I took three pregnancy tests all positive: False-Positive Pregnancy Test: 7 Possible Causes

False-Positive Pregnancy Test: 7 Possible Causes

You may get a false positive on a pregnancy test for a number of reasons, including if you take the test too early or are taking certain fertility medications.

Home pregnancy tests are a common tool used to find out if you’re expecting. Most at-home pregnancy tests are dipsticks that are placed in a urine stream. The stick is then able to detect human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), which is a hormone produced during early pregnancy.

Some pregnancy tests detect hCG very early in pregnancy. Reputable home pregnancy tests can be highly accurate, but they are not foolproof.

False-positive and false-negative tests can occur for a variety of reasons. It’s also important to remember that once you have a positive pregnancy test, it’s important to talk with your doctor about beginning early prenatal care.

Read on to learn more about false positives on home pregnancy tests.

It’s possible to have a positive pregnancy test even if you aren’t technically pregnant. This is called a false positive.

It’s sometimes caused by a chemical pregnancy. A chemical pregnancy occurs if a fertilized egg, known as the embryo, is unable to implant, or grow, very early on. This can happen for many reasons.

Some causes of chemical pregnancies are unknown.

They are thought to be very common, but they typically go undetected if a pregnancy test isn’t taken. These early test results, when wrong, can be emotionally draining.

For that reason, it’s recommended you wait until 1 week after you expected your period to start to use an at-home pregnancy test.

Sometimes a fertilized egg can implant itself outside of the main cavity of the uterus, which causes an ectopic pregnancy. An ectopic pregnancy is a serious medical emergency and must be addressed immediately.

Ectopic pregnancies usually happen if a fertilized egg gets stuck in a fallopian tube during its journey to the uterus. This type of ectopic pregnancy is also known as a tubal pregnancy.

An ectopic pregnancy can just happen, but risk factors include:

• scar tissue or inflammation in the fallopian tube
• misshapen fallopian tube or other congenital anomalies
• a history of infertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization (IVF)
• a history of uterine or tubal surgery
• a history of past uterine infections
• a history of a prior ectopic pregnancy

Ectopic pregnancies can also occur in the cervix, ovary, or abdominal cavity.

An ectopic pregnancy is a medical emergency. It can’t continue to become a normal pregnancy and it can be damaging to the woman if left untreated.. The embryo isn’t viable because there’s no place for it to grow or thrive outside of the uterus.

Extreme blood loss or loss of the reproductive organs can occur. Bleeding and pain in early pregnancy need to be evaluated by a medical professional immediately.

The embryo will still produce hCG, even though it has implanted in the wrong place. That can cause a false-positive reading on an at-home pregnancy test.

Symptoms of ectopic pregnancy include:

• sharp waves of pain in the abdomen, pelvis, shoulder, or neck
• severe pain on one side of the abdomen
• light to heavy vaginal spotting or bleeding
• dizziness or fainting
• pressure on your rectum

Seek immediate medical help if you suspect you have an ectopic pregnancy.

You may continue to test positive for pregnancy following the loss of a pregnancy, either through miscarriage or abortion.

During pregnancy, the hCG levels continue to rise, in general doubling every few days, and peaking at around 10 weeks. This is before the placenta is formed and functional around week 12.

The hormone can remain in your blood and urine for up to 6 weeks following the end of the pregnancy. It’s possible to have a false-positive test until your hCG levels return to their prepregnancy state.

If the miscarriage was spontaneous, it’s also possible that not all the pregnancy-related tissue was eliminated. This can cause hCG levels to remain elevated, among other more worrisome symptoms such as ongoing bleeding or fever.

An ultrasound is generally needed to determine if an intrauterine pregnancy is identified, lost, or if there is a fetus without cardiac activity.

When this occurs, sometimes a minor surgical procedure called a dilation and curettage (D and C) is often required to remove the tissue, depending upon your symptoms and how far along the pregnancy was.

At-home pregnancy tests aren’t foolproof. It’s important to follow package directions exactly. Check the expiration date before using the test.

Even with these safeguards, user error can occur. One of the most common mistakes is taking the test too early during your cycle. This can cause either a false negative or a false positive

It’s also important to use the test when your urine isn’t diluted excessively with water. Use the test when your urine is very concentrated, like when you first wake up in the morning.

Leaving the dipstick in your urine stream for the exact amount of time allotted is also important. Consider setting a timer on a stopwatch or your phone. That can help you track how long the dipstick has been in your urine stream.

You’ll want to use a timer again while you wait for your results. Checking your results during the result time frame is also important.

Sometimes an evaporation line can be mistaken for a positive pregnancy test. Some at-home tests show two lines when hCG is detected and one line when hCG isn’t detected.

The lines are usually a bright color, such as pink, red, or blue. Sometimes, a faint-colored second line will appear. This line may represent an early pregnancy, or it may be an evaporation line.

It’s probably an evaporation line if the line is completely colorless.

Evaporation lines may show up on a test you view after your urine has evaporated completely. Sometimes they’re caused by hormonal levels that don’t represent pregnancy.

The best way to try and prevent being confused by an evaporation line is to follow the test’s timing directions exactly as they’re given.

If you’re trying to become pregnant under a doctor’s care, you may be taking fertility medications.

One of these is the synthetic hCG trigger shot, sold under the following brand names:

• Novarel
• Pregnyl
• Ovidrel
• Profasi

The hCG shot helps follicles release mature eggs. It may cause a false-positive reading on an at-home pregnancy test, particularly if the test is taken too early.

Other medications can also cause false-positive pregnancy tests. They include but aren’t limited to:

• anti-anxiety medications, like diazepam (Valium) or alprazolam (Xanax)
• antipsychotics, such as clozapine or chlorpromazine
• anticonvulsants, like phenobarbital or other barbiturates
• Parkinson’s disease medications, including bromocriptine (Parlodel)
• diuretics, like furosemide (Lasix, Diuscreen)
• antihistamines, including promethazine
• methadone (Dolophine)

Rarely, certain medical conditions can cause a home pregnancy test to give a false positive. These include:

• molar pregnancy
• rare antibodies
• hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) injections
• chemotherapy
• urinary tract infection
• kidney disease that causes blood or white blood cells in the urine
• germ cell tumors of the ovary, a type of ovarian cancer
• pituitary problems (very rarely)

A positive at-home pregnancy test result should always be followed up with a doctor’s appointment. Your doctor may give you a urine or blood test to confirm the results and monitor your hCG levels.

They may also order a transvaginal ultrasound to confirm that the pregnancy is proceeding normally. A follow-up ultrasound may be needed after about 1 week — if it’s early — to verify the results.

If you’ve received a false positive, your doctor’s visit will determine that. Depending on your situation, it might be a relief to find out you’re not pregnant.

But if you were excited by your early results, it can be very upsetting. Remember that false positives do happen and are not an indication that you cannot become pregnant in the future.

If you’ve been trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant for 12 months, you might want to consider having an infertility evaluation or working with an infertility specialist. Women ages 35 and older who have been trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant for 6 months are recommended to seek an infertility evaluation.

There are support groups where you can find inspiration and obtain knowledge from women who have been through the same thing.

Working one-on-one with a therapist, family member, or trusted friend can also be beneficial.

False-Positive Pregnancy Test: 7 Possible Causes

You may get a false positive on a pregnancy test for a number of reasons, including if you take the test too early or are taking certain fertility medications.

Home pregnancy tests are a common tool used to find out if you’re expecting. Most at-home pregnancy tests are dipsticks that are placed in a urine stream. The stick is then able to detect human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), which is a hormone produced during early pregnancy.

Some pregnancy tests detect hCG very early in pregnancy. Reputable home pregnancy tests can be highly accurate, but they are not foolproof.

False-positive and false-negative tests can occur for a variety of reasons. It’s also important to remember that once you have a positive pregnancy test, it’s important to talk with your doctor about beginning early prenatal care.

Read on to learn more about false positives on home pregnancy tests.

It’s possible to have a positive pregnancy test even if you aren’t technically pregnant. This is called a false positive.

It’s sometimes caused by a chemical pregnancy. A chemical pregnancy occurs if a fertilized egg, known as the embryo, is unable to implant, or grow, very early on. This can happen for many reasons.

Some causes of chemical pregnancies are unknown.

They are thought to be very common, but they typically go undetected if a pregnancy test isn’t taken. These early test results, when wrong, can be emotionally draining.

For that reason, it’s recommended you wait until 1 week after you expected your period to start to use an at-home pregnancy test.

Sometimes a fertilized egg can implant itself outside of the main cavity of the uterus, which causes an ectopic pregnancy. An ectopic pregnancy is a serious medical emergency and must be addressed immediately.

Ectopic pregnancies usually happen if a fertilized egg gets stuck in a fallopian tube during its journey to the uterus. This type of ectopic pregnancy is also known as a tubal pregnancy.

An ectopic pregnancy can just happen, but risk factors include:

• scar tissue or inflammation in the fallopian tube
• misshapen fallopian tube or other congenital anomalies
• a history of infertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization (IVF)
• a history of uterine or tubal surgery
• a history of past uterine infections
• a history of a prior ectopic pregnancy

Ectopic pregnancies can also occur in the cervix, ovary, or abdominal cavity.

An ectopic pregnancy is a medical emergency. It can’t continue to become a normal pregnancy and it can be damaging to the woman if left untreated.. The embryo isn’t viable because there’s no place for it to grow or thrive outside of the uterus.

Extreme blood loss or loss of the reproductive organs can occur. Bleeding and pain in early pregnancy need to be evaluated by a medical professional immediately.

The embryo will still produce hCG, even though it has implanted in the wrong place. That can cause a false-positive reading on an at-home pregnancy test.

Symptoms of ectopic pregnancy include:

• sharp waves of pain in the abdomen, pelvis, shoulder, or neck
• severe pain on one side of the abdomen
• light to heavy vaginal spotting or bleeding
• dizziness or fainting
• pressure on your rectum

Seek immediate medical help if you suspect you have an ectopic pregnancy.

You may continue to test positive for pregnancy following the loss of a pregnancy, either through miscarriage or abortion.

During pregnancy, the hCG levels continue to rise, in general doubling every few days, and peaking at around 10 weeks. This is before the placenta is formed and functional around week 12.

The hormone can remain in your blood and urine for up to 6 weeks following the end of the pregnancy. It’s possible to have a false-positive test until your hCG levels return to their prepregnancy state.

If the miscarriage was spontaneous, it’s also possible that not all the pregnancy-related tissue was eliminated. This can cause hCG levels to remain elevated, among other more worrisome symptoms such as ongoing bleeding or fever.

An ultrasound is generally needed to determine if an intrauterine pregnancy is identified, lost, or if there is a fetus without cardiac activity.

When this occurs, sometimes a minor surgical procedure called a dilation and curettage (D and C) is often required to remove the tissue, depending upon your symptoms and how far along the pregnancy was.

At-home pregnancy tests aren’t foolproof. It’s important to follow package directions exactly. Check the expiration date before using the test.

Even with these safeguards, user error can occur. One of the most common mistakes is taking the test too early during your cycle. This can cause either a false negative or a false positive

It’s also important to use the test when your urine isn’t diluted excessively with water. Use the test when your urine is very concentrated, like when you first wake up in the morning.

Leaving the dipstick in your urine stream for the exact amount of time allotted is also important. Consider setting a timer on a stopwatch or your phone. That can help you track how long the dipstick has been in your urine stream.

You’ll want to use a timer again while you wait for your results. Checking your results during the result time frame is also important.

Sometimes an evaporation line can be mistaken for a positive pregnancy test. Some at-home tests show two lines when hCG is detected and one line when hCG isn’t detected.

The lines are usually a bright color, such as pink, red, or blue. Sometimes, a faint-colored second line will appear. This line may represent an early pregnancy, or it may be an evaporation line.

It’s probably an evaporation line if the line is completely colorless.

Evaporation lines may show up on a test you view after your urine has evaporated completely. Sometimes they’re caused by hormonal levels that don’t represent pregnancy.

The best way to try and prevent being confused by an evaporation line is to follow the test’s timing directions exactly as they’re given.

If you’re trying to become pregnant under a doctor’s care, you may be taking fertility medications.

One of these is the synthetic hCG trigger shot, sold under the following brand names:

• Novarel
• Pregnyl
• Ovidrel
• Profasi

The hCG shot helps follicles release mature eggs. It may cause a false-positive reading on an at-home pregnancy test, particularly if the test is taken too early.

Other medications can also cause false-positive pregnancy tests. They include but aren’t limited to:

• anti-anxiety medications, like diazepam (Valium) or alprazolam (Xanax)
• antipsychotics, such as clozapine or chlorpromazine
• anticonvulsants, like phenobarbital or other barbiturates
• Parkinson’s disease medications, including bromocriptine (Parlodel)
• diuretics, like furosemide (Lasix, Diuscreen)
• antihistamines, including promethazine
• methadone (Dolophine)

Rarely, certain medical conditions can cause a home pregnancy test to give a false positive. These include:

• molar pregnancy
• rare antibodies
• hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) injections
• chemotherapy
• urinary tract infection
• kidney disease that causes blood or white blood cells in the urine
• germ cell tumors of the ovary, a type of ovarian cancer
• pituitary problems (very rarely)

A positive at-home pregnancy test result should always be followed up with a doctor’s appointment. Your doctor may give you a urine or blood test to confirm the results and monitor your hCG levels.

They may also order a transvaginal ultrasound to confirm that the pregnancy is proceeding normally. A follow-up ultrasound may be needed after about 1 week — if it’s early — to verify the results.

If you’ve received a false positive, your doctor’s visit will determine that. Depending on your situation, it might be a relief to find out you’re not pregnant.

But if you were excited by your early results, it can be very upsetting. Remember that false positives do happen and are not an indication that you cannot become pregnant in the future.

If you’ve been trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant for 12 months, you might want to consider having an infertility evaluation or working with an infertility specialist. Women ages 35 and older who have been trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant for 6 months are recommended to seek an infertility evaluation.

There are support groups where you can find inspiration and obtain knowledge from women who have been through the same thing.

Working one-on-one with a therapist, family member, or trusted friend can also be beneficial.

Can a pregnancy test be wrong

Likbez

Health

October 28, 2020

Two stripes almost never lie.

How the pregnancy test works

Technically, the pharmacy pregnancy test is simple. It is a reagent printed on paper that reacts to a specific substance — a hormone called «human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)».

This hormone begins to be produced in a woman’s body only after the fertilized egg attaches to the lining of the uterus (endometrium). This usually happens about 6 days after fertilization. HCG enters the blood and urine, and its levels in these body fluids rise rapidly, doubling every 2-3 days.

Image: BlueRingMedia / Shutterstock

As early as 10-14 days after conception, home pregnancy tests detect the hormone in the urine and report it by highlighting the second strip or the corresponding window on the indicator.

If you see two lines or a plus sign on the indicator, then you are pregnant.

The error is almost impossible.

Can a pregnancy test be wrong

Sometimes yes. The likelihood of this depends on various factors, including the result obtained.

When a pregnancy test can be false positive

Situations where a woman is not pregnant and the test shows two lines are extremely rare.

Therefore, it is considered that a positive result is almost always correct.

However, it is worth knowing the reasons why the test may be false positive. Spoiler: many of them require a mandatory consultation with a gynecologist, so if you see two lines or a plus sign on the indicator, it is better not to delay the visit to the doctor.

• You lost your pregnancy shortly after the egg was attached to the uterine lining. In this case, the embryo is no longer developing and technically you are not pregnant, but within 2-3 weeks, the test may still detect an increased level of hCG. Most often, such an egg is rejected and released with the onset of menstruation. But sometimes a frozen pregnancy can cause inflammation in the uterus.
• You took a test right after taking a fertility drug containing hCG.
• You have an ectopic pregnancy. This means that fertilization has occurred, but the egg has not fixed in the uterus, but in another place — the fallopian tube or, let’s say, the ovary. An ectopic pregnancy is deadly, it is impossible to bring it to a happy ending.
• You are developing an ovarian tumor. It causes hormonal failure and inappropriate production of hCG.
• You may be going through menopause. It can also lead to hormonal imbalances.
• You are taking certain medications. For example, diazepam-based sedatives, diuretics, anticonvulsants or antiallergic drugs. If this is the case, you should not rely on a pharmacy test to determine pregnancy — it is better to take a blood test for hCG.

When a pregnancy test can be false negative

A false negative result is when pregnancy has occurred, but the test does not show it for some reason. This situation is more common. Therefore, doctors advise repeating the test after a few days if signs of pregnancy (for example, delayed menstruation, breast enlargement and tenderness, nausea) persist.

These are the most common causes of a false negative.

• You bought an expired or spoiled test.
• You took the test too soon. And the level of hCG in the urine has not yet managed to rise so high that the reagents can catch it. Most manufacturers recommend doing the test no earlier than the first day of a missed period.
• You were too quick to check the result. It takes time for sensitive substances to respond to hCG levels. It is indicated in the instructions. For example, the manufacturer may say: “Dip the test strip into urine, hold for 10 seconds, then lay it on a dry, horizontal surface. The result will appear in 4-7 minutes. If you check the test earlier than 4 minutes, you risk seeing a false negative result.
• You took a test in the evening. The vast majority of manufacturers recommend checking if you are pregnant in the morning. This is important: it is in the morning that urine is most concentrated, and the level of hCG in it is highest. By evening, the content of human chorionic gonadotropin decreases, it is more difficult to catch it.
• Before taking the test, you drank a lot of water or other drinks (tea, juice, compote, fruit drink). The liquid dilutes the urine and reduces the concentration of hCG.

What to do if you think your pregnancy test is wrong

Several options are possible. Choose any or try all in turn.

Recheck the result

Repeat the test the next morning. Or, better, in 2-3 days.

When buying a second screening test, ask the pharmacist at the pharmacy to give you the most sensitive test available. Sensitivity is indicated on the packaging and is indicated by numbers — 10, 20, 25, 30. These numbers indicate the concentration of hCG in the urine (in mIU / ml) that the test is able to catch. The lower the number, the better.

Take a blood test for hCG

This is a more accurate and reliable option than pharmacy rapid tests. Using a blood test, you can catch a pregnancy as early as 6-8 days after conception — that is, even before a delay occurs.

Consult a gynecologist

Sometimes the test results do not match how you feel. For example, menstruation is already delayed for several days, and the test stubbornly shows “no pregnancy”.

Various malfunctions of the body, such as thyroid disease, ovarian problems, nutritional deficiencies, often lead to questionable results. To exclude them, and need a visit to the doctor.

Your gynecologist will ask you about your symptoms, give you a physical exam, suggest you get tested, and find out exactly why rapid pregnancy tests give mixed results. If any disease is detected, the doctor will tell you how to treat it, or refer you to a specialized specialist.

Read also 🤰

• How pregnancy develops by 9 weeks0036
• What to do if your stomach hurts during pregnancy
• 8 foods that pregnant women should not eat
• How and why to practice yoga for pregnant women
• What vaccinations can be given to pregnant women

what a positive result will show and what it means

In most cases, if a man takes a pregnancy test, he will receive a negative result. But in extremely rare cases, the result can be positive.

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Netlenka

Health

Test

Medicine

Biology

Image by Julia Fiedler from Pixabay

If you are a man, for some (probably strange) reason, you decide to take a pregnancy test and get a positive result, immediately run to the hospital

Do not self-medicate! In our articles, we collect the latest scientific data and the opinions of authoritative health experts. But remember: only a doctor can diagnose and prescribe treatment.

What a pregnancy test will show in men

A pregnancy test detects the presence of chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in a person’s urine or blood. This hormone begins to be produced immediately after the fertilized egg attaches to the wall of the uterus. Men with a certain type of testicular cancer also produce this hormone. What if a man takes a pregnancy test? Thus, if a man has an elevated level of hCG, he may have testicular cancer — and this will lead to a positive pregnancy test result.

What does a positive pregnancy test mean for men

In 2012, an unnamed man decided to jokingly take a pregnancy test that his girlfriend had forgotten and got a positive result. He spoke about this on Reddit. Commentators advised the man to urgently go to the hospital. What are the reasons for a positive pregnancy test in men? It turned out that the guy had a small tumor in his right testicle, and since it was discovered at an early stage, they managed to cure it.

It doesn’t work the other way around: if a man gets a negative pregnancy test, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have cancer. Not all testicular tumors secrete hCG. But a pregnancy test with two strips for a man is a serious reason to think about your health and get tested for oncology.

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Scientists still do not know how a man releases this hormone. The tumor consists of syncytiotrophoblasts (placental cells). They secrete hCG. According to one theory, the cells in the male testis begin to regress, turning into one of the earliest forms of cells in the human life cycle.