may or may not tell us anything. 

But it's been 2 years and absolutely nothing, that I am willing to drop the money for it, if others like how it works/has ever helped anyone/know of anyone personally it's worked for. 

I know my gyno is pretty "hmmm" about it being 2 years and nothing, my Husband wants to get tested at this point to rule him out too. 

I do have OPK's but for 3 months they've told me nothing and have never darkened. Gyno thinks I'm ovulating sometime but not much. 

It's just frustrating. Erg. 

[lola]

When you say it's been two years and nothing, what does that mean?

The CBFM gets really good reviews and if you're having inconsistent cycles it might be good for you. That said, if you're not sure if you're Oing each month, it's probably time to temp.

OPKs can tell you if you're having an LH surge, but they can't tell you if you O or not. I had a horrible time reading them and finally went to CBE digital. They give me a if I am having my surge. Awesome. lol.

Why is your sleep pattern so inconsistent? Do you work different schedules each week?


TrickyBob - I'm tagging you because it can be slower over here. And I want you to come back and clarify. Your posts have me confused. lol.

[pooh8402]

I'm confused too. If I had been TTC for 2 years and my doctor is ho hum, I'd be finding a new doctor.

Also requesting clarification on the sleep schedule. I also have an erratic sleep schedule and still manage successful temping.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using proboards

[TrickyBob]

He isn't ho hum really, he's more "hmm, this is the first time I am seeing you, I need you to do this and in 3 to 4 months, I need you to bring me back temps before I start in on medications". It's a totally new doctor. I hadn't been to a gyno in the past 2 years, but we've been trying with the whole "let nature take its course" for 2 years.  ETA: I do have endo issues, which is another thing he is helping me with, and he said if I'm not in a hurry of "must be pregnant ASAP" but can give him a few months, he wants to do the natural seeing of am I ovulating? etc. Before jumping right to medications. I only started seeing this new place in March.

As for sleeping, I DO temp, don't get me wrong. I do it but some nights I sleep from 4am to 12pm. Some days from 8am to 3pm. Some days from 8pm to 6:30am. I'm all over the place. Which, I like I said, he said it won't give as clear of a picture as someone who has a concrete routine but he told me to keep temping because it will show us something; at least.

ETA: My sleep is shit in general, it's another item I will have to tick off the "need to see a dr about" list. It's been like this since I was a teenager. 

[lola]

Ok. Temping is about your BBT which your body can reach after three to four hours of sleep. So, it doesn't necessarily matter what times you're sleeping, just that after you're getting a good window of sleep you're tracking your temp. If you do this carefully, and daily, you should see a shift. Remember that each day tells you nothing - what you're looking for is what your chart shapes up like after a whole cycle and even more importantly after three or four cycles of temping.

As for your doctor, I'm not sure he's wrong in his thinking but I think you need to be your biggest advocate right now. If you've really been not trying but not avoiding for twenty four cycles, you should probably have at least gotten pregnant by now.

I'd recommend you start temping, charting, and using OPKs. Keep track of all of this information for a few cycles. This is really important since you have such inconsistent (and very long) cycles. It's not going to do you any good to assume you O on day 14 if you're having 41 day cycles. I guess if I were you I'd start using OPKs on day 10 and use them every day until a positive. Get the digital ones, they're way easier (IMHO).

Start doing some research. "Starting on meds" isn't really a good answer, or a good approach. I think I'd be more comfortable if he said, "Do this for three to four months, then let's meet to discuss." Jumping right to meds isn't really a good idea, IMO. If you're not ovulating, there are meds for that. If you're ovulating, but just timing your sex wrong (which is super easy to do with a cycle of that length) there is no med to help you.

Have your read Taking Charge of Your Fertility? If not, grab a copy. Pretty boring - like reading a text book - but very informative.

Good luck.


ETA  -  your doctor is a GYN, right? If not, go see a GYN. It's a good idea to have a full check up before TTC particularly since you've gone so long w/o consistent medical care.

[TrickyBob]

Lola;

Yah he is a gyn so is she, I have two. It's a fancy office, lol.

I've read the books, I've read over the charting stuff, I have a friend I discuss charting with (she did natural family planning then got pregnant).

My confusion always comes from "no, you need to temp at exactly the same time" to "naw, as long as you get 3 to 4o hours of sleep you're good". I track with FF and all the open circles from not temping at the same time. I might switch to paper because of that reason.

The medications he wanted to do were to make me ovulate, AFTER looking at temping, because we discussed all that and the options and I, myself, chose temping and coming back to him for him to look over everything and discuss the next course of action.

I have been using OPK's for awhile now but they never darken to the control line, which was another reason he wanted me to temp. He said I can keep going ahead with the OPK but to temp as well.

But I thought maybe the clearblue would be a bit, simpler? Instead of dippin' OPKs a few times a day for 40 some days.

I have a loooong crappy medical history so trust me when I say, I AM advocating for myself.

[lola]

Well, I'll give you that you're way more patient than me. The two year mark was not an easy mark for me to get to.

I would worry more about getting a chart than getting your temp at the same time every day. I hate the open blue circles too, but it's ok. Paper works too, but damn - that's tedious.

Like I said before, I've read very good things about the CBFM. I'm sure you've read the reviews on Amazon - the people that have used it swear by it.

[awick14]

I sleep at random times like you do, I work shift work, and I still manage to get a temp shift. I do have a lot of open circles but they don't bug me at all.

[thoseareradishes]

I don't put in a time when I record my temp, so no open circles! I just temp whenever I wake up in the night. I've gotten a temp shift almost every cycle. I figure it is better then nothing.

[Cricket0619]

This will be my third month using the monitor and I like it. It gives you a bigger window of time for when you are fertile and so I feel a little more relaxed using it rather then the opks.

[simpsongal]

I've heard very good things about the CBFM. Since the OPKs are not working, I would probably buy one if I were you. Definitely get your DH tested - an SA is very easy and insurance should pay for it if you've been trying for over a year. Have you guys tried an EOD approach?

I encourage you to give temping a shot. Have you found any reliable signs or symptoms in your cycle ? Even physical ones? CM? I think it's different for everyone. CM isn't particularly reliable for me but I get some very obvious physical symptoms pre and post O.

[pooh8402]

May 5, 2013 20:57:04 GMT -5 lola said:

Ok. Temping is about your BBT which your body can reach after three to four hours of sleep. So, it doesn't necessarily matter what times you're sleeping, just that after you're getting a good window of sleep you're tracking your temp. If you do this carefully, and daily, you should see a shift. Remember that each day tells you nothing - what you're looking for is what your chart shapes up like after a whole cycle and even more importantly after three or four cycles of temping.

As for your doctor, I'm not sure he's wrong in his thinking but I think you need to be your biggest advocate right now. If you've really been not trying but not avoiding for twenty four cycles, you should probably have at least gotten pregnant by now.

I'd recommend you start temping, charting, and using OPKs. Keep track of all of this information for a few cycles. This is really important since you have such inconsistent (and very long) cycles. It's not going to do you any good to assume you O on day 14 if you're having 41 day cycles. I guess if I were you I'd start using OPKs on day 10 and use them every day until a positive. Get the digital ones, they're way easier (IMHO).

Start doing some research. "Starting on meds" isn't really a good answer, or a good approach. I think I'd be more comfortable if he said, "Do this for three to four months, then let's meet to discuss." Jumping right to meds isn't really a good idea, IMO. If you're not ovulating, there are meds for that. If you're ovulating, but just timing your sex wrong (which is super easy to do with a cycle of that length) there is no med to help you.

Have your read Taking Charge of Your Fertility? If not, grab a copy. Pretty boring - like reading a text book - but very informative.

Good luck.


ETA  -  your doctor is a GYN, right? If not, go see a GYN. It's a good idea to have a full check up before TTC particularly since you've gone so long w/o consistent medical care.

ITA with the bolded. like I said, I have a very erratic sleep schedule. I work night shifts, so sometimes I wake up at 2 pm, sometimes at 4 pm, sometimes I wake at 6 am or like today, woke up at 11 am. if you look in my siggy, you can see my charts and all of them have more open circles than closed circles. but I still see a pattern, a temp shift, with my cycles.

and TCOYF is an excellent resource.

[lo]

My doc wanted to test me and MH before a year was up due to my wacky cycles and some other symptoms, including opk results (or lack thereof).

Honestly I do not understand at all why you aren't insisting on getting tested after 2 years. I got all my testing and MH's SA done in 2 days. Quick and easy. Now we have a better picture and we can forward bettter informed. Testing doesn't mean medication.

My doc isn't concerned with temping really, which is good news for me because I hate doing it, lol.

[Deleted]

Yeah I am really curious. When you say 2 years, is that with a lot of timed sex (like EOD-every other day, or every time you have EWCM) or were you guys just having sex whenever?

Another thing is..if you have never darkened an opk in 2 years, I would be worried about hormone levels, which a fertility monitor might not be able to read either. I am surprised you haven't had blood tests. You may not have ovulated at all in the past 2 years.

I don't want to alarm you or anything, but I would be pretty concerned after 2 years. Please read TCOYF or the information on fertility friend. com about charting and ovulation.

[lo]

I also think most doctors run standard tests whether you temp/chart or not. You might be doing a lot of work and still have to go through the same tests in a couple months if you don't get a BFP.

[papie]

I just wanted to add that I tried the CBEFM a few years ago and it didn't work in long cycles. The longest it could take was 45. I don't know if they changed that, but if not, don't wAste your money. I usd it for two months and then gave up.

[papie]

Oh I just realized you've been TTC for 2 years. I would get tested, go see an RE. We did all the testing after about a year. They didn't find anything but at least ruled out other causes before putting me on clomid.
Good luck!

[TrickyBob]

Apparently I'm bad at checking this board;

I'm going to ask them to do a blood test when I go back and really get into it. It's a good office but I think I might have been too lax in my "let's do all natural first" and I'm thinking he might have taken that as me wanting to do the temping and such. I don't know. But I will ask! And if he gives me a wishy washy answer or doesn't seem to care, I will absolutely change offices. Part of me thinks since he is also trying to figure out the endo stuff, that he might have a larger plan for asking me to temp. I guess I could see him wanting to know if I ovulate this month, what the temps are like, how long the cycle. Beats me.

I think I also settled on buying the clearblue easy digital ovulation kit, the one that gives the smiley faces. I'd rather invest $40 than $209.00 at the moment.