Frer vs dollar store tests

Bailey1823A

so I got a bfp on Wednesday with a dollar store brand confirmed with frer the next day. I've never used dollar store before so is it normal for the lines to not get dark or dark as quickly as the frer. My frer are getting darker for sure. I do not have an edd or dpo with this one as I haven't gotten a period since my last was born in 2015.  First beta drawn today. 

jessafishy

@Bailey1823A Check the box/paperwork to see if it lists the sensitivity of the tests. I would guess that FRERs are likely much more sensitive than dollar store tests.

toesinthesand-2

I got my BPF on a cheapie Wondfo test (similar to dollar store tests) that you buy in bulk on amazon. and then I confirmed with a FRER and then a digital. I've continued to take the cheapies out of curiosity and they haven't really gotten darker. My FRER wasn't really that dark to begin with, and I keep meaning on grabbing another one to see if it's changed at all.

meggyme

The lines don't actually get darker. Any variation in color is due to the amount of dye in the test. 

jessafishy

@meggyme Have you never had/seen a squinter positive?

delujm0

my cheapie tests did get darker from 10dpo until 5 weeks, but they never got super dark...they were never even as dark as the control line.  I remember it freaking me out with my first pregnancy, because everyone was like "oh it's so cool when the test finally gets darker than the control line" and I was like "IS THAT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN?????"  Anyway, everything was fine.

 

Depending on when you're testing (which you don't know because it sounds like you don't know when you ovulated) they may or may not get any darker.  If your first test was really early and a squinter then I'd expect it to at least get progressively darker for a little while.  But if you took your first test on the late side, like 5+ weeks, it's entirely possible that it won't get any darker.  At some point the amount of dye in the test maxes out and they don't really get any darker.  I did see my FRERs get darker than my cheapie tests though.  Really none of this is a big deal, and it's pretty meaningless overall.

flowerintherain

The dollar store tests are probably just low quality and probably don't have the amount of dye the frer has. If you're getting a nice dark positive on a frer, I'd trust that everything is headed in the right direction.