What Can Cause a False Positive on a Pregnancy Test

You tried and tried, and finally accomplished what yous've been working towards and hoping for. A positive pregnancy test. Yous get to the doctor overjoyed, but cautious. Y'all desire to be sure this is really happening. Just one little problem. You're not actually pregnant. What really happened was you had a false positive pregnancy examination. When yous're already struggling to accomplish pregnancy, few things can be every bit devastating as a false positive. You might exist wondering what causes a fake pregnancy test to happen. Today we'll explore:

All the things that can atomic number 82 to a false positive pregnancy test
What to await for if y'all think you might exist significant
How to know for sure whether or not you are really significant
And more than...

The Most Common Causes of a Simulated Positive Pregnancy Test

For something that seems so black and white, people often wonder what tin can crusade a imitation positive pregnancy test. Some of the most mutual causes are:

The pregnancy test being expired
Letting the test sit down too long before checking information technology
Having a miscarriage or "chemical pregnancy"
Beingness on sure medications
Having an ectopic or molar pregnancy
Other medical conditions
A faulty pregnancy test unit of measurement and/or
Contaminated samples

An expired pregnancy test can yield a fake positive

The way that over-the-counter pregnancy tests (too called habitation pregnancy tests) piece of work, is that they indicate whether or non your urine contains the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), or pregnancy hormone. When a pregnancy test is past its expiration date, the chemicals that are within it don't piece of work the way that they're supposed to. Therefore, an expired pregnancy test can misread whether or non your urine contains hCG. Your all-time bet to avert this faux positive, is to ensure that the test you are taking is not expired. Regardless of where you get it, be sure to check the expiration date that is listed on the packaging before use. And every bit a side annotation, don't assume that the examination you are taking is better or worse than any other based on its price or brand. For example, according to momjunction.com, the tests that you tin purchase at dollar stores like Dollar Full general, were just equally effective in indicating whether or not a pregnancy existed, as those of the higher-priced brands establish at most big-box stores (Walmart or Target), and convenience stores (Walgreens, CVS, or Rite-Assist). What they found: "This test kit is 99% accurate but is non ultra-sensitive in detecting hCG. So, information technology will not detect low levels of the hormone that are nowadays in your trunk after fertilization occurs. This is the reason you should wait a few days after missing your catamenia earlier using the kit. Nearly experts concur that you get the nigh accurate results when your catamenia is a week late."

Don't let the examination sit too long afterward completion before checking the results

The directions on the box are there for a reason. When you lot allow a test to sit by itself for besides long later on y'all've completed it, the urine that is on the test can evaporate. Every bit this urine evaporates the test results can be distorted. In fact, one line tin suddenly appear as two, or a negative tin can wait like a positive depending on the test you're taking. Read all instructions carefully and follow them to the letter. If it says leave the dipstick in the urine for two minutes, for example, take information technology out at the two minute mark. If the results are available in 10 minutes, don't wait 20 to check them. You get the thought. Failure to follow the instructions explicitly is one thing tin can event in a simulated positive pregnancy test.

Having a miscarriage or "chemical pregnancy" tin lead to a faux positive

For an otherwise good for you adult female, she is most susceptible to a miscarriage inside the outset 12 weeks. A miscarriage is the term used to describe a pregnancy that ends within the first xx weeks of gestation. Nevertheless, about miscarriages actually occur in the first 13 weeks, and many women who have a miscarriage never knew they were significant in the first place. What is a chemical pregnancy? According to the American Pregnancy Association, "Chemical pregnancies may account for 50-75% of all miscarriages. This occurs when a pregnancy is lost shortly after implantation, resulting in bleeding that occurs around the time of her expected period. The woman may not realize that she conceived when she experiences a chemical pregnancy." What causes the fake positive in this instance is that you notwithstanding had some hCG in your system when y'all took the pregnancy test. This is one of the reasons that many experts suggest against early detection tests. While chemically speaking the tests are non necessarily wrong in detecting hCG, you may no longer exist significant when you have the test, unfortunately.

Certain medications can misconstrue pregnancy exam results

Taking a drug containing hCG can crusade a faux positive pregnancy examination. It takes betwixt 1 and two weeks for an injection of it to clear your organization, depending on the number of units you lot are prescribed. Therefore, if you are taking injections of hCG as part of your fertility treatments, you would be amend off waiting until that catamenia has expired prior to attempting a pregnancy test. Other medications that have been institute to cause a false positive pregnancy test include:

Psychiatric medications such equally anti-anxiety (like Xanax and Valium), and antipsychotic prescriptions (like clozapine or chlorpromazine)
Diuretics
Methadone
Anticonvulsants
Medications prescribed for Parkinson'southward disease
Antihistamines
Barbiturates
Phenergan and other anti-nausea medications

Finer, whatsoever medication that messes with your body's chemical makeup, or leaves traces in your urine, could potentially distort a urine examination.

Having a molar or ectopic pregnancy

In an ectopic pregnancy, a fertilized egg will implant itself somewhere other than the uterus. The about common identify is in the fallopian tube, merely it can as well occur in the ovary, abdominal cavity or the cervix. Because at that place is a fertilized egg, hCG will be nowadays in the system, resulting in the false positive pregnancy test. When an ectopic pregnancy occurs, swift treatment is required to halt the implanted egg'south development. Not doing and so can crusade significant complications for a woman including loss of reproductive organs, and/or farthermost blood loss. The symptoms of ectopic pregnancy are:

Pressure on the rectum
Dizziness, and feeling faint, or even fainting
Severe pain on just one side of your abdomen, or in your pelvis, neck and/or shoulders
Tender breasts and nausea

It's important to notation that many of these symptoms can be a sign of a regular pregnancy. On the other hand, if yous experience ane or more along with the other symptoms, it could be cause for concern. If yous even remotely doubtable you could be suffering from ectopic pregnancy, practice non hesitate. Seek medical attention at in one case because an ectopic pregnancy is a medical emergency that will only worsen, and can not exist managed on its own. A molar pregnancy occurs when the fertilization process leads to the growth of abnormal tissue within the uterus. Molar pregnancies rarely involve a developing embryo, just they often entail the commonly known symptoms of pregnancy including a missed menstruum, and astringent nausea. With molar pregnancies, hCG is likewise nowadays in the body, and tin can therefore lead to a faux positive every bit well.

Other medical atmospheric condition that can cause a simulated positive include:

Urinary tract infection (or UTI)
Ovarian cysts and/or ovarian cancer
Cancer in the bladder, kidney, lung, colon, breast, liver or stomach
Pituitary gland problems, or disorders affecting your hormone levels (although these are rare, they do occur)
Blood or white blood cells in the urine stream as a upshot of kidney diseases or infections
Residual hCG in your organization from a previous nascence, miscarriage, abortion, nutrition injection programs, or fertility treatments
Tumors that produce hCG (again, this is rare, but could happen with things similar ovarian germ prison cell tumors and gestational trophoblastic disease)

Your pregnancy test unit was faulty

It'due south no secret that pregnancy test units, and their packaging, are mass-produced in factories. Therefore, it stands to reason that one in hundred, or a thousand or fifty-fifty a million could be faulty. While in that location is no way to guarantee that your test is in perfect condition, that random chance of a faulty examination tin can cause an inaccurate upshot. It's 1 of the reasons that experts agree y'all should not rely on a single test to determine whether or non you're pregnant.

Your urine sample was contaminated

In some cases, albeit rare ones, a contaminated urine sample can atomic number 82 to a false positive pregnancy test. Some experts believe that soap, detergents and/or claret in the urine can lead to distorted results. The all-time bet for avoiding this fake pregnancy test is to utilize a clean sample and sterile conditions. For instance, if you have to urinate into a cup and then pour it onto the test, you must ensure the cup is sterile, and has no soap/detergents in information technology. Or, as mentioned above, if you have a kidney disease or an infection such every bit a urinary tract infection, it tin can cause blood to be present in your urine which can also affect the test results.

Is There Such Affair Equally a Faux Negative Pregnancy Test?

If there can be a false positive pregnancy test, you may be wondering if there is such a thing as a false negative pregnancy test as well. Yeah. Believe it or not, false negative pregnancy tests tin can and do occur. Here'due south a breakdown of what results tin can come from a pregnancy test:

In the event that you have a false negative pregnancy test, what that means is your examination was negative, however you are in fact pregnant.
A false positive indicates that you're pregnant even when you lot are not.
A true positive pregnancy test indicates that your pregnant and your results on the exam show upwardly as positive.
A true negative pregnancy test, just similar it sounds, indicates that you are not pregnant, and the exam results were also negative.

How can you know for sure whether or not y'all are actually pregnant?

Whether yous've experienced a false positive pregnancy exam or are simply curious, at some point yous volition probable desire confirmation as to whether or not you are meaning. Here are a few symptoms to look for that may aid you determine your status:

Missed period - perhaps the most common symptom of all pregnancy symptoms
A sudden aversion to or craving for certain foods and/or all food
A heightened sense of scent
Sudden onset fatigue, or increased fatigue compared with previous levels
More frequent than usual urination
Tender, bloated, or sore breasts (some women fifty-fifty experience tingling, and say their breasts feel heavier or more full)
Nausea and upset tummy
Bloating
Constipation
Dizziness and feeling faint or even fainting
Mood swings
Higher than normal torso temperature
Headaches and lower back pains

All symptoms and assumptions aside, however, you'll ultimately need to visit your doctor for unequivocal proof of pregnancy. When yous're fix to visit a md, permit them know you would similar a pregnancy test. They tin can do ane of four things at this signal:

A urine exam
A claret examination (considered more reliable than a urine test, and can detect a pregnancy earlier than a urine test will)
An internal examination (your doctor can perform an internal examination to look for changes to the neck and uterus. For example, your neck can change colour and become softer, and your uterus can expand even in the start few weeks of pregnancy.)
All of the above

When should you accept a examination?

Most doctors and experts hold that you should expect until one full week afterwards your commencement missed catamenia to take a pregnancy test. And so again, this is the primeval bespeak at which you should test. Remember, most miscarriages tin can occur within the first 13 weeks. Information technology'south important to keep in mind that fifty-fifty if you visit with your md and learn you are pregnant, this is non a medical guarantee you will be able to bring the pregnancy to term.

Desire to learn more virtually pregnancy, infertility, and other things related to these subjects?

In many cases, reading an article like this can leave people with more than questions than answers. We sympathize that every medical case is different, and you may desire to learn more about topics similar how best to go most achieving pregnancy, what tin lead to miscarriage, causes of infertility, and a multifariousness of other subjects. Cheque out our web log, the Houston Fertility Journal, to respond many of our frequently asked questions. {{cta('bfb20c53-348c-41a3-b13d-419c3a17cd9c')}}

March 22, 2021 Written by:

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Source: https://www.infertilitytexas.com/blog/what-causes-a-false-positive-pregnancy-test/