Multiple BFPs but neg bloodwork?

RunningFromPessimism

Hi all!  Wondering if anyone else here has had a similar experience… two days ago I got a faint (but definitely visible) BFP on a FRER test. My doctor had me go in for a hCg Quant which came back negative. I assumed it was a faulty test with a false positive. I took another FRER test this morning (from a new box, just in case the lot was faulty) and got another faint (same shade as before) BFP. I’m assuming I should trust the bloodwork that I’m not pregnant, but has anyone else had this happen?  What could be causing the faintly positive pregnancy tests?

mambo5-2

Hello,

We don't usually do one off posts on our board. If you stay please read the pinned post and introduce yourself in the newbies thread. 

To answer your question, have I had this happen, yes, it was a chemical pregnancy. 

acleverusername

@RunningFromPessimism blood work is more accurate than an HPT. Blood will also reflect hCG status faster than in urine. I'm afraid that @mambo5-2 is probably right; it's likely a CP. 

stormageddon-darklordofall

I disagree.  If she had a faint BFP and then negative bloodwork, I'd be all "CP."  But to have a HCG quant test that is less than 5 (not-PG), and then supposedly pop another BFP AFTER that?!?  That's virtually impossible. HCG quant tests can test as low as 1....  PG tests aren't that sensitive...

I'd go more with evap lines and never PG.

optimistgardener

i'm with @stormageddon-darklordofall. a truly negative blood test would make a positive hpt afterwards impossible. 

acleverusername

Hrm. That's true @optimistgardener @stormageddon-darklordofall. I guess it's just shitty luck to get 2 tests that are lemons. But, hey, it happens. The fact that line darkness was consistent definitely points to this hypothesis. Good detective work ladies! 🕵🏻‍♀️

abjm0325

Just as a random aside, it also depends on what she/her doctor means when they say the blood test was negative. My doctor's office verbally told me it was a negative when it was under 25 (but the actual quantitative number came back at like 15). They just meant I wasn't high enough to be considered pregnant by their office threshold and I had to repeat test. TW: (This was for what turned out to be the CP)

stormageddon-darklordofall

@abjm0325 A HCG Beta Quant is an actual number, where above 5 is supposed to = PG.  A PG test (non-quant hcg beta) tests only + / - depending on if the amount is above 25.  So, if they send you for a blood test to see if you're PG usually it's a non-Quant +/- test that only sees if the HCG is above 25.  If they send you for an hcg beta QUANT (which is what OP says she was sent for), then it will come back positive, even if the HCG level is 6 or 8 (I've had them at 6 and 8... so... yeah...).  Sounds like your office has some weird specialized rule or something?

abjm0325

@stormageddon-darklordofall Yeah, my office is probably weird. I think they probably just use the term negatively incorrectly in that context. Thanks for clarifying! 

bumblebee0210

FWIW, I have also seen the 20/25 threshold for positive. My guess is higher threshold at the doctor, and an HCG of like 10. Probably a CP. 

RunningFromPessimism

Both tests had faint pink lines that appeared within two minutes on both so i don’t think it’s an evap line or an indent line. They are not expired, and from two different boxes so not a faulty lot. 

I also took a First Response rapid test (the one you’re not supposed to take until a missed period) and got a very faint line immediately. My period isn’t due for another three days, FWIW. 

RunningFromPessimism

Also, my apologies. Just realized I should not have posted pictures of the pregnancy tests - I guess just wanted affirmation they don’t look like evap lines! 🧐

acleverusername

@RunningFromPessimism please remove those photos. Tnx. 

RunningFromPessimism

Done. Sorry about that, again. I used to be quite active on these threads during my first pregnancy ten years ago but the rules have changed quite a bit since then. 

optimistgardener

@RunningFromPessimism like @acleverusername said, please remove those test pics. If you're still 3 days before your expected CD1, then essentially all possibilities are still on the table: pregnant but with a v. low concentration of HCG in your bloodstream still, CP, or not pregnant but getting weird indents. FWIW I turned a pregnancy test that looked a lot like yours a week after an embryo transfer. The pregnancy did not stick; my beta came back abysmally low (i'm actually blocking out what the number was... I think maybe 20), and soon fell back to 0.

We are not psychics, and have no better insight as to what's going on inside your uterus than you do. All you can do is keep waiting and see what happens. Maybe test in another few days if your period doesn't arrive. If it turns out you're not pregnant, feel free to join our group (but please read the rules and post your intro in our newbies thread). If it turns out you're pregnant, congrats and please move along to your BMB.

RunningFromPessimism

Thanks for the responses, ladies. I was hoping someone had a similar experience with multiple false positives - definitely wasn’t looking for anyone to try to decipher whether or not I’m pregnant.  

anniemarie887

FWIW @RunningFromPessimism Bodies are weird. My last unviable pregnancy in March, I turned a faint positive on a cheapie at 3w1d, aka really effing early, very easy to read lines on a FRER. My HCG was 127, and then began declining the next week. The bloodwork should be substantially more accurate, but this really is a question you should be asking your OBGYN and repeating labs. 

Also, my OB believes anything >5 is pregnant. We tracked my HCG down to 3 with this last miserable loss. 

RunningFromPessimism

Thanks - I reached out to my OB yesterday morning but haven’t gotten a response yet. 

I feel like it must be something triggering false positives but I’m not on any medications other than a prenatal and the occasional unisom at night. But I got a negative pregnancy test on Monday before I started getting the faint positives, so I’m honestly just baffled by it. 

optimistgardener

@RunningFromPessimism the only drugs that i know of that could produce a false positive on a pregnancy test would be IVF/ART stuff, like an HCG-based ovulation trigger.