MyLotus vs OPK. What's right for me?

When trying to conceive, we want to optimise everything so we can reach our goal – getting pregnant. It is very important to understand how our body works as there are some key days when we’ll need to pay special attention.

Working out our fertile window can be tricky in some cases. For example, if you have irregular cycles or PCOS, your ovulation will be hard to predict., In these cases, you can’t really rely on your day 14, so you might need a little more help to identify those crucial days in your cycle.

There are some tests available to help you identify and predict your ovulation. These are called ovulation predictor kits (OPK) and there is also MyLotus. Which one should you pick? Let me help you a bit to make the right choice.

Ovulation predictor kits or ovulation tests

As you might already know, these tests detect the Luteinising hormone (LH) which peaks before ovulation. They are relatively easy to use as they look a lot like a conventional pregnancy test; you also have to pee on and then read the stick. These kits are useful to predict your fertile window so you can time sex for pregnancy. They are more convenient than measuring your basal body temperature or checking your cervical mucus.

In general, they work well for most women. However, in some women, they can give a “false positive” – especially when your LH levels are slightly higher than normal. Women with irregular cycles or PCOS also have problems with them. In addition, as every woman has different LH surges, some have a sharp spike, while for others it is a more gradual increase. You can easily miss the peak, or you might not understand the result; the sticks won’t be positive, or they can be positive for many days, and you could think you did not ovulate, or something is wrong, when it isn’t! Sounds confusing, right?

What about MyLotus?

MyLotus fertility tracker is more personalised. It measures the same LH levels in your urine at laboratory standards. In other words, it tells you the exact number or quantity of hormone measured in IU/ml. Therefore, the monitor can tell you your fertile window with more accuracy; also, it draws a chart so you can understand and see your own surge pattern.

It works for women with regular and irregular cycles, and it also works for women who suffer from PCOS or have a higher baseline level of LH. The monitor also keeps the information from your previous cycles, allowing you to compare month by month and get to know how your body works much better.

It’s important to know that, even in regular cycles, you do not always ovulate on the same day and not all LH surges look the same. So, don’t worry about what you have read is normal and focus on your own fertility patterns. MyLotus can analyse your patterns, and you will learn what it is normal for you – sounds good, right?

So… what's right for me?

OPK and MyLotus work well for the majority of women. However, if you have irregular periods, suffer from PCOS, get confused reading the sticks, don’t understand your fertile window, want to compare month by month, want more accurate results or want to know your body better… MyLotus might be the right choice for you.