Pregnancy test result showed initially positive and later negative. What does it mean?

Resolved question:

it's a week before my period and I wasn't feeling like myself. So I took a pregnancy test this morning and it came out positive and then I took another 2 hours later to make sure and it was negative. What is the likely hood that I'm actually pregnant?

Submitted: 4 Days
Category: Community

Expert:  Dr. John Monheit replied 4 Days.

Hello, I understand your concern. During pregnancy there is a hormone produced known as the Human chronic gonadotropin (HCG), which is seen in blood and urine. This is produced immediately after fertilization of the egg and gradually increases and reaches optimum levels during 4- 6 week of pregnancy. There are two types of tests to determine pregnancy:

a) Urine tests: here since HCG is also seen in urine, a convenient method is known as Home pregnancy test can be done where the urine sample can detect the levels of HCG and confirm the pregnancy. However sometimes there is a small percentage of false negative where it is seen in three conditions:

a)You have tested 6-7 days after ovulation using a home kit. In such a case, the test appears negative, as there is not enough HCG in the urine.

b)Urine is diluted as the patient as had a lot of water, so the test appears negative.

c)Sensitivity of the test is low as seen in home kits.

The other available test is the blood test where HCG levels are measured in the blood and is more accurate than the urine test and can detect much earlier than the urine test.

I would suggest you to wait till your next periods and if it still doesn't occur you can get these reports and consult your obg-gyn doctor. Thank you.

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