Had period, then blazing OPK’s - now positive pregnancy tests?!

[Movelikethat]

Hey,

Needing advice and just somewhere to write out my thoughts!

We’ve been TTC for 2 years, had a miscarriage March 24 (9.5 weeks) and again in March 25 (6 weeks).

Successfully tracked ovulation in August using OPK’s and BBT and endured the 2WW (so many abbreviations sorry!) but unfortunately all negative - period came 29th Aug. Did notice the bleeding for the first 2 days was more brown but it was quite heavy (as normal), and the bleeding slowed down a lot after 2 days. It lasted 5 days total which is pretty normal.

Fastforward to the 6th Sept, we went away for the week and I took my OPK’s to start tracking. Did one on the 6th which was very early (4 days post period) and it was blazing positive, just assumed perhaps I was ovulating earlier than normal so got to trying! Did one every day…all blazing positives. For 7 days!

Got home and my mind was still boggling, so I did a HCG test to rule it out…positive. Then I did a Clear Blue with dates, positive 1-2 weeks.

I’m very much aware this isn’t normal and I’m mentally preparing myself for bad news. From what I’ve read, this is quite common in ectopic pregnancy? So now I’ve scared myself.

I have no symptoms, good or bad.

I just needed to speak to ‘someone’ about it.

I plan to ring the GP on Monday (typical this happening on a Saturday!) but has anyone got any experience with anything similar?

I’d be so grateful! X

This does sound a lot like my first ectopic pregnancy. With that one I never tested positive for pregnancy until after the bleeding. Don't wait until Monday - check to see where your local EPU is and tell them all of this. They should be able to get you in for a blood test, which can be repeated on Monday at which point you'll know if the HCG is going up or down.

The 1-2 weeks indicator lets you know that the HCG is already very low (likely too low for a healthy pregnancy, but you can't know that for sure yet) but it's not about the level as much as it is whether it's rising or not.

If the HCG is low and decreasing then it's very possible it might resolve itself without intervention.

You do also hear happy endings btw, where people have a bleed and go on to have normal happy pregnancy. So it's not guaranteed to be bad news. But ectopic can be a medical emergency so it is best to be seen to asap.

Thank you @MocktailMe, I really appreciate your message. Off the back of it I actually just rang my local EPAU. They talked through all the dates with me but said that as I’d had no pain or any further bleeding, they’d treat it as though my last ‘period’ on the 28th Aug was my date and work from there until something shows otherwise, which is…reassuring (not!).

She said they’d look to see me around the 2nd week of Oct which would be 6 weeks to find out more but also said ‘I’m not trying to get your hopes up’

It’s all just so confusing. They did talk through symptoms to watch out for but when I asked about HCG blood tests she said they wouldn’t do those yet. So, I don’t know!

That really doesn't make any sense to me. You're cycle day 16 correct? So unless you ovulated on CD 7/8 you wouldn't be testing positive yet and it would be extremely faint at only 8dpo or so. Do you usually have very short cycles/ovulate around CD7-8?

This was the situation I was in - testing positive on cycle day 15 and I was like??? I can't be testing positive now unless I ovulated EXTREMELY early, plus with the dates we had had sex it was just impossible (I didn't have sex since the bleeding as that cycle was meant to be having a HSG - that's when I tested positive!).

But - symptoms wise. If it is an ectopic that isn't resolving itself (which I've also had and had my tube removed as it ruptured) I had constant cramps that got worse and worse until the rupture. You'll not miss the pain it's very acute and obvious. So if there's no pain there's no worry - genuinely. Just be aware that it can come on quickly and avoid anything strenuous.

I had similar, sadly it was an early miscarriage. I had what I thought was a slightly early and short period (but not hugely unusual for me), about a week later I felt a bit weird and hormonal like I do when I'm ovulating so took a test which was blazing positive. I took a pregnancy test which was positive but not as strong as it should have been for the dpo. I was worried about ectopic so saw the GP and she booked me for a blood test at 6 weeks, but I started bleeding before then and the home tests went negative so she cancelled it.

Although frustrating I think the advice you had from the EPU is pretty standard. Just wait and see at this stage. If you start getting any pain get back in touch with them but try and keep yourself distracted until then (easier said than done I know).
I did have implantation bleeding with all of my pregnancies so maybe that’s what your bleeding was and all will be well 🤞

@MocktailMe It doesn’t make sense to me either! Yeah I’m CD16 and at best I ovulated on CD10 but like I say, I’ve had blazing OPK’s since I first started testing this cycle at CD9. So it doesn’t make sense to me for the positive to be related to this current cycle, surely it’s related to the previous one, albeit that makes the 1-2 weeks a very low hcg reading. I don’t see any positive outcomes really, so I’m just expecting the worst if I’m honest. It doesn’t help that the only other ‘successes’ I’ve ever had, resulted in miscarriage!

I’m so sorry to hear about your losses and the traumatic experiences you’ve had, this whole journey is so rough. But I’m not currently experiencing pain so it’s reassuring to know that it would be hard to miss, I’ve been reading into every little feeling in my body today!

Hi this happened to me, right down to the fact that we were also away on hols when I got the unexpected OPKs and then the BFP, 7 days after a fairly normal for me "period".
Sadly mine did end in an early miscarriage but I just wanted to share that mine wasn't a serious ectopic, as that's what I was really frightened about at the time when I was in your position.
I got a normal period while TTC, negative tests beforehand, disappointed etc. Including cramps. Went away on hols and on cd7 got very positive OPKs and then BFPs for several days.
From googling I was nervous of ectopic but GP told me just watch and wait but expect a miscarriage. I kept testing daily and at 5w6d I got a negative test and then started a bleed about a week later.
Never went for scans etc so will never know the location but personally I think of it as an early miscarriage that may have been in the wrong location (allowing me to get a "period") but if it was, thankfully absorbed itself before it caused any issues.
I conceived again immediately the next cycle and healthy baba.
Wish you the best whatever way this goes.

Hey!
So sorry to chime in here with a grim story, but I also had a period (or period-like bleed) and then a positive pregnancy test. I suspected an ectopic. It took a few weeks of blood tests and messing about with repeated trips to the hospital before they'd even scan me. When they finally did the scan, I needed surgery immediately. I was bleeding internally. I didn't have much pain at all.

Don't let them mess you about, push for a scan. They're going to be reluctant to scan you if your HCG is under 1000. Mine was only 600 or so, they couldn't see the embryo but they could see the blood in my abdomen. Honestly, it barely hurt. Just an odd mild burning sensation. I guess this isn't that common? But better to be on the safe side.

(I have a 1 year old DD now, she was conceived 2nd cycle TTC after the surgery, with just 1 tube).

Hope you get some answers soon x

Thank you @Msrivia , I’m so sorry to hear about your loss. I’ve fully just been treating it like ovulation but felt a bit weird being so early in my cycle, I usually ovulate way later so the blazing OPK’s were a shock, but we were on holiday so just treated it as ovulation!

@user2848502016 Yeah I agree, if this was happening to anyone else but me, I’d be telling them to relax and wait and see 😂 What will be will be, if this comes to an unfortunate end, it will mark my 3rd miscarriage which at least will help my case in getting some support from the GP. (Trying to look on the bright side!)

@AmberBeaker Wow that’s so weird, like exactly the same story. Thank you for the reassurance(?) - I feel it’s headed towards not the ideal outcome however knowing it might not be ectopic helps my head space slightly!

So happy you got your little one straight after!

Sorry OP, but I don’t think that is good advice from the EPAU. They need to do an internal ultrasound to confirm location. Bleeding followed by a positive HPT is exactly how my first ectopic presented. I had no pain or bleeding after that, but it continued to grow post diagnosis and I needed methotrexate to sort it out. Personally I’d turn up there on Monday and claim to be in pain (probably not best practice, but at least then they can confirm if it is in the right place). Good luck, I really hope it all turns out to be fine for you.

Thank you so much @DrEggman95, sorry it was a rough time but thank you for sharing! It’s so hard to advocate for yourself in these situations. I’m definitely going to see how the next few days progress and then follow up.

It’s really helpful to hear of people’s later successes because it’s been a hard few years!

This happened with our IVF. Negative test, period, then off the charts ovulation tests and then positive test. Scan at IVF clinic showed I was about 5 weeks when I should have been 8 weeks. Diagnosed as a missed miscarriage a week later and then had D&C.

Another ectopic experience here but a different situation to yours, I had a “surge” on opks that never went down, so took a preg test at 6dpo and was positive. On the pain front: it’s not true that pain is a reliable indicator, admittedly I had pain one night, but was alongside odd middle of the night bowel movements. I had a scan, too early to see embryo but was bleeding a little internally (likely the abdominal blood irritated the bowel hence the pain). The only thing that got them to see me was the pain but the (weekend, non EPU) nurse taking my blood made me feel I was making a fuss over nothing, then the second blood showed it was ectopic.

if you truly are made to wait it out, just avoid straining your abdomen while you wait. Hopefully it turns out nothing to worry about! Nothing dramatic happened for me in the end, I was able to do expectant management and had excellent care once the ectopic was identified. You’ll be ok OP.

To clarify, when I said that without pain you shouldn't worry, I should have specified that I mean don't worry that you're in immediate danger. You could still have an ectopic without pain like you did @Nosejug but you wouldn't rupture without pain which is when the situation becomes critical.

My intention was to reassure the OP she wasn't in immediate danger (I vividly recall being too afraid to sleep with fear of rupture with my first ectopic - after it actually happened with my second I realised there's no way I could have fallen asleep in that level of pain) but I don't want to spread misinformation that there is always pain with ectopics.

god @MocktailMe im so sorry you went through that twice :( the rupture part must have been terrifying. It’s weird to be thankful of one’s own ectopic experience but there I am. I only ever had a mild throbbing, and being an eater of beans and pulses, I jumped at every murmer!