Can out of date tests give false positives?

[Foxilla]

Just that really. I was having a clear out and found some old pregnancy tests from when we were TTC before. FRER dated Oct 2021 and for some reason I figured I might as well use it rather than just bin it… it’s come back with two lines.
I have a 1yo DS whose still breastfeeding twice a day, my periods haven’t returned yet but I’ve had a few cramps over the last few weeks. I can’t get out to get a new test until the weekend 🤦🏻‍♀️ Anyone got an idea whether out of date tests are likely to give false positives?

Order a test on Amazon!

They're more likely to give a false negative than a positive.

Hmm, I would order from Amazon but I’d rather know for sure before I talk to DP. He’s more likely to take in a delivery than me, and we share a Prime account.
I think I’ve got some more ic’s tucked away somewhere. They’re probably out of date too tho. We weren’t planning another yet, DP is a bit on the fence about having any more so I don’t know how it would go down if it is positive. I don’t know what result would be best really

I think it's v unlikely to be a false positive and breastfeeding at a year is definitely not a foolproof contraception method. I hope it's the answer you want!

Hi, yes they can although it's rare. I ended up going to out-of-hours doctors with severe cramping and losing consciousness, was told I had two positive tests from urine samples there - sent to womens health as I had the coil in and with the pain they said I must be having an ectopic pregnancy - turns out from blood tests I was never pregnant! So the hospital Dr tried to find out what happened, and said the out of hours drs tests had shown as out of date :(

Thanks for your messages, appreciate a bit of sanity as this has sent my head in a bit of a whirl and I’ve no one I can talk to. That sounds scary @ohlife08 I hope you’re ok now! I’ve really got no symptoms but now seem to be imagining some of course.
I think pregnancy is a total blessing and would be really happy if I was, it’s a struggle for so many. But it would be so much happier if I knew DP was hoping for the same. I think he’d be excited once it sunk in but I’d rather we made the decision together beforehand. Yes, I know breastfeeding isn’t reliable as contraception at this point, I guess that not having periods back and the fact that it took so long of proper trying to conceive DS made us think it was unlikely to happen to us by accident.

So I’ve done some digging and found the box of old OPK’s etc… there’s a load of rubbish cheapies that never gave a good positive when they were in date. There’s two cheapie sticks which only went out of date in Jan so might be more reliable, and a clearblue digi that’s still in date(!) I think I’ll try the stick test later and see if anything shows before thinking about what to do next.

Good luck. By the way I have that exact age gap and it's ace!

@foxilla what happened with this? Are you pregnant?

@Dumbledoressister thanks for checking in and yes! I got a Clearblue weeks indicator which left no doubt… DP was actually really pleased (sometimes easier to have the decision made for you I guess) although I don’t think it’s really sunk in until we get a scan which we’re having next week. I don’t know when I’m due and I don’t really feel pregnant to be honest, I’m just trying to get through the bit until we know it’s all ok before we start thinking about it properly and getting excited.

After the time and effort it took to conceive DS I’m still in shock that we’ve conceived this time without even trying, I feel we’re very lucky for that ❤️

Ah this is lovely. Congratulations to you! As I say, I have the same age gap and it's hard work but I wouldn't change it. Good luck!