False positive/false negative result confusion..

[joiedebubble]

OK, so I have a wee predicament...

I gave birth 12 weeks ago and started the mini pill 3 weeks ago. I am exclusively breast feeding and 6 weeks after I gave birth I had a period (annoying as I wasn't expecting to have periods until I stopped breast feeding!!) The nurse who suggested I go on the mini pill wanted to do a pregnancy test to make sure I wasn't pregnant....so I went in to the doctors to do that this afternoon.

I took the test, and it was negative, with a really clear deep purple line.

BUT 15 minutes after my appointment I had a call from the nurse saying a faint purple line had come up. She said I was slightly pregnant.........!? So I went back to the surgery to speak with her. On the way I bought a digital pregnancy test and did it with the nurse. (one of the one that tells you how far along you are- good for detecting early pregnancies) This one was negative.

I am doing another test tomorrow morning, with my first wee of the day. But this will be sent off to a labatory to get a clear result and that takes 1 week.....so hoping someone might have some advise in the mean time.

The test I did before, when I was pregnant, was a clear positive- it came up really quickly and was dark in colour, it was also with my first pee of the day. Both tests today were done in the afternoon.

The nurse said it could be a false positive due to me giving birth 3 months ago. But she also said it might be a false negative due to the possibility of it being an early pregnancy and that I did the tests in the afternoon.

Any advise would be greatly received!

Thank you.

I read somewhere that the hcg should be out of your system 6 weeks post-birth, so your previous pregnancy should be out of your system by now...could it be that the nurse left the test too long? Most are unreliable after 10 mins so a positive that comes up after that time is unlikely to be real. So perhaps it's that?

Yeah, I read that too- so worried as feel it's too soon for me to be pregnant again. But hopefully you are right and the test was left too long. It was a really faint line...

Thank you!

I'm not sure why the nurse would read the result after 15 mins and why she would want you to do a urine test that takes a week to come back when a blood test would confirm a pregnancy and be back within a few hours? Also, if you have had a period them HCG is out of your system, the nurse should know this.

I think I'd probably make an appointment to see the GP. Or do a sensitive test at home. Over 5ml of HCG means pregnant, lots of tests can detect 10ml.

Seconded what the others say - what on earth is wrong with a good old blood test? Weird.

Anyway, I thought I would throw it out there that there is a slight chance you might have retained bits and bobs which could be causing a slightly elevated HCG still. Even with a period.

All the same tests should never be read past ten minutes. Perhaps the nurse spends too much time on fertility communities obsessing over eBay cheapies

Thanks for your comments! No idea why they didn't suggest a blood test?? Unfortunately my doctors surgery isn't the best and this just adds to a long list of things...

And think Sparklies must be right about the cheap tests- I did another one I bought from the shop this morning and it was negative!

So all looks to be OK. :)