What HCG level classes as a negative?

[Jays76284739]

I’ve recently had a pregnancy of unknown location, it’s been a long gruelling 2 months. My hcg was extremely low but has taken an incredibly long time to reduce.

Six weeks after methotrexate I finally got a call this week to say my bloods have come back as ‘negative’, that I’m discharged, and don’t need to come back in for further bloods. My HCG level was confirmed as 10. However in the same conversation I was then told ‘negative is usually anything under 10…or 10 and under’ but that maybe I should do a pregnancy test in a few weeks to make sure everything is okay. Don’t drink alcohol, and don’t do much exercise.

I’m feeling totally flat and confused. I’ve been looking forward to this phone call for weeks and weeks, but I have more questions than answers. And I’m not feeling relief at all. Is 10 definitely negative?! It seems high. I have no idea whether to start taking my folate supplements or not, I’d hate to possibly complicate things at such a late stage in the process.

Sorry you're going through this OP. I've been there with an ectopic (although it resolved naturally). I think that pregnancy tests have different sensitivities but that below 10 is undetectable on a test. It will probably take a while longer to go down to absolute zero but below 10 would come up negative on a pregnancy test. I guess maybe they want you to do another one in the future in case it starts rising again, but not sure why it would, probably just a precaution. You can always phone them again to get some clarification since it is all a lot to take in.
Take care of yourself. I found it such a draining, dreadful time that not many people seemed to understand 💐