Can Any Medication Or Medical Conditions Affect The Result
Testing too soon after using fertility drugs that contain hCG can give misleading results.
If you have recently stopped taking hormonal contraception or are using fertility treatments such as clomiphene citrate, your periods may be irregular leading you to test too early.
If you have recently been pregnant you may get a false pregnant result. Ectopic pregnancy, ovarian cysts, menopause and some very rare medical conditions may give misleading results. If you have a pregnant result it is possible that you later nd that you are not pregnant due to loss of the pregnancy in the early stages.
Some women who are more than 6 weeks pregnant may get misleading results due to high hCG levels .
If you get unexpected results you should talk about them with your doctor
How Does A Pregnancy Test Work
All pregnancy tests detect the hormone human chorionic gonadotrophin , which starts to be produced around 6 days after fertilisation.
Most pregnancy tests come in a box that contains 1 or 2 long sticks. You pee on the stick and the result appears on the stick after a few minutes. All tests are slightly different, so always check the instructions.
What Are The Advantages Of Using A Home Pregnancy Test
There are quite a few advantages to using a home pregnancy test, including:
- Pregnancy tests are inexpensive.
- Theyre easy to use.
- Home tests provide results quickly.
According to pregnancy kit manufacturers, most at-home pregnancy tests are 97% to 99% accurate when you use them as instructed. Positive results can be trusted, but you can get a falsely negative result very early in pregnancy.
Blood tests tend to be more expensive and, for many women, the wait for an appointment can be difficult. Home tests allow you to quickly know if youre pregnant shortly after conception.
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When To Get A Blood Test
You might be wondering if you should also have a blood test to check if youre pregnant. It is something to consider if you get a positive or negative result. Your doctor may order a test, or you may be thinking about ordering one yourself. Many labs now allow people to order and pay out of pocket for their blood work.
Before you do that, there are a few things you should know. First of all, there are two types of pregnancy blood tests: qualitative and quantitative.
- Qualitative tests measure whether hCG is present in your blood or urine. They pretty much give a yes or no answer as to whether youre pregnant. Or, more accurately, whether you have enough pregnancy hormone to get a positive result. Home pregnancy tests are qualitative.
- A quantitative pregnancy test measures the amount of pregnancy hormone in your blood. This is sometimes called a beta hCG test. These are usually done to see how a pregnancy is progressing. For example, your doctor may order a beta hCG test on Monday, and then another test on Wednesday or Thursday. The purpose would be to see whether the level of hCG is increasing as expected or not. This might be important if you had trouble conceiving, have a history of early miscarriage, or an ectopic pregnancy is suspected.
Symptoms Dwindle In The Second Trimester
Many of the body changes and symptoms of pregnancy you experience in the first trimester will start to fade once you reach the second trimester. Talk with your doctor about any symptoms that interfere with your daily life. Together, you can find relief and comfort for your pregnancy.
To receive week-by-week guidance about early pregnancy symptoms and more, sign up for our Im Expecting newsletter.
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The Most Common Sign Of Early Pregnancy A Missed Period
Your menstrual cycle is your bodys way of preparing for a possible pregnancy each month. Part of that is the thickening of your uterine lining, which is where a fertilized egg would implant to begin a pregnancy.
If youre not pregnant, your period is how your uterus sheds that extra lining. If you are pregnant, that lining stays put and you dont get your normal flow. This is why a missed period is often the earliest sign of pregnancy.
Of course, a delayed or missed period doesnt always mean youre pregnant. If your body is under a lot of stress or you have a hormonal imbalance, you could be experiencing an irregular menstrual cycle.
How Accurate Are Home Pregnancy Tests
Home pregnancy tests are very accurate and most claim between 97 per cent and 99 per cent accuracy, but as with any kit there are things that can affect the test result.
Here are some tips for how to improve their accuracy:
- Check the expiry date and make sure you follow the instructions properly.
- The amount of hCG or pregnancy hormone in your urine increases with time and is often different at certain times of day. The earlier after a missed period you take the test, the harder it is to spot the hCG. Also, testing your urine first thing in the morning may boost the accuracy.
- The amount of hCG in urine is different for every woman. Some women will have accurate results on the day of the missed period while others will need to wait longer.
- Some tests are more sensitive than others, and will affect how early you can use them to detect pregnancy.
If in doubt, the best thing to do is to consult your GP or a health care professional who will be able to take a pregnancy test for you.
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How Early Can You Detect Pregnancy
You can carry out most pregnancy tests from the first day of a missed period. If you dont know when your next period is due, do the test at least 21 days after you last had unprotected sex. Some very sensitive pregnancy tests can be used even before you miss a period, from as early as 8 days after conception.
When Can I Do The Test
You can test as early as 4 days before the expected date of your period. If you are testing early we recommend that you use the rst urine of the day as it contains the highest level of hormone in a day. If you are testing from the day of your missed period you can use urine from any time of the day.
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All You Need To Know About Testing Early For Pregnancy
After the egg is fertilised, it travels to the uterus and implants itself in the uterine wall. At this stage tiny amounts of the pregnancy hormone, hCG, start to appear in your urine. It is this hormone that all home pregnancy tests detect and some tests are so sensitive that they can be used up to 6 days before your missed period .
So, for example, if you expect your period on 15th of the month, you can test as early as the 10th. Use our helpful when to test calculator to find out when you can test with Clearblue Digital Ultra Early Pregnancy Test – no test can tell you sooner.
No matter when you test, you can be confident in the accuracy of a ‘Pregnant’ result with any Clearblue Pregnancy Test.
But if you are testing early, you should be aware that even if your result is not pregnant, you may still be pregnant. This is because levels of hCG vary from woman to woman and there may not yet be enough hormone for the test to give a positive result. HCG levels rise rapidly in early pregnancy, as shown in the graph below, meaning that if you test again on the day of your expected period, your result will be over 99% accurate.
The day of your expected period is the day your period is due to start. If you still havent got your period the next day, this is the day of your missed period. So if you see instructions telling you to take the test four days before your expected period, this is the same as five days before your missed period.
When You Should Get A Pregnancy Blood Test
A pregnancy blood test at your doctors office is another way to confirm a pregnancy.
The blood test can detect the pregnancy earlier than an at-home urine test eight days after ovulation is the earliest a blood test could detect a pregnancy, says Dr. Merhi.
Should you receive a positive at-home pregnancy test result, your doctor will often perform an in-office blood test to confirm the presence of HCG. This and additional blood tests also provide additional information about your health and the health of your pregnancy.
Blood tests are also needed to check for complications of pregnancyfor instance, if you are at risk for ectopic pregnancy , miscarriage or an abnormally progressing pregnancy, says Dr. Culwell. because they can measure whether your pregnancy hormone levels are progressing normally or decreasing.
Should you experience a miscarriage, HCG can remain in your body for a few weeks, and additional tests taken in the weeks following can lead to a false-positive result, says Dr. Merhi.
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What Type Of Test Is Best
If youre testing on the first day of a missed period, it doesnt matter very much which test you usemost currently marketed tests are reliable and will yield a positive result for 98 percent of pregnant women. But if youre testing early, you should use a more sensitive testjust remember that pregnancy tests are less likely to be accurate when taken before your missed period.
The more sensitive the pregnancy test, the more likely it is to detect pregnancy early. But more sensitive pregnancy tests are also more likely to return false positives.
In a study that tested six over-the-counter pregnancy tests, First Response and Answer were the most sensitive. Clear Blue Easy and Walmart Equate tests were the least sensitive.
- It’s not recommended to take a pregnancy test before 12 14 days past ovulation
- Repeat the test two days later, regardless of the results
- Make sure to use a high-quality pregnancy test
Why Do You Not Have Early Pregnancy Test Strips Below 10miu Sensitivity
10miu sensitivity is as low as you can go without the pregnancy test giving significant and recurrent false positive results. This is because hcg is secreted by other tissues and not just placental tissue. This may be in very low amounts, but a urine pregnancy test detecting much below 10miu will demonstrate this hormone in a subgroup of women. They would have permanently positive pregnancy tests throughout their fertile years. 10miu hcg is as low as the current technology for early detection pregnancy tests can go without becoming inaccurate.
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How Accurate Are Urine Tests
Urine tests or home pregnancy tests are around 97% accurate when done correctly. Home pregnancy tests are great to use because they can be done at home, they are usually low in cost , private, they give a fast result, and are easy to use.
However, if done incorrectly or taken too early, the result can be inaccurate. If you get a negative result and still have symptoms of pregnancy , wait a week and take another test or contact your doctor so you can have a blood test done.
Which Pregnancy Tests Work When
There are lots of home pregnancy tests out there, some from well known brands, and some really cheap options from names you might not have heard of so we totally get that it can be confusing, as Lindosadani on our forum says:
Im so tempted to try one, but not sure if theyre a waste of money? What are peoples thoughts and experiences with these early detection tests? Im 8dpo .
In case youre tempted, the current products offer the following :
Pregnancy tests you can take 5 days before your period is due
Pregnancy tests you can take 4 days before your period is due
Inexpensive tests you can buy in bulk packets
There are also some super cheap pregnancy tests and strips available through and eBay. They make bold and sometimes confusing claims and are not manufactured by well-known brands. These include:
- One Step 10 mIU Ultra Early pregnancy strips 3 days before you period is due . Ignore the conflicting wording on Amazon that claims it tests up to 6 days earlier than a standard pregnancy test.
- ProMatris Highly Sensitive 10mIU pregnancy test strips 3 days before you period is due . Ignore the conflicting wording on Amazon that claims it tests up to 6 days earlier than a standard pregnancy test
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How Accurate Will My Pregnancy Test Result Be
Accuracy is the whole point of the number of days you need to wait. As long as you follow the recommended time, home test kits are generally 97% accurate. Some kits come with two tests so if you get a result you were not expecting, you can check again in a couple of days. Its worth knowing that a positive test is almost certainly correct but that false negatives are slightly more likely. If you get a positive test result, you should consult your GP straight away.
A word of caution: some medications can affect the result and make it positive even though you are not pregnant. These include medications for allergies such as promethazine, medications for anxiety and anti-psychotics, diuretics, anticonvulsants and even some medications for infertility. Here too you will find a full list in the instructions in the packet. If in doubt you could ask a pharmacist.
Getting Help When Its Needed
Congratulations if you get the result you were hoping for from your pregnancy test! But if you are among the small proportion of people who long for a pregnancy that never seems to happen, dont wait too long before finding some help. Your GP may be able to refer you to a fertility clinic, depending on what is available from your local clinical commissioning group . The NHS publishes a guide to finding your local CCG.
If the services you need are not available, or waiting times are too long, you could get in touch with us at IVI. A positive first step would be to take a look at the video about our London clinic, or more positive still, come to one of our patient open evenings and see for yourself!
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First Response Early Pregnancy Test
With this pregnancy test, you can find out whether youre pregnant 6 days before your missed period and 5 days before your period is expected. Watch out though because its slightly less effective at predicting early pregnancy than the Clear Blue test at 62% effective 6 days before, but it is 99% effective on the day of the missed period. Get .
How Early Can I Take A Pregnancy Test
How early you are able to take a pregnancy test will depend on the type of test that you use. All pregnancy tests measure the amount of the pregnancy hormone, human chorionic gonadotrophin in your body. This hormone is produced when the egg is fertilized and attaches to the uterine wall, usually six days after fertilization.
Some tests are more sensitive than others and can detect very low levels of hCG in your body. The more sensitive tests could detect hCG as early as four days before your missed period. The sensitivity of a pregnancy test can be found on the packaging and is measured in mIU/ml . Sensitivity can range from 10mIU/ml to 40mIU/ml. The lower the number, the more sensitive the test is and, in turn, will detect pregnancy sooner.
Different Types of Tests
There are two main types of pregnancy tests, urine test and blood test. Both tests detect the amount of hCG in the body.
Urine Test
Urine tests can be purchased at the grocery store or pharmacy and done in the privacy of your home. Results are most accurate when the test is performed when your period is due, or about 2 weeks after you ovulate. However, some can detect pregnancy as early as 4 days before your missed period.
If you get a positive result, you will want to make an appointment with your doctor to have a blood test done to confirm the pregnancy and begin prenatal care.
Blood Test
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Factors That Cause A False Negative
Can you get a false negative pregnancy test? Absolutely. But you can decrease your risk of getting a false negative by keeping an eye out for the variables that cause a negative pregnancy test result, such as:
- Urine concentration The more diluted your urine, the harder it is for a pregnancy test to detect accurate amounts of HCG . Instead, try to take your pregnancy test first thing in the morning when the chemicals in your urine are at their most concentrated.
- Testing too early If youre trying to get pregnant, you may be meticulously tracking your menstrual cycles so you can pinpoint your most fertile periods. But not every woman operates on a 28-day cycle. If you get a negative test result, you might have caught your egg right at implantation, before HCG levels are high enough to be detected. Try waiting a few days and test again to ensure an accurate reading.
- Delayed implantation Typically, a fertilized egg will mosey down into the uterus for implantation 6-9 days after fertilization. But thats not always the case for every woman. In fact, for 10 percent of pregnant women, the embryo doesnt implant until the first day of your missed period. And remember, HCG isnt produced until implantation, so you may not get a positive pregnancy test until week 6 or 8 of your pregnancy!
