I have the cheap test strips you can buy in bulk and also these ones. I used the cheap ones for my first cycle and was happy with those. I actually meant to cancel the order of these but it was too late as they were already dispatched so I just decided to double up and used the cheap strips you have to read yourself as well as these fancy CB ones. Reading all the instructions initially it seemed a bit overwhelming and complex but it's not at all. It tells you to test using the first urine of the morning or after your longest sleep. You remove the test/cassette from the strip and insert it into the holder/reader. There is a cap on it to remove when you are ready and you can either pee directly on the absorbent tip or collect it in a clean pot and dip it in there until the icon on the screen starts flashing. Then you replace the cap over the absorbent tip and it will give you a result after 5 mins. A circle means very low/no chance of conception on that day, a flashing smiley face means high fertility and a fixed smiley face means you're at peak fertility and your most fertile. The face stays on the reader for 48 hours so you have 48 hours to really go for it.
I have used it over two cycles so far. First cycle I went from low fertility to about 4/5 days of high fertility, then to the 2 days of peak fertility. Which really gave us the incentive and kick up the backside to get busy knowing that we weren't going to be wasting our time and having a stab in the dark. We felt much more reassured that we were on track with our goal. This was a longer than usual cycle for me (about 35 days) and so I think I ovulated late and that's why I had so many peak fertility days,
My second cycle I went straight from low fertility to peak fertility. I didn't have any high fertility days. My peak fertility was day 13 of my cycle which would tie in with my regular cycle length, so I think if your cycle is more than 28/29 days you may not get any high fertility days.
When you read the instructions, it tells you on what day of your cycle you should start using the tests so that you get a baseline and the reader can determine when you peak. So it's really important to read them properly because your average cycle length or most recent shortest cycle length determine what day you start testing.
These tests are expensive, there's no doubt about it but having used them the last 2 cycles I think they are worth the expenditure. It keeps me and my partner on track, we both know where I am in my cycle and so we can concentrate our efforts. I only have 4 strips left after 2 cycles and I don't know if that will be enough to get me through a third cycle so I have just ordered some more as I don't want to be without them. Hopefully we will be successful eventually, but it looks like we are heading for IVF. I have around 3 months before I get going with that so in the meantime I will keep using these and hope for the best. At least with these we know we are increasing my chances of success. If you can afford it, I would recommend these over the cheap ones just because they can give you those extra days to try and conceive and they really do take the guesswork out of reading the result
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