When do you start ovulation test strips?

[peach]

I used the ovulation sticks this month and never got a positive one. I am so frustrated.

I am wondering if I missed the right week to test?? I have a 32-35 day long cycle. What day of my cycle should I start testing? I don't temp but according to my tracker app this was the week I was likely to ovulate, and I also had ovulation pains, so I was pretty sure this was the right week.

I tested twice a day, never got more than a light second line. The strips are really expensive even from Amazon here, so I feel like I am just wasting them.

[curlylocks]

I chart so I know when I am expected to ovulate and start ~3 days before my earliest O date. Are you using the Wondfos?

[sarack]

i do the same a curlylocks.

[peach]

I can't find a thermometor so I don't temp.

I do use fertility friend, and I track my ovulation cramping and cm, so I have a pretty good idea of the span of days where I must ovulate. It's around day 20-23 so I started taking the strips at day 18 and took them through day 24 and still nothing.

[curlylocks]

What time of day were you testing?

[laylarue]

My cycles are around 32 days or so. I start test around CD10.

[mypalbabs]

OP - Where are you living that Wondfos on Amazon cost more and you can't find a thermometer?

[kmac]

When I first started charting, I would use OPKs from a few days after my period stopped because I had no idea when I O'd. Now that I have a better handle on things, I start using them a few days before my earliest O. It's not really necessary at this point I guess since I am being monitored and triggering - but I still do it.

I also use them multiple times a day, sometimes 3 times when I know I should O any minute and I haven't caught my surge yet.

GL!

[peach]

I live in Canada. It was almost $40 with shipping for the wondofo strips, which is fine but I don't want to use all 40 strips in one month and have to pay $40 every month just because I'm doing it wrong.

I've checked my local pharmacy, no thermometor. Checked in the town over, none there. Checked at the Walmart that was over an hour drive away, none there. I think next cycle I will just order one online.
Honestly I've never heard of temping until the nest.

[mypalbabs]

ahh, the shipping. Yeah, that will get you. (I'm so accustomed to being an Amazon prime member I'm immune to shipping costs.)

The thermometer thing is weird. Don't people get fevers in Canadia? (Or is it that you can't find the BBT kind. It's probably that.)

I had no clue about any of this stuff until the nest/bump either.

[kmac]

Peach, that is weird about the thermometer. I am in Canada also and have had no issue finding them at Shoppers Drug Mart and Walmart (although the latter's selection sucks). Shipping is a b!tch I agree. GL! : )

[auroraloo]

You don't HAVE to have a BBT therm, a regular one will work just as well. You should still be able to see a temp shift.

How long are your cycles normally? I would count backwards 16 days from the last day of your average cycle and start OPKs that day. So if your cycle is normally 28 days, I would start OPKs on day 12. If your cycle is normally 30 days, I would start on day 14, does that make sense? ETA: I'm an idiot and you gave your cycle length. I would start testing on Day 16 or 17 of your cycle, sorry for missing that.

The other thing I would do is test more than once a day, once they start getting darker. Many women have such a short surge that they miss their positive test because their surge is only on a certain day.

So, I would get any thermometer, BBT or regular, start temping and charting (and throw away the app that is most likely useless, unless it's a good one) and once your OPKs get darker, test twice a day. GL!