We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission. What if you learned there was a marker for your fertility? What if it could help shorten the time it takes to get pregnant? For many women, the luteinizing hormone LH surge is that marker. Learning how to detect it can make baby-making easier. LH is one of the hormones produced by the pituitary gland. But once a developing egg follicle reaches a certain size — usually around the midpoint of your cycle — LH secretion surges to really high levels.
This hormone surge is what triggers ovulation about 24 to 36 hours later. Ovulation is the release of a mature egg from the ovary. It signals the beginning of your fertile period. After the egg is released, the empty follicle on the ovary is converted to a structure known as the corpus luteum. It then begins to secrete progesterone. Progesterone is a hormone needed to support a potential pregnancy. Your LH surge is important because it initiates the beginning of ovulation and your fertile period.
After that, your fertile window is over. This makes it very important to be able to identify this best time to conceive. These are readily available online and in most pharmacies. These kits are similar to pregnancy tests because they measure hormone levels in your urine. Each kit is a little different in how they register a positive result, so make sure to check the instructions.
A positive result indicates the presence of a high amount of LH, or your LH surge. The tests can be expensive to use that frequently.
Ovulation usually occurs about 14 days before your period. Your LH surge occurs a day or two before that. Let your doctor know if you have been using ovulation tests.
This will help your doctor better identify what other factors could be affecting your ability to get pregnant. The three days immediately after a positive test represent the best time to have intercourse to increase the probability of getting pregnant. Ovulation generally occurs a day or two after the LH surge.
The following conditions may create an inaccurate result in the tests:. If you are undergoing therapy with Clomiphene citrate e. In most cases, you should start testing 3 days after taking the last tablet.
It is important to consult your physician about the best time to get pregnant once you have stopped using contraceptive methods.
After using hormonal contraceptives, you may experience an irregular cycle. For many women, it takes at least a few months for menstruation to normalize. Ideally, it is best to wait until your cycle stabilizes, which will also make it easier to monitor your ovulation.
You may wish to wait until you have had two normal periods before starting to use an ovulation kit. It is not recommended to use ovulation tests or fertility monitors as a means of tracking your ovulation in order to avoid pregnancy. Ovulation tests only identify the LH surge up to 24 to 48 hours before ovulation, and sperm can survive in the body up to 3 to 5 days. Therefore, if you have intercourse before you discover the LH surge, the egg could still be fertilized. It is recommended to wait at least until you miss your period before taking a pregnancy test.
It takes time for the hCG pregnancy hormone to get high enough to show up on a pregnancy test, so if you test too early, you could get a false negative. Some tests allow you to test up to four days earlier, but the results are less reliable. Order Pregnancy Tests Online. Weschler, T. Taking charge of your fertility. Ovulation kits and the luteinizing hormone LH : While the luteinizing hormone is always present in your urine, it increases hours prior to ovulation.
When is the best time to use ovulation kits? How accurate are ovulation tests? Having regular menstrual periods between 21 and 35 days in length accompanied by menstrual cramps is a good indication of ovulation. There are several ways to test for ovulation, including: the basal body temperature BBT chart, urine test kits to measure LH levels, blood tests to measure levels of certain hormones and transvaginal ultrasound.
Estradiol a type of the hormone estrogen is produced by the follicle as it grows and levels go up quickly just before ovulation. If fertility medicines are being used to cause a woman to ovulate, estradiol levels are checked more often to keep an eye on the growth of the follicle, but it is not used to tell you when you might ovulate.
A rise in LH levels in the blood can predict when the follicle sac where the egg ripens is ripe and ready for ovulation. Because LH is released in pulses or short bursts, the LH surge is not always found by a single blood or urine test. Increased progesterone levels in the blood a week before the menstrual period usually indicates ovulation has occurred but cannot predict when it will occur.
For women with irregular periods, urine testing should be timed according to the earliest and latest possible dates one is expected to ovulate. Urine testing for LH surge should begin at least 2 days before the expected day of ovulation and continue until the LH surge or through day Once an LH surge is documented, it is no longer necessary to continue testing during that cycle.
Occasionally, ovulation may not occur in a cycle despite an LH surge.
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