Faint positive test after miscarriage was getting lighter but now getting darker

[Ssmm]

Hi,

I'm so confused and would love to get some advice on anyone who has experienced this. Unfortunately I had a missed miscarriage 3 weeks ago, I was 11 weeks but started spotting which turned into a heavy bleed on Friday the 5th June. Went to the epu and showed baby was measuring only 6 weeks. Was told to come back a week later to confirm if it was a miscarriage. That night I was bleeding heavy and passing clots so I knew. Went in a week later and had an transvaginal scan and was confirmed I miscarried and everything was out so nothing was retained. I bleed 5 days and spotted for another 3 days. Decided I wanted to ttc straight away after bleed.

Decided to take a pregnancy test to see if I am testing negative but still showed a dark positive line. A week later the line started getting lighter so decided to do the tests daily to see if my hcg was decreasing. Which it was at first. However these last few days my positive test is now showing the line getting darker. I am so confused. Could my hcg levels be increasing hence the darker lines? I feel my boobs getting heavier again after losing my pregnancy symptoms few weeks ago now I feel like they have come back. Could I be pregnant again even after not getting a negative results yet?

Sorry for your loss. [Flowers]

If you had unprotected sex between having the miscarriage and your next period arriving, then yes it is possibly you could be pregnant again with a new pregnancy. Or it is possible that the scan missed some retained matter from the miscarriage which would then need urgent attention. HCG levels don't return to normal until the uterus is completely empty after a miscarriage, but the egg for your next cycle can be released quite quickly after the miscarriage occurs.

You'll need to return to the EPU to find out what is going on. Good luck.

sorry didn't appear correctly above as they should have.

@YinuCeatleAyru thank you for the reply
I really hope it is not retained product. Yes I did have unprotected sex, but this was 9 days ago. Is that even enough time for a pregnancy positive line to start getting darker? I'm so baffled! If I did have retained product, will my pregnancy test line start to fade? Surely not (hoping). I have an appointment tomorrow at EPU. I hope it is good news. I read online that you cannot even ovulate if you have not had a negative pregnancy test after a miscarriage so I'm confused!

I read online that you cannot even ovulate if you have not had a negative pregnancy test after a miscarriage so I'm confused!

that is definitely not true.

hopefully the epu will be able to help resolve things.

I got pregnant the first cycle after a miscarriage. I didn't think to be testing so frequently so I couldn't say whether the lines were getting darker or lighter at any point. Sometimes testing so much can be confusing! Good luck at EPU.

@florababy84 so sorry to for your loss and congrats on this pregnancy hope all is going well!
When you say first cycle, is that before your first period or did you get a period first? I did not test at first but when 2 weeks had passed I decided to see if the hcg left my system as it could be a sign of other things. That's when I started obsessing and got confused lol. I'll update what happens today at the epu. I'm sure I will not get definite answers today, they might just do some bloods and a pregnancy test!

@YinuCeatleAyru

I read online that you cannot even ovulate if you have not had a negative pregnancy test after a miscarriage so I'm confused!

that is definitely not true.

hopefully the epu will be able to help resolve things.

I hope so. There is too much information online sometimes not helpful!

Actually this was a while ago when I was pregnant with my first DC, not pregnant at this stage that I know of!

I had the miscarriage (only at 6-7 weeks) then had no period at all, just did a test again when my period didn't turn up and it was a clear positive.

Update*
Went to EPU and as expected wasn't too helpful. Did a HCG blood test which gave me the result of 196. She compared it to my HCG levels 3 weeks ago when I JUST started miscarruing which was 4558. She was adamant that it is not a new pregnancy so early at 3 weeks and that it is just my HCG taking longer to clear. It would make sense for her to do another blood test in 48 hours to compare but she didn't. If it was a new pregnancy it would make sense for my HCG levels to be low anyway. She told me to come back in 2 weeks If I am still testing positive!

Wow that's very confusing and hard to cope with. Just wait around for two weeks?? I would go a bit mad I think!

Good luck and I guess all you can do is keep testing and see how you go.

@florababy84 it's literally torture!
Now I am getting some spotting everytime I wipe with a tissue and period pains. Maybe I'm getting my period? But is that even possible if you have HCG in your system and still testing positive. I have been searching the net like a mad women these few days!

@Ssmm I got my AF before my levels went back to below 15.
Min3 like yours was still in the hundreds. After my first miscarriage, the Epau took my levels twice a week, it took over 8 weeks to go back to normal.
They only stop taking blood when mine got below 40

@Em39ma sorry for your loss x

How many weeks were you when you had your miscarriage if you don't mind me asking. Did you take any pregnancy tests while waiting for them to go down as well.

I was around 8 weeks. No I didn’t do any pregnancy test as they were checking twice a week.
I have had another 2 weeks ago, I had a MVA this time. They have asked me to take one 3 weeks after this time. I have been doing cheap tests twice a week and at the moment I’m getting very strong positive still.

Hi. Can I join this chat. had a MMC last week. I was meant to be 8+1 last Sunday. Me and DH went for an early scan as a Father's Day present 😢only to be told the baby was measuring 7+4 and they couldn't find a heartbeat. We went to local EPU on Monday. Was given medical management but had no effect on me, so had surgery on Thursday. After I left I was given little or no advice re aftercare and no follow up appointments.
So can I ask a few questions, how long did you bleed for after, I've had mild bleeding since Thursday but nothing significant. When did your doctors recommended doing pregnancy tests and is this to confirm there's no tissue? Did they give any advice as when you know it's over.
Did they give you any advice on when to try again ?
I've read online to wait for your period but DH and I really want to try sooner rather than later.
Thanks in advance and sorry for your losses x

@Em39ma I'm so sorry to hear that, why did they decide on MVA. I've never heard of that procedure before. Hopefully your levels will go back to normal soon. Xx

@sk283 so sorry to hear you're going through this as well. I have noticed a lot of hospitals don't give much information. I had a natural miscarriage so I was bleeding very heavily for 2 days and then became like a normal period for 3 days and slight spotting after for another 3 or 4 days or even longer I think. I was told to come back a week after my miscarriage just so they can confirm the miscarriage as they said at 6 weeks they cannot detect a heartbeat as heartbeat can be detected after 6 weeks, so they do not like to diagnose a miscarriage until they are sure in case I got my dates wrong, which I did not. When I went in a week later, they said it was a miscarriage and I have already passed everything so no need to come back for another scan. I believe if they have done surgery, then they have most likely taken everything out so would be no need for a follow up scan. I didn't do a pregnancy test until 2.5 weeks just to check for my own self (drs did not tell me to take any tests) and then became slightly obsessed when it was showing positive. I think when you stop bleeding and if your pregnancy tests start to show a negative result then it will be over. Most drs tell you not to try straight away but this is because they will find it hard to date how far along you are and have to pay for a dating scan before the usual 12 weeks so they prefer you get a period first so they can use the dates. I know many people who have conceived straight after a miscarriage before they got a period and I am hoping to be those people lol but clearly this BFP is complicating things for me

@sk283 also, drs will advice to not DTD for first 2 weeks to prevent infection!

A MVA is where they vacuum the tissue out. I had to have mine done like this because of Covid. They aren’t able to do any operations that need a GA(sleep operations) so I had to have it done under a local injection.
It wasn’t fun, but I have a high pain threshold, so I didn’t find it to bad.
@sk283 I bleed for that day then stopped, i thought that would be it, but I started to bleed again a week later. It is apparently quite normal.
You should wait until all bleeding to stop before DTD.
Test again after 3 weeks to make sure you get a negative, if you are still getting a positive th3n call the Epau

Hi ladies. I'm sorry you're going through this, it's a really rough and confusing time.

I had my first MMC between 10 and 11 weeks and it completed naturally for me, too. I didn't feel ready to try again straight away, so I knew I definitely wasn't pregnant again, but despite feeling ovulation very clearly two weeks after the miscarriage started, and then getting my period another two weeks later (ie my cycle continued as normal straight away), I continued to get positive tests (of varying strength - probably just depending on how much I'd drunk the night before etc) for more than eight weeks (I was monitoring because I just felt I wanted to know where my body was at). I'd had the follow-up scan to show nothing was retained, so when I called the EPU, they really weren't very worried and said for some people it just clears a lot slower. It might be different for you, but in my case that turned out to be true.

Not to discourage you in any way from calling your EPU - definitely do that and go with their advice! But just to let you know it can be normal

Hi! I just came across this after wanting to know the same thing since it’s happening to me right now, all my pregnancy tests were getting faint then today it got darker so I wanted to know if you ended up being pregnant or if it was another reason for that to happen?

Just wondering what your update was as I am in the same boat right now!!