Early pg tests 'causing unnecessary m/c grief' - MN gets a mention, too.

[suedonim]

What does everyone think about this article on the new early pg tests now available? Mumsnet and Justine get a mention further down.

Message withdrawn

I think there's something to it TBH. I suspect I may have had a very early miscarriage when DS2 was about 2yrs old.

Only realised it much later on when I looked back and though about it, period was about 2 weeks (ish - they tend to come every 26-37days my periods)) late, and it was very different to my usual ones. I couldn't put my finger on what it was at the time, but later on, having read more sites like Mumsnet, and Babyworld, realised that it could have been an early miscarriage.

We weren't TTC at the time, so I obviously didn't think to do a pg test, thinking it was just my period being later than usual. If I had have done a test, I imagine I'd probably have been quite upset about it, but seeing as though it was a couple of month later than I realised that it could have been a miscarriage I was able to put it down to one of those things that happens.

Gosh I'm rambling now.

In a nutshell, yes I think modern pregnancy test can cause more heartache than happiness - given that if they DIDN'T test until their period was late - they would, more than likely, just assume it was their period as per normal.

agree with Justine - I can understand being excited (or worried ) and 'wanting to know' but being a bit of a gimmer I can remember the days before self testing and having to wait weeks for the result of a urine test. There is nothing to be gained (that I can think of) by knowing you're pg the minute you miss a period.

I have been there with that. Took a test with a first response one and got a very faint positive. Took a test the next day and it was negative and then had AF later that day.

Didnt feel bad about it and did realise the consequences at the time that had i waited until day my AF was due i would have been none the wiser.

I hadnt been ttc for months on end though so i suppose it was easier for me. Concieved my DS the following month.

Would add that they can cause more heartache than any good that can come from knowing a few days earlier. Indeed i have spent a fortune on pg tests coz i couldnt believe in the results (mostly were v faint positives and had to keep checking until i got a strong positive). I always had an inkling a few days before AF was due anyway which is why i tested.

Its late, im rambling!

good article

I'm certain it's happened to me 3+ times but because I'm not ttc I haven't known for sure

I'm inclined to agree with the article, I've had thoughts on those lines myself. I did have one m/c at 7wks, many years ago. But I also now suspect I may have had a number of other, earlier, m/c's due to a thyroid problem. I can't see that it would have been helpful for me to have be testing all the time, tbh. I assume the idea of early testing is that the companies sell more and more tests as people double and triple check the original test. 11quid a pop is pretty expensive, I think!

Otoh, I do see the argument that the fertility chap uses. But it isn't really a reason for early testing, I don't think. If it can identify implantation issues then it would be more appropriate to use once a conception problem has been identified.

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i have always said (since these pg tests came out) that they and just putting women up for a fall. they are generally used by people ttc (as obv if you hadnt missed a period you wouldnt have guessed and accidental pg) and they are seeting them up for a fall. i think the statistics i read were about 40% of all pregnancies are naturally aborted during the time before your period is due, and you would bleed about the same amount as a period with maybe a bit more pain, but you would be none the wiser.

these tests let the women ttc see if they are pregnant in that time before their period is due, so they know they are pregnant, then when that pregnancy is naturally aborted they know about it which is what makes the difference. instead of them thinkin "not this month maybe next month" as would normally happen they will know its a miscarrige and it would cause a lot of heartache and grief.

the tests make no difference to the outcome but they do make a difference to how women feel about it. i would never use an early responce test when ttc and would urge others not to. you will know soon enough you dont need to put your heart out there on your sleeve!!

Hmm, I'm inclined to agree too. The other thing about early testing is that it makes pregnancy so long! As if it's not long enough, knowing from 6 or 7 weeks is just so early.

Jools always says how in 'her day' the doctor would say 'come back when you've missed 2 periods'!!!

The availability of the tests means you just can't wait though and if you've been ttc you are thinking about it every day anyway.

I've thought exactly this thing myself. I lurked on an American message board for a while last year and there were women on there who had done half a dozen (or more) tests before their period was even due - then got terribly terribly upset about their lost children. My consultant said that testing too early gives a positive result from ovulation, rather than pregnancy (not sure how that works) - which if correct, means that potentially one isn't even mourning a miscarriage.

The only advantage I can see to testing early is regarding implantation failure. I take suedonim's point that one could wait and be investigated when one has failed to conceive after a certain period of time. However, this may involve waiting (I think the NHS criterion is one year, isn't it?) and the ballpark is wide open as to the cause of one's failure to get pregnant. If one knows that one is conceiving, that's at least one hurdle crossed.

The biggest single cause of recurrent miscarriage is antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, which 'classically' causes miscarriage in the second trimester. However, one manifestation of it (which was my problem) affects the fertilised egg's ability to implant. This isn't detailed in many places, but is described in the British Journal of Haematology.

I was in no doubt from the first moment that I was pregnant, as I felt so utterly lousy (light-headed, sick, stomach upset) - and because of this, tested and have got a positive result as early as 9 days post ovulation. It was reassuring to me to know that this bit was working.

It also meant that, having had three miscarriages, one of which was very early, I was referred to a consultant and medicated. And this in a much shorter time than it would have taken to be referred for failure to conceive.

i knew at 6 weeks with dd but that was 2 weeks after my period was due, i found a lump in my breast 2 days b4 period was due and the doctore told me to go back when my period came, and it didnt, i wasnt ttc but did a test eventually and it was +ve. if i hadnt had the lump i wouldnt have really noticed the missing period and wouldnt have known i was pg until i was 3/4months which would have made my pg a lot shorter! lol

I had a bit of a saga with early preg tests, whilst I was breastfeeding I got my periods, they were very very heavy but my cycle length was about twice the length it was prior to the birth of my DS... a few months when it got to the point of being more than twice over the length it once was I tested... twice I got a faint positive and twice I got my 'period' about a week later, as my periods were horribly clotty and heavy anyway I never really felt like I'd 'lost' anything, as I wouldn't be able to tell the difference if I hadn't tested.. actually I felt a bit heartless for not feeling like I'd lost anything! (Can't win!)

I hate early pregnancy tests! But I know how impossible it is to stay away from them when you're TTC!! Horrible things... We're definately in the age where science can be more of a hinderance than a help..

Indeed Red, i think that is the only positive (pardon the pun) to testing so early. The reasons for infertility are so wide ranging but i think it is important to know without so much expensive lab testing whether or not someone is actually able to concieve in the first place and whether its an implanting etc problem.

with my daughter I didnt test until i was about 8 weeks plus and with ds I was about 10 weeks. I think i have had several early losses aswell, one for definate as it was a 'miscarriage' but was about 8 weeks = and you can just tell. I never thought of it as a 'baby' and I do think people test too soon (for me anyway)

that said, i also would not take away peoples loss's and the sense of what 'they' have lost and what they feel themselves they have lost

but I garee with the fact people are testing too soon but people have that choice to test earlier nopwadays and that is their choice and as i am not God it is not up to me to take that choice away from them or to judge them. each to their own

i couldn't agree more about the worry of testing early on. I totally understand why woman get all giddy excited and rush out to buy the test but it would be so much better not to. I tested early, I thought I was 10 weeks pregnant going on my dates etc, went for a scan, again, FAR too early but GP organised it for me die to my history, and it came back that I was either only 5 weeks pregnant or that the fetus had stopped growing 5 weeks ago so was ...what do they call that...ohhh anyway. I had a hellish time waiting for the next scan to find out if the baby was younger than I though or had died basically. It all turned out ok but I really wished I hadn't tested.scanned early and gone through such a lot of unesccesery worry.
The whole issue of testing in general, all tests, gets me down a bit. I wish we could turn the clocks back and get on with pregnancies int he way our grandmothers had to.

Thomcat it's called a missed abortion. horrible name I know.
I think that early testing can be useful if you are very tuned into your cycle and you "know" there is something wrong. e.g. if you think you are pregnant and you re bleeding in an unusual way, or experiencing some pain, then you can rule out the possibility of ectopic etc.
but yes I agree that testing too often and too early can lead to unnecessary misery.

Not read the whole thread, but I find the article really harsh the way that it says that they don't think it should count as a pregnancy or a miscarriage.

If a woman has had a positive result, then for her, she is pregnant, and no doctor should be able to belittle her feelings when her period comes by announcing that it wasn't a proper pregnancy anyway. She has still had all the same hopes and feelings, and is still grieving.

Maybe there should be some fancy term for very early miscarriage?

I did very early tests, and had all the same feelings that it was probably a silly idea, and I'd be best to wait for a few months (irregular periods, so missed ones don't help me )... but I did that last time, and then had to argue because they wouldn't believe my dates over scan dates. I was determined to find out asap this time so that I could tell them straight away and have no confusion.

Gdg, Joolstoo is right! When I was expecting my boys you had to miss two periods before the Dr would even test or you could sneak into a chemist that did pg testing, with your specimen bottle, hoping no one saw you, and pay a fiver for a private test. GP's wouldn't accept that result, anyway and insisted on you waiting anfd then retesting. Home testing is an improvement on that, I must say.

I had two early miscarriages (Me and doc presume anyway) before this pregnancy. TBH it did hurt emotionally and believe me, physically too when I had my 'period' but in a sense I was also relieved that there was a possibility I could conceive and that's what kept me strong. I have endometriosis and have ahd surgery for it so I was always worried about not being able to conceive. So, in a way I am pleased I knew about the past pregnancies because I could then get on with TTC without thinking about it so much which is then when I fell pregnant. I have known about this pregnancy form 6 weeks though and the first couple of months were agonising just wondering whether I'd make it 12 weeks, then 20 - sometimes I think it might have been easier finding out later but then I was a heavy smoker and ashamedly a massive binge drinker! At least knowing menat I cut that out from an early stage.

I agree with Justine.

However, if you're at hospital 5wks pg and you think you're miscarrying, the last thing you need is for a midwife to tell you that it would have been better if you'd not tested

I was asked once by a nurse if my pregnancy had been confirmed by a doctor - in a manner that suggested that I was a fantasist. Couldn't really understand this as I was two months pregnant at the time - and if a fantasist, then one that was bleeding copiously and passing clots. Besides - my experience of going to the GP is that they don't bother to test themselves for the reason that modern tests are so sensitive.

(Not to mention the fact that one doesn't have to see anyone other than a midwife for one's ante-natal care, if one doesn't want or have a need to...)

In Zimbabwe they don't "accept" that you're pregnant until you've paid for a Dr.s appointment, got a "note" and urine sample pot from them, been and paid to have the test done, and then paid for another appointment for him/her to open the envelope with the test results in to tell you.

Needless to say I "skipped" the last part - I openend the envelope myself and went skipping off home

I suspect it's just a way for companies to make money out of anxious people. Normal pregnancy tests are very accurate but these aren't - they aren't very good at determing whether you are actually pregnant. You have to wait until your period fails to appear before you can do a reliable test.

I did some research into other types of home testing kits - companies are making money out of preying on people's anxieties, selling stuff that is either useless in itself, or misleading, or giving people the sort of information that you really should only get from a doctor who can put it into context. We actually cited proper pregnancy tests as the only example of over-the-counter home testing that worked!

The worst one was a home testing kit for Alzheimer's disease. It was a scratch and sniff booklet. The company defended it saying that loss of smell is a symptom of Alzheimers... some salespeople have no conscience at all.

I think that that article was insensitive to say the least. OK so many potential pregnancies are lost very early and you might not even know, but for some people trying for a baby every period is devastating, and maybe these test are actually more helpful that counting down to a period all the time (I'm not speaking from personal experience, but seems to me that's what I would be doing, and I remember about 10 yrs ago my big sister crying during my middle sister's wedding because of a period arriving).

Of course the other thing that no one has mentioned is the other use for pregnancy tests - ie for those who do not want to get pregnant. For them very early knowledge might mean more options.