Help! Late period, negative tests, bleeding and then positive tests

[ElliexAiden]

Hi, I’d really appreciate it if anyone can give me any advice! I’m sorry for how long this is but I need to tell the full story for context.

So I have the Flo app, and I was due to start my period in January 18th. I ended up being 10 days late and during that time I took 5 clearblue tests and all of them came back negative (not even a slight faint line). Then on the 10th day of being late I had light pink bleeding and then the next day I got my ‘period’ (not sure if it was one) and it lasted 3 days which is normal for me.
So then 7 days later (about 2 days ago) I thought everything was normal when I started experiencing cramping and light pink bleeding again. I had a spare pregnancy test upstairs and decided to take it and it has now come back positive and it was a strong blue line. I then went to Asda and picked up a digital one and some pregnacare and I took it when I got home (about 11pm so it was late) and it said I was 2-3 weeks (which after Googling I’m sure means 4-5 weeks). I rang the doctors and they said going from my previous period it would mean I am actually 6 weeks but she gave me the number of the early assessment unit incase I have anymore bleeding and cramping.
Now 2 days later (today) I’m still experiencing light pink bleeding. I haven’t had any more cramps since 2 days ago, but I decided to take my other clear blue digital test and it now says I’m 1-2 weeks. I was really upset by this but I’ve heard that many mums have experienced this and that clearblue digital tests are hated by midwives due to being unreliable.

I’d really appreciate any advice, I’m just really confused how I could be 6 weeks pregnant if the 5 tests I took 2 weeks ago all came back negative, and I’m so confused about the bleeding I had for 3 days when I was 10 days late. I suppose if it was a miscarriage it would make more sense for the tests before to be positive and the ones now to be negative. And I’m confused about the clearblue going from 2-3 to 1-2 I’d really appreciate any advice people could give me!!! Thank you so so much, I think I’m going to take a test on the 18th when I get paid and see what it says then, hopefully I’ll have been to see a midwife by then. Please help

Hi, didn't want to read and run. You've got a lot going on there! There can be lots of different causes of bleeding when pregnant and when not so it's hard to tell exactly what's going on and obviously I'm not a medical professional so this is just my thoughts from having read quite a lot on the internet!

It is possible that you were pregnant when you took the first tests but your HCG levels were too low to detect. That could happen because the pregnancy wasn't developing as well as it should but some women just take a while to show a positive result. False positives are very rare - the fact that you've had two positive tests would indicate that you are pregnant. The bleeding and the more recent result could mean that it isn't successful and your HCG levels are starting to drop again. Equally around 50% of women who experience 1st trimester bleeding have successful pregnancies, and tests can show inaccurate dates for a variety of reasons. The two together don't sound positive to be honest, but it could be OK, especially as you're having light pink bleeding.

I think the only thing you can do at this point is leave it a few days to a week and test again. I know it's really difficult not knowing what's going on - I do feel for you.

You can often get tests cheaper on amazon if you don't want to wait and get store bought ones.

@BlueberryPancake21 Thank you for being so honest with me I appreciate that. It wasn’t planned and I already have a healthy and happy 10 month old, so if anything was to happen at least I know that me and my partner are capable of having another if we ever chose to. I didn’t think I’d want another baby yet, but when I found out I was really excited. And now I’m quite sad, but thank you very much. I’m going to ring the gp back on Tuesday if they haven’t contacted me first and then ask them if maybe they’d consider doing my bloods due to the bleeding I had. And I’ll also take another test too in a weeks time, thank you for taking the time to reply

Are you still bleeding now? I had a period, after a few days started bleeding which lasted a few weeks and got a positive pregnancy test. I don’t want to worry you but I was ectopic which can mean stagnant hcg and my digital tests went up to 2-3 and down, then back up.

I would keep an eye on the tests and bleeding and if it carries on or the tests don’t go faint request going to the epu to get two blood tests done 48 hours apart.

@Chica1990 hi, I am still bleeding, but it’s very light pink and it’s only really whenever I go to the toilet and wipe. I haven’t had any red bleeding apart from the ‘period’ that I had which lasted 3 days which was about a week ago. My normal periods also last 3 days so I assumed it was that, but I’m not sure now. Thank you very much, I think I am going to ring them up for piece of mind to find out if everything is okay, I understand it’s very common this early and there’s nothing that can be done. Thank you

My period was due on the 18th Jan, I was 12dpo and tested positive. I had an early scan at EPU as I've been bleeding intermittently since. I have a small subchorionic hemorrhage but so far baby is ok. Based on the scan, I will be 7 weeks tomorrow. I would ask for a referral to EPU or ring them in the morning and explain, mine is open Saturdays. They may be able to see you. Good luck.

Also, don't put too much merit on the weeks indicator on the digital. I would imagine they're not always 100% accurate.
My story was just to give you context with our dates being similar and I have had bleeding since I tested positive. Really hope you get seen soon so you can find out what's going on.

@Ummm21 thank you so much! I feel so much better after hearing you’re going through something similar and your baby is okay. I hope you have a great pregnancy I ended up ringing the EPAU and explained my situation and they’ve told me to come in first thing in the morning to have my bloods done so hopefully I should know by next week (fingers crossed everything will be okay!) thank you xx

That's great that they are getting you in. Best of luck!

@Chica1990 hi I’m not sure if you’ll see this, but I was wondering if I could ask something regarding your ectopic pregnancy. I’ve had my 2 blood tests 48 hours apart. My first hcg level was 135 and now 48 hours later it is 186, the nurse asked that if I’m experiencing any pain or bleeding (and currently no bleeding, just a bit of blood when I wipe). She told me that anything under a 60% increase is concerning and is asking me to come back on Wednesday for another blood test. I’m just wondering if you also had slow rising hcg levels in your blood tests and what happened, thank you (only answer if you feel comfortable)

Sorry @ElliexAiden you haven’t got concrete answers yet. I went for a blood test on the Friday which was 221 and the Sunday was 248. I’d had a scan the Friday I had the first blood test and then another on the Monday and they found nothing. They said they could keep monitoring hcg or I could go for a laparoscopy which I went with as it would be planned (and so I was in control of the situation) and my husband could be with me. So Tuesday morning I had another blood test which was 201 and we went ahead with the laparoscopy, they tried to put me off it a bit as I looked well and was in fine spirits and wasn’t in any massive pain. They found it during the procedure and because my other tube looked good they removed the tube that was effected. I was 8 weeks at that point (I thought I was 4) and said I would have had to have it one way or another.

In the lead up I’d had period like pain (nothing extreme) but had been bleeding for a while. I’ve seen some people on here have no symptoms at all but slow rising hcg levels is supposed to indicate if.

I’m sorry you must be in a horrible limbo right now and just wanted to sorted. No matter what happens though I promise it will get better. Did you have the second blood test today?

@Chica1990 thank you so much and I’m so sorry for your loss, it’s a horrible feeling no matter what. But I appreciate you messaging back. Yes I had my second one today which came back at 186 so it’s only gone up by 50, so it sounds quite similar to your experience with the hcg levels slowly rising. I’m due another appointment on Wednesday at 2pm for another blood test to see how much more it’s risen.

It’s a really unpleasant situation and it’s surprising how many people on here have had the same, and the most frustrating is how long it takes to sort out! there is a TTC after ectopic thread on the other board and happily lots of us have got pregnant after. I got my bfp on 6th jan and am 9+3 today and I wish I had known that the morning after my operation when the drugs were wearing off and my hormones were dropping and I was at a horrible low.

I’ve seen people on here being offered a Methotrexate injection when their hcg levels are under 1000. If it works it means you can avoid losing a tube but you can’t TTC for 3 months but there is no guarantee it will work unfortunately. I wasn’t offered it personally but I think that may be because they couldn’t see anything on a scan to formally diagnose it to give it to me. I saw one person on here the other week who’s was self resolving which was lucky!

Were you TTC before? How are you feeling? Have you spoken to anyone about it?

@Chica1990 I’m glad you’re pregnant now, and I wish you the best with your pregnancy! I hope it’s as happy and healthy as it can possible be. I’ve heard about that injection, my boyfriends mum is a nurse and used to work on the EPAU and I live with them so we were talking about it before.

I wasn’t TTC, I already have a healthy 10 month old so we were just focusing on him, and I’m only 20 and due to start nursing at uni this September. So being pregnant would mean that I have to defer my application, but I was really happy when I found out. I’m upset about it as I was really happy excited about it even though I’ve not even known a week, but I’d rather know now, I’m so grateful and lucky that I already have a healthy baby boy .

Thank you! That’s good you live with someone who worked at epu before, what do they think of the situation?

Ah ok sorry, I know you just want to know where you stand one way or another. I hope wednesday hurried up so you can get some answers 🤞🏻

@Chica1990 she said that she’s seen it go either way and that she’s seen women come in with funny hcg levels that have turned out completely fine, and others that have turned out to be ectopic and she said it’s very rare this early for anything to rupture. So that made me feel better, I’m still holding onto the hope that maybe I’m just early and my hcg levels haven’t started picking up yet, even though I know that it’s unlikely that, but I’m glad that it’s increasing rather than decreasing from as far as I know.

Oh no I meant I was excited about the pregnancy not me starting uni (which I was also looking forward to aha), I already started planning the day I found out and had a list of everything we already have and a list of things we need. But yes hopefully I’ll know soon fingers crossed x

Yea I was told the hcg levels sometimes don’t double if you’re anaemic, have they tested you for that?

Yea I knew you meant the pregnancy lol but like you said you just want to know either way and hopefully you can know what’s going on soon.

Let me know how you get on tomorrow!

@Chica1990 hmm I’m not sure, but I think I’m my last pregnancy when they do your first blood test they test for that and I think it came back positive, but I’m not 100%.

I’ll let you know

@Chica1990 I’ve just had my results for my 3rd blood test, they said that my levels are still rising but still aren’t doubling so they’re passing me onto the early pregnancy unit who will be in contact with me. She said most likely they’ll continue to monitor my bloods for a few weeks until they know, but she said that they can’t rule out an ectopic pregnancy. So I think that’s the most likely outcome which is a shame

Ah I’m sorry, it is a shame and gutting, and frustrating you have to wait for it to be sorted. Hopefully it can self resolve and you can avoid any surgery. When’s your next test?

@Chica1990 they haven’t said, just said that they’re passing me onto the early pregnancy unit and they’ll go from there so no clue what’s next just waiting for a phone call which might be tomorrow or the day after. They said most likely they’ll just keep monitoring my bloods as it’s so small, just want it to be over now. It’s so stressful, and at the same you don’t want to be stressing incase of the rare chance that it may be okay and then that might cause issues. Hopefully it’ll be sorted in a few weeks so fingers crossed if it is an ectopic it’s early enough to intervene without surgery

If you don’t hear from them in the morning make sure you call them! Let me know how you get on tomorrow and hope you’re doing ok x

@Chica1990 I will, aww thank you very much. It’s nice to have someone to talk to who’s been through something similar, I’ll let you know!

I know your hcg levels are low but if you feel any rectum pressure or a pain in the tip of your shoulder you need to get to a&e!

@Chica1990 thank you, I know about the shoulder but I’ll keep in mind about the rectum pain.
I think I’ve had a miscarriage though, I went to the toilet for a wee and felt something come out, no pain or anything and then saw something at the bottom of the toilet. I got it out and it’s looks to be a large blood clot so I think I might have miscarried.
I’ll ring the ward and let them know and see what they think

I’m sorry, that must have been unpleasant. They should monitor bloods just in case x