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Progesterone after ovulation

I am using progesterone for 10days each cycle starting after ovulation. If I test negative I must stop and try again another cycle. How soon after a positive opk is best to start? This cycle I started 3 days after, but already started spotting by day 3. I had a chemical pregnany in February.

4 Answers • 5 years ago


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Do you temp? You could always confirm O after a positive opk and a temp rise. This cycle I ovulated the day after my positive opk, so 2 days after would have been ok for me.


Mill

5 years ago


I usually ovulate the same day my LH surge is detected. I read the time frame can shorten as you get older (e.g. if you are in your 20s you may actually ovulate 48 hours after you detect the surge but in your 40s it can be the same day). I think the only way for you to know is if you are temping, so i hope you are able to do that. If you are then on the third day you get an elevated temp you could start using the supplement. So sorry about your chemical. Good luck this month!

5 years ago


Thank you all. How do you measure if you temp? I have never used that method.

5 years ago • Post starter


I'm copying a post that I made to another user about a month ago who asked about temping. Here is my response to her:

Temping is not at all difficult and you will get a hang of it quickly. First of all, go to the drug store and buy a basal body thermometer (maybe you can find one on amazon). It's just like a normal digital thermometer (in fact, i use a plain CVS digital thermometer and it works fine). At the pharmacy you'll find it with the pregnancy tests and ovulation kits. It will cost you about $10-15. Make sure you're using an app to document your temperatures. Most people here use Fertility Friend which is also what i use. You can download the app on your phone. You can get a free trial for a few months to try it out and after that it costs about $10 a month i think. You can use a free app, but i find you get a lot more info from Fertility Friend (we refer to it sometimes as "FF"). You can also track your temps on this site (Countdown to Pregnancy or "CTP"). Go to your profile on CTP and you can add your temps there daily. I find FF is a little more accurate, but CTP is pretty close and it's free!

Ok, now you're ready to start. Set your alarm for the time you want to get up every day. It needs to be the exact same time every day (this is hard for some people depending on their schedules). You need to get at least 3 hours of sleep before you wake up (for example, if you normally wake up at 6 am and you woke up to use the bathroom at 5 am and then went back to sleep, your temp at 6 am when you wake again may be inaccurate!). FF is nice because it automatically records the time on the app as you enter it on your phone so it will let you know if your time is off. You can discard temps in FF if you think they are not representative due to lack of sleep or some other factor (like if you have a fever for example). Also, if your bedroom is especially cold or hot or if you breathe with your mouth open during your sleep, these factors can throw off your temps. So, wake up at your time and don't do ANYTHING before you put that thermometer in your mouth. Don't drink water or get up until you've taken your temp (don't even sit up in bed). Take your temp and record it and then you're done! You can take your temp orally or vaginally, your choice just do it the same way every time. Vaginal temps are higher than oral temps, in general.
It will take at least one cycle for you to see your body's specific patterns. But in general, you will see lower temps on the first day of your cycle and then the day after ovulation, your temp will jump half to a full degree above your pre-O temps. Once FF detects three days of elevated temps, it will draw some imaginary red lines on your chart. The horizontal line is called "coverline" and the vertical line will appear on O day. If the lines are dotted, that means FF is not sure about your O date. Temps pre-O will be below coverline and temps post-O will be above coverline. As your next period approaches, your temp will drop back down to coverline or below which is how you will know AF is coming.

Some people see what's called a Luteal Phase dip which can happen anywhere from 6-12 DPO where your temp drops for one day below coverline after O. Some people think this is a dip that occurs when implantation happens, but i've had a dip even during non-pregnant cycles. I actually believe its a second estrogen surge that causes that dip. Your temp will jump back up the following morning. Just know that the "implantation dip" may or may not be a thing and doesn't always mean implantation has occurred.

Don't forget to record your secondary signs in your FF app (or whatever app you use) including OPK test results and symptoms. This will help FF predict a realistic O date for you on your subsequent cycles especially if your temps are fluctuating a lot. You will still need to monitor your secondary fertility signs (CM, CP, OPK) because FF will only tell you AFTER you have O'd and can't really tell you when it's going to happen so you can BD ahead of it. Also know that every person and every cycle is different so it won't be the same every month (even your cover line can jump around from cycle to cycle and that means nothing). One month i O'd a whole week late and i wouldn't have known that without taking my temp. I would have thought my period was a week late. This is because your folicular phase (the phase before O) can vary each cycle. The luteal phase (after O) will generally be the same every month. It's typically 14 days but can vary less or more. For example, my LP is 16 days exactly every month.

One more thing....make sure you count your first full day of flow as CD1 on your app. You may spot for 1-2 days before the AF full flow starts and if you count those days as CD1, it will throw everything else off. I made that mistake on my first couple of charts. The rule i read is that if your flow starts after 3 pm on a day, you should count the following day as CD1.

5 years ago


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