Getting a False-Positive Pregnancy Test
Unless you have been trying for a baby there is a feeling of panic when you take that HCG pregnancy test or one to be done at home, and you see those two strips appear. Usually it is recommended by doctors that you wait until a missed period before you take a test but sometimes it is hard to wait if you know you have had unprotected sex. In which case you need to take it two weeks from the date of the possible conception via a clinical laboratory blood test. They can tell if you are pregnant by checking for hCG, human chorionic gonadotropin, which is a chemical released when pregnant and can be found in the woman’s urine or blood. When using a home test they are 97% accurate but there is a slim chance of getting a false positive result.
There are several reasons one might get a false positive result and these are:
• Blood or protein present in your urine.
• You are taking diuretics.
• The pregnancy test is old and expired and or damaged.
• If you are on prescripted medicines that have hCG in them such as Ovidrel, Profasi, Pregnyl, Chorex, APL or Novarel. Promethazine which is an antihistamine combined with some cold and cough cures for vomiting and sickness can also create a flase positive result.
There is also something called a chemical pregnancy which is where the egg was fertilized, just enough for small traces of hCG to be produced but there was no further development. In fact thirty to fifty per cent of eggs that are fertilized become chemical pregnancies where there rare some other factors such as abnormalities that have stopped the egg advancing any further. Women will experience delayed periods or be a little late or a bit heavier than usual. Therefore do not panic over the result, go to your doctor to confirm the result. You may waste a lot of energy thinking you are pregnant and there is still a chance that you are not. Home tests as mentioned are not 100 per cent accurate.
Related posts:
- Can pregnancy tests be false positive?
- False pregnancy test positive ? Possible reasons and advice!
- False negative pregnancy tests
- When is a home pregnancy test positive?
