scan showed follicles but no positive opk?
11 Replies
chandellina - October 25

here's one for the ovulation experts out there! i am on my first cycle of clomid and had a scan on cd12 (two days ago) showing multiple follicles and which my dr said should produce one or two eggs within 48 hours or so. i felt twinges on and off for several hours yesterday but so far no positive opk. is it possible there's no egg, or maybe my opks suck? i'm using a drugstore brand for the first time this month. the opk yesterday was darker than today but nowhere near the test line. so have i probably already o'd? i'm not scheduled to have a day 21 progesterone test but maybe i should ask for one?? last month i o'd just fine on my own but the previous month appeared to be anovulatory based on the progesterone test. (though my temps still rose like clockwork from when i thought i'd o'd!) it's all so damned confusing, hoping for any insight!!! i've been ttc since march, when i had a miscarriage for the second time.

 

linds99 - October 25

You need to elaborate more. Did your doctor give you the sizes of the follicles on cycle day 12? If he did, you can determine that follicles grow on average 2 mm per day. Dominant follicles, ones that are assumed to be nurtured and luteinized the most, take center stage and then are assumed to be holding viable eggs for release. Doctors like to see Clomid eggs mature to at least 18-20 mm before they are deemed "complete". However, being on clomid sometimes screws up your luteinizing surge, so your doctor shuold be measuring your estrogen levels because those surge rapidly right before ovulation occurs. I never get a positive reading with OPKs on medicated cycle, thus the reason why my doctor opts to give me the HCG shot to assist in the luteinization and release of the egg. If you are temping, that will give you a small clue as to when you possibly ovulated, maybe better than an OPK.

 

chandellina - October 25

thanks for answering, and that's reassuring to know the clomid may be affecting the opks. i didn't get the exact measurements on the follicles but i know they were somewhere around that 18-20mm range. if i don't get pregnant this month i'll ask him about measuring my estrogen. i will keep temping too, but it has been confusing in the past to have clear temp rises and then be told my progesterone level was extremely low.

 

Lucky717 - October 25

Hi linds99 - thanks for all your helpful info you have provided to all of us. I have read several of your posts and you seem to be able to break things down well & explain to us. I have a question for you. I went for ultrasound today. I am on Femara 5 mg. This is my first cycle on it. My RE put me on Ovidrel. Is that what you are on to make you ovulate? I have to do the shot Friday a.m. My follie on my right side measured in today at 18 mm. I've also heard that about Clomid as well. I was on Clomid for two cycles and then decided to switch because of the side effects. I would love for you to weigh in on this for me. Thanks and baby dust to you girl!

 

Tink - October 25

did he give you a trigger shot? that is how they ensure or do their best to make sure i actually do ovulate. it is possible to have follies that don't release eggs though. my last 2 cycles, i had 7 follies both times and only 4 released eggs. we know that because they do a sono the day after the insemination to see which and how many follies ovulated. since i am being monitored so closely (these are IUI cycles), i don't temp or use OPKs. they are doing so many sonos, that we can carefully monitor where i am at and if i have ovulated etc. Just ask if they can monitor you more closely. good luck!

 

linds99 - October 26

Chandellina, your progesterone may be low because you are either estrogen dominant, or, you had a luteinized unruptured follicle, which occurs when your follicles mature but actually don't release (to create a powerful corpus luteum to generate solid progesterone). LUFs are common, especially women going through treatments, they occur alot but most doctors don't "recognize" them, they just call it 'anovulation'. Anyway, your blood can say "you ovulated" based on progesterone and estrogen levels in the luteal phase, but the only sure way to know for sure that the egg was released was via ultrasound...and that will reveal the corpus luteum...but most doctor's are not doing the ultrasound, they just check progesterone.

 

linds99 - October 26

Lucky717, You have an 18 today, which will probably be a 20 tomorrow and a 22 Friday...that is a super mature/quality egg size. Good luck to you this Friday!! I haven't done Femara, however, I have heard that it is more effective then clomid, women develop better eggs with it without causing the estrogen dominance issue and thinning out the lining of the uterus. It sounds like a fantastic cycle for you! I actually believe that having less mature eggs are better in some aspects, because having too many at the same time crowds the ovary and may actually impair ovulation or complicating the eggs from being swept up into the tube. So, with one good egg, that is all you need right!

 

Lucky717 - October 26

Hi Linds99 - Thanks for the insight. My RE wants to continue with Femara for 2 more cycles so I will have 3 cycles on it total. my next question is how do I know if there is an egg or eggs in that follicle that they measured today? Is it true that there can be one two or at the most three eggs in a follicle or it could be nothing more than just fluid? So it's kinda like a gamble as to what you'll get? Just trying to understand this.

 

linds99 - October 26

Just one egg in a follicle...and sometimes, the follicle is empty too, filled with a mixture of hormonal fluids. Nobody really knows for sure though...they can't, the egg is so small, it is impossible to give 100% verification on that. But you have to assume that there is an egg in those mature follicles. Really, good luck to you this cycle, I hope that Femara works for you and you only have to use it once!

 

MollieJo - October 26

Try a different OPK brand. I never showed positive with the store brand but I would get a positive like clockwork on CD16 with the Answer brand. I think they are around $20 for 7 tests but they are SO MUCH easier to read.

 

hoping - October 26

Hi Chandellina! From my own experience, I have found that I can be negative in the AM, positive mid-afternoon, and negative by bedtime again! I tested in the afternoon on a whim this past month - good thing I did because I would have missed it! I've heard many stories of people who have to test multiple times throughout the day to catch the peak. Good luck!

 

chandellina - October 26

thanks ladies for your advice and answers. if i have to opk again next month i will try doing it a couple times a day. i've been testing around 6:00-7:00 pm, not entirely consistent with the timing and also maybe drinking too much water during the four hour wait. so ... i am assuming i o'd around tuesday/wednesday because 1. had mature follicles on scan monday, 2. had strong twinges tuesday and 3. lines on opk seemed darker monday and tuesday, lighter wednesday. no line on opk today. also my temps have been slowly rising since tuesday. baby dust to all...

 

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