Temperature charting and nocturia question

[keydawn]

Hi all,

I've started charting my basal body temperatures this month to try and better understand my cycle. My question to all is this, will I be able to get accurate temperature readings when I have to get up to urinate during the night (I usually wake up about 1-2.5 hours before the alarm goes off)?

So far my temperatures have been all over the place. Even though I believe from other indications that I ovulated last week, I can't tell at all with the temperatures. :confused:

I know I haven't been doing it long enough to know, but those of you with experience- is this really an appropriate method for those of us with IC?

Thanks!

Kelley

[Jessica9379]

I had that question too. I was so awful at charting temperatures. I think it might affect your temp, because I never did figure it out.

Are you using ovulation kits? They are so $$ in stores, so I ended up buying ovulation predictor sticks off of Ebay in bulk. You can get 20-30 for usually less than $10. I peed on a stick pretty much every day for months - sometimes twice a day. (that was because I don't get regular periods though, and had absolutely no idea when I was going to ovulate. If you know about when you might ovulate - it would be a whole lot easier)

A couple of months later - the first time I actually ovulated - we caught it - and it worked!! :)

[JenAZ07]

No....you won't get an accurate basal if you are up to pee within 4 hours of when you are supposed to take your temp. That type of charting really doesn't work for us ICers. I would suggest buying a fertility monitor.....I used the Clear Blue one and got it off ebay (used) for a reduced price. (There are instructions on-line to reset it so you can erase the other person's info.) I also bought the test strips off ebay for a reduced price. We used a fertility monitor to get pregnant with our twins!! I have also tried the ovulation predictor tests...and found that the fertility monitor was must more reliable (and cheaper). The cheapo predictor kits didn't work well for me.

Good luck!!!

[keydawn]

Thanks for the advice. I was starting to think there was something wrong with me because my temps were all over the place.

Another question- what is a fertility monitor... how does it work?

I've been using the OPK's to try and predict but sometimes I have trouble holding my urine for long enough. I think I got a positive last week, but not sure b/c the line was dark but not as dark as it should be. But I had some other signs too and my bladder was acting up the next day, which for me usually means either ovulation or menstruation.

I'm looking for better methods, so it sounds like the fertility monitor might be helpful.

Thanks again!

[JenAZ07]

I will PM you as I don't think we are allowed to talk about name brands or post links in this forum.