Are there false positive pregnancy test results

A person taking a home urine pregnancy test very soon after an abortion or miscarriage can be another reason for a false-positive result. Once a fertilized egg implants into the uterine wall, the body secretes hCG. Typically, hCG may start to decline as soon as 5 days after a medical abortion but may remain at a readable level for longer.

People taking a pregnancy test during this time can result in a false-positive test. People may also experience an incomplete miscarriage. This condition means that there may be tissue from the pregnancy in the uterus that continues producing hCG.

If this occurs, a person will need surgery to remove any remaining pregnancy tissue. A molar pregnancy, or hydatidiform mole, is a condition that causes a uterine tumor to grow. Instead of a normal placenta and embryo, the placental tissue develops abnormally.

In a complete molar pregnancy, there is no embryo or placental tissue present in the growth. Conversely, in partial molar pregnancy, there may be some fetal tissue in the molar growth. This may lead to a positive pregnancy test. This results from the continued growth of the products of a molar conception within the uterus. It can be a serious medical condition requiring chemotherapy or surgery to remove the womb. Certain infertility and weight loss treatments may contain synthetic hCG and cause false-positive results in blood tests.

Other drugs, such as aspirin, carbamazepine, and methadone may also result in false-positive tests. These include:. Phantom hCG occurs when certain antibodies bind with the molecules in the pregnancy testing kit. The interaction causes the testing kit to signal that hCG levels are higher than they are.

In these instances, a test is unlikely to be accurate if carried out at this time. Not using the test as advised or checking the results later than the recommended time can lead to false-positive results. If someone has a positive pregnancy test, it is important to notify their doctor, as they will need further evaluation and testing to confirm and monitor their pregnancy. If someone believes that they may be pregnant, but their home pregnancy test results are negative, they should speak with a doctor for further guidance.

However, in some instances, they may produce a false-positive result. Incorrect test usage, previous abortions and miscarriages, and some medications may lead to a false-positive pregnancy test result. My husband had undergone a vasectomy three years earlier. Over the next few days, the shock settled and turned into excitement.

Then, nearly a week later, I started cramping and bleeding. My doctor asked me to head to the hospital. Hours after waiting in the ER, a mandatory mask covering my fear and worry, the physician finally entered my room. The presence of hCG confirms a pregnancy, and a lack of it suggests the individual is not pregnant. If, like me, you have a positive test but you are not, in fact, pregnant, then you either have hCG in your body for another reason or something went wrong with the test.

There are also some medications that could potentially create a false positive, she says, like aspirin, the anti-seizure medication carbamazepine, and methadone. Even a cheap, dollar-store pregnancy test will not increase your chances of a false positive. The tests work by indicating whether or not there's a pregnancy hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin hCG in your urine.

If you've got a measurable level of hCG, congratulations! You're pregnant -- with these few, rare exceptions. The most common explanation for a "false positive" is that you really were pregnant when you took the test. They don't recognize it as a positive pregnancy test that ultimately results in miscarriage. Sam explains that as many as 25 to 40 percent of pregnancies may end as an early often-undetected miscarriage. Some women don't even know they're pregnant in the first place.

Once you get your positive pregnancy test result, call your doctor and make an appointment. It may be many weeks away, and it can be stressful to wait for acknowledgment that everything's okay with your pregnancy. But, Dr. Sam explains, an ultrasound can't help your doctor see the gestational sac until about 6 weeks, and can't detect a fetus with a heartbeat until around 6 or 7 weeks. Once you see that heartbeat, your chance of miscarriage plummets to less than 5 percent. In the meantime, look out for heavy bleeding or intense cramping, and call your doctor right away if you experience either of them.

If you've had a miscarriage, hCG can stay in your bloodstream for several weeks afterward, or until your period returns, says Dr. Check your pregnancy test kit to make sure it hasn't expired, and follow the instructions carefully.

Making a mistake can affect the reliability of the test results. As part of infertility treatments, some women receive hCG injections to cause them to ovulate. If you're one of them, your doctor will advise you on how to accurately test for pregnancy.