Hcg on the low side?

[lomelindi17]

Hi there,

I had my first blood test last Friday at 17dpo and hcg was only 118. I had the second one taken today at 24 dpo but won't get the results til Monday.
Betabase lists the median level as 417 at 17 dpo. :-/ My Dr. doesn't even usually test betas twice but she called me and said it's in the normal range for 4-5 weeks but we want to have you come in to test again. She was being very careful trying not to alarm me but i could tell it wasn't the greatest.
I've been having some slight pains on the left side and a little spotting, and my progesterone was a tad low at 19.2 as well. So I'm slightly worried it could end up being an ectopic. But not jumping to conclusions unless the pains get worse or my 2nd beta comes back bad. It could just as easily be a muscle spasm!

Just looking for some reassurance to get me through the weekend I guess! Has anyone had a lower end beta around 17 dpo that turned out fine? With my daughter the levels were quite high (5923 at 20 dpo and 13,841 at 22 dpo!) so this is weird for me. I got my first faint positive test at 10dpo in the evening and they progressed slowly but surely, and today i did a test that the test line was finally darker than control, so i'm hoping that is a good sign, but i'm still kinda nervous! I would think it would be higher than 118 seven days after my bfp. Thanks for humoring my crazy haha

 

[dairymomma]

I have lower hCG levels and they tend to stop doubling every 48 hours almost right away.

With DD2, I had an hcg of 38 at 13dpo and it was 300 something at 17 or 18 dpo. I had spotting and cramps too so I was really nervous. If you look at the range for 'normal' hCG levels in pregnancy, it's very large. And your numbers look pretty good for this point.

ut I did want to say that your progesterone is amazing actually. With DD2, it was 8.4 and that was even though I was taking supplements to boost it.

 

[LoraLoo]

I did with my 8 yr old

11dpo was 20.
13 dpo was 28
16dpo was 80
20 dpo was 400

I think so long as it's doubling its ok starting low (and my first lot never even doubled!)

 

[lomelindi17]

ut I did want to say that your progesterone is amazing actually. With DD2, it was 8.4 and that was even though I was taking supplements to boost it.

Oh really, that makes me feel a little better, my doctor said they want it over 20 and if my 2nd test comes back still under 20 they want me to start on prog cream. i guess every doctor has their own things they look for haha.

 

[lomelindi17]

So my beta from friday 24dpo came back at 707, 65 hrs doubling time, which is acceptable I guess. Not that great though. But my progesterone went down all the way to 10.07. Spotting has gotten worse over the weekend. So she put me on progesterone pills today. Really hoping it's not too late. My thyroid test from 2 fridays ago came back not good so I just went on armour thyroid 3 days ago too. So she said this progesterone issue could be from my thyroid not doing well or it could be from the baby not being viable and my body letting it go. Could go either way so I just have to wait and see. Did another blood test today so I should get those results tomorrow to see if hcg continues to rise. So nerve wracking!!

 

[Sander]

How stressful, so sorry you’re going through this! The good news is your hcg is still rising, and I’ve heard of people who double every 72 hours and everything ends up being fine. Also I’m not an expert but I’ve heard low progesterone can cause spotting, so it’s good you’re taking something for that, hopefully it will stop the spotting altogether.

 

[lomelindi17]

Well my update today isn't great. Beta from yesterday came back at 1295 (27 dpo), which puts it at 84 hours doubling time now or 49.3% 2-day rise (I think they want to see it over 55% but I've read that one study said anything above 35% is normal. Who knows). Doctor was encouraged and said since it's still increasing it means I'm not miscarrying right now, so we just have to wait and see what happens, going to test again Thurs or Fri. She said it's normal for hcg to slow down after 1200 so it could be just that. I'm still very concerned it's not a healthy baby but want to give it a chance in case it's just a slow starter. So still in limbo! Spotting a little worse today but it'll probably take time for the progesterone to really kick in. My level yesterday was down to 8.55. The pills made me soo dizzy and tired last night though, going to be a rough next 6 weeks of taking those if baby keeps growing. But definitely worth it!

 

[Sander]

Glad to hear those numbers are still rising!! But sorry the pills are making you feel sick - hopefully you won’t have to take them for very long. Weird that your progesterone is doing that in the first place. But overall I’d say that was all good news! Fx everything continues going well