False Negatives Though Pregnant?

Hi K.,
Unfortunately I've been through that. With my first son, my cycle was 12 days late, I thought I was pregnant, but all tests came back negative. I did get my cycle that month, so I assumed that was not pregnant. I had regular cycles from that point on for a couple months, then what do you know, I woke up sick one morning, and had to be taken to the hospital, come to find out, I was already 18 weeks 4 days pregnant, and still had a false pregnancy test =) They found my son only because they did an ultrasound to find out what could have caused so much pain. Funny how things work =) But, good luck to you and I hope that it all works out for you.

My pregnancy test at 10 days post ovulation was negative, but the one at 12 was a faint positive.

The test I used wasn't that sensitive though, so I wasn't surprised. It wasn't a false negative, so much as too soon.

I would try another test. If it is negative, I would assume it is stress holding off your period or perhaps you were mistaken about the ovulation.

K. sometimes when you have a "great time" before your next period, it tends to change the cycle period. So you may be just a bit off track due to the fun you had. But check with your doctor for sure.

Hi K.! You sound like me when I was pregnant with my son! I went through pretty much the same thing you are going through. I couldn't get a positive test when I was pregnant with my son until I was around 6 weeks pregnant. Make sure you are doing the home tests first thing in the morning, this may help if you're barely pregnant. Good luck!!

Hi K.,

It sounds like you are pregnant. I haven't had this happen to me but my friend also took 5 HPTs and they were all negative, the doctor told her that when she was taking the tests it was too late in her pregnancy to pick it up on the test (whatever that meant, I don't know). But also if you have been taking any prescription drugs that can throw your periods off, maybe stop the bleeding...my doctor told me (because I have killer periods all the way around) that if I take Ibuprofren it will shorten my period, lessin' my flow if any, and all that...so maybe if you are on any prescriptions you can check on that. Other then that it sounds like you are pregnant.

Good luck.

This probably won't be your case, but just so you know it happened before, my mother had 4 pregnancy, with 3 live births. For me, she never once had a positive pregnancy test, not even the month before she delivered (they tried again just for kicks). She had positive test normally with the other 3 pregnancies, no idea why. One thing about the pregnancy with me, which I don't think is normal to this, I was a twin for about 8 wks. They heard a heart beat at a follow-up appt because she knew she had to be pregnant, that's when she found out. Good luck!!

Id say rest up and take care of yourself and get another test in a few weeks. Id say most likely you are preggo. Also when you get your prenatal care, mention to your ob that you had so many negatives early on. He/she may want to watch your progesterone levels. If you are preggo I would suspect they are too low for the test to pick up so keep an eye on them. Low levels can be indicitive of a miscarriage. They can give you pills to raise your levels.
If its still negative and you dont get your period then I'd say your cycle has gone whacko. WHich it can do at any point in time. Its happened to me. I was 2wks late for 3-4months in a row...thinking I was preggo each time. I finally saw the dr and ended up finding out I had pcos and my cycles would now run every 6wks. weird.
GL. let us know what happens.

Why do you think you are too far along for an ectopic pregnancy?

I had several false positives and was getting ready to be wheeled in for an appendectomy due to the abdominal pain when they finally got an HCQ quantitative to show levels.

Ask your doc to do the HCG quant, which is a count of the hormone, versus the test that is frequently run, an HCG qualitative (it's just a negative/positive test and ectopics rarely show up).

Good Luck!
D

I had 5 different tests... all at the doctor, two of which were blood tests, that all came out negative. It wasn't until I demanded an ultrasound to see what was going on with my stomach that I found out that I was 23.5 weeks pregnant! If I were you I would start taking a multi-vitamin and if you drink or smoke -- STOP. Just take care of yourself and you and the baby will be fine. Sometimes you don't produce the hormone that these tests look for... You may just be late but taking care of yourself should always be the first priority! Good luck ;-)

I am currently 4 months pregnant and also have a freshly-one year old (no laughing please!!!) With this second baby, I took a test at 1 day late and was bright and positive.

However, I was nearly 7 weeks pregnant and had been to the doctor for urine and blood tests 3 times before my first was every a "plus sign". They thought I was crazy! I just knew I was pregnant though, and acted accordingly.

I also know firsthand that a cyst as someone mentioned can mess with your periods and make you feel 'funny'. Good luck!

Hi K.,

Do you want to be pregnant?

Yes, there are false negatives. One thing for sure, if you are pregnant, you will know by the end of 9 months.

Don't worry, everything is a learning experience in life.

Good luck. D.

Hi K.

I went through the kind of same thing you did. I had very light spotting (instead of my usual flow) so I figured maybe I was, plus I had all the signs I did with my two previous pregnancies. You just know your own body and I knew I was pregnant. I took a home test and it came back with a very very faint second pink line, so that was no help. I took a digital home test and that came up positive, so we went to the doctor and the blood test came up negative. The doc said the digital tests are very sensitive and if you do not look at it right at the two minute mark, it can read a false positive b/c as your urine sits in it long enough, the HCG sinks in deeper and yada yada...I did not believe them, in my mind I knew I was pregnant! So I waited another week and took another home test, came back positive but again a very faint line, but again the doc said no...Finally after 3 weeks of this, the doctors test finally came back positive. Now my son will be 1 year on June 22nd. The funny thing was that the doc told me my due date based on when there test turned positive..so they say he was 3 weeks early...in my mind I know he was right on time based on when my body told me I was pregnant.

Hope this helps, I know it can be frustrating not knowing.

K.,
I felt as if I knew the minute I was pregnant w/ my first son. I was having strange pains and all the symptoms...went to the doc for the blood test....had one negative, one inconclusive before the postive result finally came. I found for me, I couldn't turn a test until the 5th week, and if a urine test..it had to be first morning urine(not any random time)
A second time this happend, though, I found out I actually had an ovarian cyst. The cyst 'tricked' my body and I started having all of the symptoms of pregnancy. I really thought it was a sure thing...but finally went for a doc visit, had the ultrasound and they found the cyst.
I do remember w/ my son, though, I could have had 100 negative tests and docs telling me I wasn't pregnant...I wouldn't have believed it...my body/ mind was already convinced...that feeling was not as strong w/ the cyst experience and I was nervous and stressed(the first time, I was confident that I knew)
Listen to your body, though, if you are convinced, no reason to take chances like taking meds., skipping vitamins. Go back to the doc for another serum...if it comes back negative, tell the doc you want an ultrasound to check for problems. That's the sure fire way to either see a baby...or not:)
Good luck,
L.

Hi K.,
Yes, I've had false negatives and then was pregnant. I think having a blood test for this at 2 days out was a bit early. My false test was at about 3 days late. (around Valentines, it was going to be the best present ever!) I had all the symptoms - headaches, sore breasts, light cramps, etc. but the test was neg. I figured it was just stress or stress of wanting it. I had had a miscarriage a few months before, so every time I was an hour late, my mind started wondering/hoping. I tried not to think about it (yeah, right!) I have a floating period, so I figured that was the issue. Maybe I wasn't really late yet. I forced my self to wait until 2 weeks past the absolute last normal start time (around Mar. 4) the test was pos! I couldn't believe it. I took the test 2x just to be sure. The result was a beautiful baby girl, which I think was part of the issue with the test, perhaps the extra estrogen was messing it up?? I also had some spotting in the first few months, so they watched me carefully, given my past history.
My dr. said that some times the tests show a neg. and its realy pos. That if you think you may be pregnant, to eat/act like it until you know for sure. The ones to worry about are the false pos. results. While you may be pregnant, your body isn't producing enough of the key hormone to register on the test.
I always used the EPT multipacks (2-3 tests per pack) and did the test both ways, peeing on and dipped.
Best of luck.
M.

Hello K.!!

With my 5th Pregnancy....We had some fun .....then the next day I ovulated...Then 9 months later our Beautiful little girl came along. I can not rem.. About the false Neg...But I suggest...to go get some blood work done!!! : O ) Good luck..I will say...4 isn't that bad...I have 5!!; o)

L.. B.

How late are you? Well you won't see a doctor for a pregnancy until 10-12 gestation, so you have time. I would try to not waste any money on any more pregnancy tests yet. I would try not to think about it for about two weeks then go get a Clearblue easy pregnancy test. I love those. I found out I conceived my second child 18 days after I conceived her without a missed period.

Hi K. I went though the same thing 3 years ago everythng normal. I had my wrist oper. on the end of April, no period in May took 3 HPT and one blood kept coming back negative. June 7 I found out I was, with the 2nd blood test, I tanned, I had a few mixed drinks, ok alot of mixed drinks, had my wrist oper on,in the 2 mth period of test telling me I was not. The following Jan I had a very healthly baby girl. It just goes to show that weather hpt or blood they a can be wrong, good luck.

I experienced two false negatives with my first two children. I too was VERY regular but my blood tests were positive when I was a week late. With my third pregnancy, I went for a blood test a week after I was late. It was inconclusive. I went back the next week, it was positive, and the third week, I had a miscarriage.

HPT's are maybe not super accurate, but serum HCG's are pretty on target since they detect the hormone you produce when pregnant. They also detect pregnancy as early as 8-10 days after conception. Even if it was an ectopic, you'd still have a positive test. I'm not saying that you're not pregnant, but it could be that you are stressing out about it and that's keeping you from starting your period. Stress does a lot of crazy stuff to your body. If you haven't started in a few days, I would go for another serum HCG.
Good luck! :-)

Yup, I had the same problem. I suspected I was pregnant right away even though I had never been pregnant before. I just didn't feel right - tired, bloated, no period, jittery stomach. I had three negative HPT and a negative blood test. I waited two more weeks and my breasts got really sore. Went back to the doctore and the urine test was positive. The initial tests I took were within the first three or four weeks. The final test was, if I remember correctly, around week 5. Can't remember exact details at this point, but I know I was way beyond the normal timeline of when the blood test should be accurate. You may want to try testing once a week with your first morning urine for the next few weeks.

Good luck!
S.

I would go to your OB for an HCG test. Good luck!!

K. - SAHM of 2 boys, 5 and 2