Do not trust Clearblue how many weeks digital

[YourSparklyUser]

Hey everyone, I wanted to share this because I trawled through so many posts in a total panic. I am 5 weeks pregnant and very anxious as I’ve had 2 losses in the last 8 months. My clearblue wasn’t moving from 2-3 so of course I panicked and paid for an expensive blood test to check my HCG. They say you have to be over 2000 HCG to get a 3+ on those. I kept getting 2-3 weeks but my HCG came back the same day as 5070 sooo… don’t trust them girls!

Agree. Don't see the point of them, most people know how far along they are! And expensive too....when a cheap strip test will also show a line if you're pregnant.

But you also add two weeks on to the result so if your 5 weeks 2-3 weeks would be right when the added two is on

Totally agree. They are rubbish even if you know to add 2 weeks. They caused unnecessary panic for me! I heard they’re actually banned in the US.

Part of the reason for this is that bHCg in urine level does not correlate with blood level due to the way the body / kidneys metabolise it. Some studies suggest it’s as much as halved in urine vs. blood levels

Add in overall hydration, drinks etc. and it’s even less reliable.

Shambles, agree they shouldn’t be allowed

I think they’re ok if you use them to measure HCG progression and work out when you should expect to hit the 153miu (2-3) or 2,750 (3+), by taking your first positive test (10 or 25miu) as your baseline and assuming a doubling of the HCG every 48 hours. With my pregnancy in Feb, I got my 2-3 when I expected, but not my 3+, and I started MC a few days later. This time round, I got my BFP at 9dpo, 2-3 at 19dpo, and 3+ at 26dpo, which was completely in line with my estimations. Now I’m nervously awaiting my first scan, which will be at 8+5 next week.

As PPs have said, part of the discrepancy in what you experienced might have been how HCG presents in urine vs blood.

They're not a medical tool. They're an expensive bit of fun. Why people use tests to track progression is beyond me.

Perhaps because they’re the only thing to reassure things are going in the right direction (or at least give you an idea what may or may not be happening) if you can’t get blood tests at EPUs. Which, if you’ve got a few MCs under your belt is a major, major thing.

I still got 2-3 four days after my blood hcg result was 1315. I freaked out myself and my husband. My scan was fine a few days later so it was unnecessary panic and stress. Personally, if you want reassurance, I suggest either get a private blood hcg test (levels should double in 48-72hrs) or even better try to wait for a private scan if you are 6+ weeks to confirm a heartbeat. These CB with weeks indicator is not reliable in my experience. There are loads of threads about it here at MN and reddit.

@CatchHimDerry agree i think it’s probably because urine levels are lower than blood hcg. They don’t make this clear on the CB pdf info though and if you are already very anxious about your early pregnancy you don’t think about these things and tend to just hyperfocus on a possible bad outcome. Perhaps the CB with weeks indicator could be helpful if you don’t have the tendency to spiral so definitely not for me.