Clearblue Advanced Digital vs. Easy @ Home LH strips

[castaway5555]

I saw my OB last week and she recommended the Clearblue Advanced Digital tests. Previously, I had been using the easy@home LH strips for my last two cycles and usually saw a peak at around CD12-13 on those. I am expecting it to be the same with the CB test but who knows

I was curious how they both compare so I’ve been testing using both CB and easy@home. I started testing yesterday on CD7 with my FMU. I’ll test in the morning with both CB AD and e@h back to back and then I’ll test again in the evening with just the e@h since I have plenty of those test strips. I’ve also been tracking my BBT. I always test using the dip method instead of stream.

I’ll share my results here in this order and will update the post as I collect more data through the week.

CD - BBT - CB AD Result w/ FMU - E@H Result w/ FMU - E@H Result Evening

CD7 - 97.3 - low fertility/no smiley - low .38 - low 0.67

CD8 - 97.3 - high fertility/flashing smiley - low 0.6 - low 0.76

CD9 - 96.8 - high fertility/flashing smiley - low 0.65 - low 0.56

CD10 - 97.0 - high fertility/flashing smiley - low 0.41 - low 0.69

CD 11 - 96.8 - high fertility/flashing smiley - low 0.79 - high 1.58

CD 12 - 96.5 - peak fertility/solid smiley - peak 1.78
- high 0.93

CD 13 - 96.3 - peak fertility/solid smiley - high 0.93 - high 1.09

CD 14 - 97.8 - didn’t test - high 1.11 - low 0.44

CD 15 - 97.5 - didn’t test - high 0.82 - low 0.49

I know it’s still early and I need more data over the course of the week, but I am already wondering why the CB is showing high fertility while the e@h is showing low. Is that normal? I’m still early in my cycle so I was surprised to see high fertility on the CB AD so quickly. Also I’ve never noticed my LH drop as I get closer to my expected ovulation day so that has me really confused…

 

[svetkaelisy]

@castaway5555 To answer your question, it's normal!

Your LH surge is preceded by an estrogen surge – CBAD catches the estrogen, while e@home is only based on LH! It's my understanding that when the CBAD is flashing/"high," that's based on measuring estrogen, and the static smiley/"peak" is when it detects the LH surge as well.

My experience using both types was similar to yours – my e@home tests still looked pretty low when CBAD started flashing. On the day I got a CBAD peak, e@h was also positive.

 

[dusgfmo]

@svetkaelisy Yes, this exactly. I use the clearblue advanced. Flashing smiley means estrogen is rising and you will likely get your LH surge in the next couple days. Basically, this means start getting busy for best results it gives you a couple days where you can get a much baby juice in you a possible before actual ovulation

 

[sadie17]

@castaway5555 It’s okay to read the CBAD instructions a million times, I swear I learn something new every month. Like you’re actually able to test twice per day once you get the flashing smiley (but you should still test in the morning). Probably missed a lot of surges because I didn’t know better.

Starting on the right day and knowing your cycle is important too.

 

[castaway5555]

@sadie17 I only have 10 tests for the CB AD test which is why I’ve just been doing once a day in the morning since that’s what the directions say but maybe you’re right and it would be worth it to test more often

 

[castaway5555]

@sadie17 when were you testing your second time?

 

[sadie17]

@castaway5555 I did one at like dinner time after I came home from work and still caught a positive solid smiley. I think the CBAD sets a really low baseline so that’s why they catch things in the morning on a lot of people. But yeah I had a temp rise confirmed ovulation right after that so it seemed to be accurate

 

[godsunworthyservant]

@castaway5555 This is super interesting! Thank you for sharing. What does FMU mean?

I use the easy@home and am very intrigued on if I should try something else the next cycle

 

[castaway5555]

@godsunworthyservant First morning urine

 

[tearowz]

@castaway5555 So they will be slightly different because the CBAD measures your estrogen and LH. The blinking smiley face means that estrogen is rising and the solid smiley indicates the LH surge. Estrogen rises before the LH surge. I normally have about 2-4 days of high fertility, but last cycle had 12.

 

[purpurin]

@castaway5555 I think thats normal - they are testing for slightly different things after all! I used both last cycle out of curiosity.

The CBAD did show high fertility for a few days while my premom cheapies were low, but I got a peak on both tests on the same day. I kept using the premoms for a few days to confirm that my LH went down and stayed down.

I had four days of high fertility on the CBAD before I hit peak.