HCG levels - question

[wanttobeamom]

Hi guys. I had a positive digital pg test on Sunday, which was 11 dpo. By Monday morning I had a negative test. When I went to the doc late Monday afternoon to take a blood test, they told me I'd hear today. When she called me today she said there was no trace of a pregnancy.

Does this mean I was never pregnant, or could HCG levels have dropped that fast since I was only 11 dpo? Please help b/c I am driving myself crazy here.
Thank you!

 

[Tina Bee]

It could have been a chemical pregnancy.

Did you show them the positive digital test?

 

[DMG83]

did the digital test say "pregnant" or was it lines? maybe you got an evap..?

 

[ptr]

a chemical pregnancy or a false positive?

 

[wanttobeamom]

It could have been a chemical pregnancy.

Did you show them the positive digital test?

No, they didn't ask to see it. I just told them it had been positive. The nurse didn't seem to think I'd been pg at all, but I don't know.

Would levels have dropped that fast in a chemical?

 

[wanttobeamom]

I don't know. I need to try to figure out if it's a false positive b/c if it is, then I've never been preggers before (even chemically) but if not, there's a chance I could get pregnant. It was a digital test that said "yes" or "No" so no evap lines.

 

[wanttobeamom]

I didn't say "thanks" but thanks for the ideas. I hope someone who has had this happen has a better doctor for explaining than I do.

 

[olivetree83]

@wanttobeamom-

This is what happened to me so maybe it can help explain your situation. I received a positive pregnancy test @ 14DPO and at 15DPO, by 17DPO I decided to go in to the doctor just to have a blood pregnancy test (like two positives wasn't enough) and to check the HCG levels, when I called back the next day they told me my HCG level was a 9 which didn't mean not pregnant, but it also didn't mean I was. I researched and at 5 wks pregnant you should have an HCG level in the thousands (though don't quote me on that everyone is different but it definitely shouldn't have been only at 9). At 19DPO I miscarried. What happened to me is in fact a miscarriage but many call it a chemical pregnancy because what happens is the sperm and egg meet and fertilize but the egg never implants-so your body starts producing the HCG hormone but when you start shedding there isn't a sack or sells to pass. It was devastating being so elated having a positive and going to such horrible news from the doctor just two days later (they were very insensitive on the phone). I don't know if you have started bleeding yet or if you even will (stay positive). All I know is that's what happened to me and it may shed some light on your situation.

I wish you the very best and hope we both get our BFP's soon if yours isn't there already! Keep us posted.

I am sorry for the stress you must be going through.

Because of this I made a vow to msyelf that I would never test again until I was one week late. If I would have waited to test I wouldn't have known at all that I was pregnant and would have just figured I started my period late due to stress. They say in fact that a lot of women don't realize they have a chemical pregnancy because they don't test and they just assume their period is a week late, which mine was.

Lots of love,
Olive

 

[olivetree83]

sorry, i mispelled sells, i meant CELLS haha,

Also just a note, the two positive pregnancy tests I took were Clear Blue Digitial and both of them said pregnant almost immediately.

Good luck.

 

[ptr]

maybe what happened is you had the egg fertilized which increased your hcg level enough for the pregnant test to pick up that positive but the egg didnt implant thus the hcg level dropped real fast cuz you didnt have a high hcg level to begin with?

 

[wanttobeamom]

Olive,
Thank you so much. Yes, I'm pretty sure this is what happened to me, but the nurse made it seem (or maybe I'm just too sensitive right now) that I was wrong and had never been pg (even chemically) since the test showed no HCG. I don't know. I'm going to a fertility doctor tomorrow, so I've got a long list of questions to ask him. I'm really frustrated that my doctor couldn't call me as I've been trying for about 14 years (I have been saying 15, but then realized I'm not 39 yet...lol) and this was my first positive EVER, so it means a lot to know if it was chemical or false positive.

Thank you so much, and I hope you get your BFP soon!

Thank you!!
Kristie

 

[wanttobeamom]

maybe what happened is you had the egg fertilized which increased your hcg level enough for the pregnant test to pick up that positive but the egg didnt implant thus the hcg level dropped real fast cuz you didnt have a high hcg level to begin with?

Thank you. I'm definitely asking the doc tomorrow. I'm really nervous because I'll only get to go to him one or two times b/c my insurance doesn't cover fertility and I can't afford to go without insurance at those kind of fees.

Kristie

 

[ptr]

*points to olivetree* what she said!!! Lol

i remember in 2006 when i found out i was pregnant a week after i missed my period and everything was fine until i started spotting a week later (which i would have been about 5 weeks) so i went in to test and find out why i was spotting .. my initial hcg level was 1,200 and the 2nd test was 899 so they knew i was miscarrying. hcg levels are suppposed to double every day until 1st trimester or 2nd trimester (i cant remember) then it will drop and stay steady until birth, i think. its been 5 years since that miscarriage so my memory is fuzzy with the details!

 

[DMG83]

that's the problem with testing so early is that we really shouldn't know about these "chemical" pregnancies.. have you got af yet!!?? because surely you're not out until she arrives??

 

[olivetree83]

Olive,
Thank you so much. Yes, I'm pretty sure this is what happened to me, but the nurse made it seem (or maybe I'm just too sensitive right now) that I was wrong and had never been pg (even chemically) since the test showed no HCG. I don't know. I'm going to a fertility doctor tomorrow, so I've got a long list of questions to ask him. I'm really frustrated that my doctor couldn't call me as I've been trying for about 14 years (I have been saying 15, but then realized I'm not 39 yet...lol) and this was my first positive EVER, so it means a lot to know if it was chemical or false positive.

Thank you so much, and I hope you get your BFP soon!

Thank you!!
Kristie

Kristie,

Yes, write down your questions for the fertility specialist and take it with you! I find that I have all these questions I want to ask my OB and when I go in for the appointment I either chicken out or forget. So where this is only a one or two time chance make the best of it. I know doctor's can be insensitve because they only look at the technical part of it not the emotional. It takes a huge toll and us women and guess what? You were pregnant. Having a chemical isn't any different than having a regular miscarriage. I became frustrated because so many people would be like, "oh well you didn't think you were pregnant for very long so it was probably easier than if you ahd been carrying for weeks." Um, excuse me, I've wanted this forever and the exact minute I saw that "pregnant" on that tiny digital screen I was in love. Remember this, your chances after a miscarriage of conceiving are greater. Also-follow this plan: it's called "sperm meets egg"

Buy a 20pack of OPK's and a Basal body thermometer-from CD1 track your temperature upon waking at the same time each morning and take your OPK tests in the afternoon at the same time each day. Starting CD8 have intercourse every other day until you receive your positive OPK, when you get that positive, have intercourse that night and the following two nights in a row, skip one more day, then do it one more time "just in case." Afterwards continue to have intercourse every other day just to make sure a window of opportunity isn't missed. Also, when AF has you, make sure you try to release your hubby somehow at least once to make sure then when you do start trying the sperm is fresh.

Sorry for the long post, I just know how hard it gets and how much support means. I can't believe you have been trying for so long. Have you done a bunch of tests or are you just starting now?

Love,
Olive

 

[wanttobeamom]

that's the problem with testing so early is that we really shouldn't know about these "chemical" pregnancies.. have you got af yet!!?? because surely you're not out until she arrives??

Yes, she came - with a vengeance.
Thanks.

 

[wanttobeamom]

Olive,
Thank you so much. Yes, I'm pretty sure this is what happened to me, but the nurse made it seem (or maybe I'm just too sensitive right now) that I was wrong and had never been pg (even chemically) since the test showed no HCG. I don't know. I'm going to a fertility doctor tomorrow, so I've got a long list of questions to ask him. I'm really frustrated that my doctor couldn't call me as I've been trying for about 14 years (I have been saying 15, but then realized I'm not 39 yet...lol) and this was my first positive EVER, so it means a lot to know if it was chemical or false positive.

Thank you so much, and I hope you get your BFP soon!

Thank you!!
Kristie

Kristie,

Yes, write down your questions for the fertility specialist and take it with you! I find that I have all these questions I want to ask my OB and when I go in for the appointment I either chicken out or forget. So where this is only a one or two time chance make the best of it. I know doctor's can be insensitve because they only look at the technical part of it not the emotional. It takes a huge toll and us women and guess what? You were pregnant. Having a chemical isn't any different than having a regular miscarriage. I became frustrated because so many people would be like, "oh well you didn't think you were pregnant for very long so it was probably easier than if you ahd been carrying for weeks." Um, excuse me, I've wanted this forever and the exact minute I saw that "pregnant" on that tiny digital screen I was in love. Remember this, your chances after a miscarriage of conceiving are greater. Also-follow this plan: it's called "sperm meets egg"

Buy a 20pack of OPK's and a Basal body thermometer-from CD1 track your temperature upon waking at the same time each morning and take your OPK tests in the afternoon at the same time each day. Starting CD8 have intercourse every other day until you receive your positive OPK, when you get that positive, have intercourse that night and the following two nights in a row, skip one more day, then do it one more time "just in case." Afterwards continue to have intercourse every other day just to make sure a window of opportunity isn't missed. Also, when AF has you, make sure you try to release your hubby somehow at least once to make sure then when you do start trying the sperm is fresh.

Sorry for the long post, I just know how hard it gets and how much support means. I can't believe you have been trying for so long. Have you done a bunch of tests or are you just starting now?

Love,
Olive

Hi Olive,
I was a military wife at the time we started (I guess not really trying, but definitely not trying not to, if that makes sense). I knew I had severe endo, so after about a year of no luck, I talked to my military doctor. They never sent me on to a specialist, but he (a physician's assistant, but Thank God for him because he cared) tried me on Clomid and then on Glucophage. No luck. After 10 years, my husband and I divorced. So for two years there I didn't try at all. Then I got remarried, had yet another surgery, and we started trying in earnest. So it would mean a LOT to me for this to even be a chemical one, b/c it would mean I can get pregnant.
Thanks for your support - it does mean a lot to me. My coworkers are VERY fertile, and even the two that had trouble now have babies. It's hard to always be happy for them. That probably sounds a tad selfish, but the "why not me?" whine starts every time I hear of another pg. And my best friend who is my age just got pregnant. So now it's just me. And it is a lonely place to be.

 

[DMG83]

that's the problem with testing so early is that we really shouldn't know about these "chemical" pregnancies.. have you got af yet!!?? because surely you're not out until she arrives??

Yes, she came - with a vengeance.
Thanks.

Sounds like a chemical I had similar thing last cycle, implantation dip at 10dpo, then soaring temps, af was 3 days late then came heaviest i've ever had, heartbreaking isn't it x

 

[wanttobeamom]

that's the problem with testing so early is that we really shouldn't know about these "chemical" pregnancies.. have you got af yet!!?? because surely you're not out until she arrives??

Yes, she came - with a vengeance.
Thanks.

Sounds like a chemical I had similar thing last cycle, implantation dip at 10dpo, then soaring temps, af was 3 days late then came heaviest i've ever had, heartbreaking isn't it x

Yes, that is definitely the word. I was head over heels in love with this baby immediately. The strange thing is that I was SURE I was pregnant. About 6dpo, I felt a sharp pain and I thought "implantation!" Woo hoo. Then when the test read pregnant I was over the moon. I've learned a lesson about excitement this time.

 

[DMG83]

that's the problem with testing so early is that we really shouldn't know about these "chemical" pregnancies.. have you got af yet!!?? because surely you're not out until she arrives??

Yes, she came - with a vengeance.
Thanks.

Sounds like a chemical I had similar thing last cycle, implantation dip at 10dpo, then soaring temps, af was 3 days late then came heaviest i've ever had, heartbreaking isn't it x

Yes, that is definitely the word. I was head over heels in love with this baby immediately. The strange thing is that I was SURE I was pregnant. About 6dpo, I felt a sharp pain and I thought "implantation!" Woo hoo. Then when the test read pregnant I was over the moon. I've learned a lesson about excitement this time.

Hopefully this cycle will be ours... xx