Very faint line on 3 tests but just had AF

[Elle_A]

This is my first post and I've spent countless hours researching so I thought I'd just ask you guys! We're not ttc yet so I'm a little panicked (we're waiting until I'm done school in a year).

Background:
- Never conceived as far as I know
- Endometriosis diagnosed with 1 uterine fibroid and 1 partially blocked tube due to scaring (unknown source). I had surgery 2 years ago to help with the irregular periods and pain and the surgery helped immensely.
- 26 day cycles with periods lasting 6-7 days

Aug 3-7: regular period
Aug 14 (CD12): EWCM
Aug 15 (CD13): EWCM
Aug 16 (CD14): EWCM & sex
Aug 17 (CD15): creamy cm
Aug 18 (CD16): A LOT of EWCM with streaks of red blood (so much very stretchy ewcm that it shocked me!)
Aug 19 (CD17): watery & creamy cm, w/brown spotting for an hour
Aug 20 (CD18): creamy cm, brown spotting
Then normal cm as period approached only with the occasional pale yellow cm and pale yellow ewcm few days before period
Aug 28 (CD 26/1)-Sept 1: regular period (a day shorter than normal though)
Sept 3: Dollar store hpt w/very very faint red line so I went and bought drugstore brand tests (Equate) and it appeared negative
Sept 4: Took the other Equare hpt w/morning pee and glanced at it and it looked negative

Then today I took another look at them by holding them up to the window and all three have a very very faint line. And the line is coloured and in the exact spot where it should be and the same width as the test line so I know they're not evap lines. As you can see from the schedule above, I'm not sure when exactly I ovulated either because I just go by cm.

As for other symptoms, I've had mild cramps for the past few days, tired, and emotional. But over the past 2-3 months I've been super emotional from about CD5-CD15 so that's not that odd for me.

I'm going to take another test in a week or so but I'd love to hear what you guys think in the meantime! I haven't taken a test in months so now I'm wondering if I had of taken a test last month that maybe something would have shown then too?

As for the tests, I can see the line with my own eyes in bright light but when I take a picture you can't see the line unless you up the contrast. So here's two pictures with the contrast on high so you can see! Otherwise the camera won't pick it up. But my eyeballs see it! BAH!

 

[Elle_A]

PS- sorry that posted weird!

 

[gigglebox]

Evap lines can show up on tests after the time to read it has passed (usually 10 minutes). They just make the test kine visible, sometimes even with color, but they aren't valid results by any means. Best bet is to test again in a couple days, read the test within the time limit, then throw it away (though none of us actually follow that rule, haha).

If it's still a super faint squinter, you can probably safely assume you've got bad tests as a true positive would start to darken up by then.

Good luck and let us know what happens! Don't leave us hangin'!

 

[Elle_A]

Evap lines can show up on tests after the time to read it has passed (usually 10 minutes). They just make the test kine visible, sometimes even with color

I thought evap lines were just like shadows? I didn't know they could be the right colour, width, etc? That's another thing I was wondering- that line that does show up when it detects the hCG does it stay totally invisible unless it detects hCG?
Also, my Mum has bad eyes and could see 2/3 tests! I thought I was going crazy but getting back up from someone else helped!

And yes, I'll def keep ya posted!

 

[gigglebox]

Sometimes you can see the gray antibody strip (that would react if you are pregnant) because it is visible when wet. With blue dye tests, they tend to show up more and appear faintly blue, so if you are getting any super faint lines, it's best to confirm them in a couple days with (hopefully) darker lines you don't have to guess at.

It's also possible you had a chemical pregnancy, which is basically a very early miscarriage. They're really common and most women don't even know they had one, unless they tested early and saw a positive test. With chemicals, the tests lighten and become negative and your period comes on time (sometimes a day or two late). Bleeding can be normal or not.

 

[Elle_A]

I was thinking possible chemical too yeah. And from what I read online about the blue tests it seems they can show evap lines a lot of the time too. But on the cheap one the faint line is pink! Bah, I have no idea. Thank you for your input though, it really helps!