Help - left over HCG or new pregnancy?

[drivingmyselfcrazy1]

Good morning. I am posting this thread to see if anybody can shed their opinion or experiences of something similar.

Backstory; I had a TFMR at 9 weeks on the 29th of September via medical management. I passed the baby on the 30th/1st of October. I bled for 7-10 days, then had spotting for a further few days but this had resolved by approximately 2 weeks post. I have had unprotected sex on the 12th of October, POM on the 19th and unprotected on the 21st or 22nd.

I believe I ovulated around the 16th/17th however this was not confirmed with an OPK as I was aware that HCG is likely still lingering, so would produce false positives regardless. I had all the other signs though; very clear ovulation pain, bloating, EWCM for days and I also get internal cramps (cervix). I only ever have got these before when I 1) implant a baby or 2) ovulate so I felt pretty confident I was ovulating, or about to.

I did the 1000miu (so very low sensitivity test) on the 21st which was negative.

I had the same internal cramps Sunday night. Yesterday, my new box of OPK’s arrived with pregnancy tests included. I did a test, just to see if it was positive and it was. Faint, but visible. I did a further 3 all yielding similar results. I have done another this morning, which is also slightly darker but expected due to SMU compared to diluted last night. These were the Wondfo 10miu sensitivity and all lines appeared within 3 minutes.

My question is, is this likely to be left over HCG?

I was under the impression ovulation wouldn’t occur whilst HCG was above 35miu, so taking into account dates, surely it would be under 10 by now? Of course there is the potential I didn’t actually ovulate when I thought I did.

Please let me know your thoughts. I have attached photos, first is from last night and second from today. Both takes at 3 minutes which is the earliest cut off point for reading (3-5 recommended). I have ordered FRER today to track for the next 3 days. Thank you for reading and replying 💐

So your only negative was on on a 1000miu test? If that’s correct I’d say there’s no way to no just yet. When I miscarried it took 6 weeks to get a proper negative test. I’d test again in a few days and see if it’s darker

Thank you for replying. Yes, unfortunately I haven’t tracked HCG down to 0 so I have no way to tell. I’m sorry to hear about your loss, and please don’t think me insensitive, but did you ovulate/have a period during those 6 weeks?

Yeah I did, not sure about ovulation but I still tested positive after my first period. Took about 3 months to conceive again

Ah ok! In that case it probably is quite likely that it’s left over HCG. Thank you for replying 🫶🏼

I think it’s not possible to know - in my experience after miscarriages it’s taken up to 8 weeks to get negative on a test. Did the EPU ask you to track pregnancy tests after the miscarriage? As I was asked to contact them if still testing positive after 3 weeks

Thank you for replying. They didn’t, but did tell me if still bleeding after 4 weeks to go back. I previously had RPOC from a previous loss at the beginning of the year so was aware of signs (back pain, continued spotting etc) however I had none of that this time and everything resolved quite quickly.

I have taken more tests (crazy, I know!) and they are lighter compared to this morning but still darker than yesterdays. I used AI to compare them all and they stated that they are significantly clearer and darker from yesterday’s, despite using diluted urine on a 2 hour hold. I’m not quite sure myself as they seem quite similar? I know the early stages there is minimal difference, let alone in the space of 18 hours.

Given sex/ovulation dates, I think it’s quite unlikely to be pregnant(?). This is my most recent test for comparison, 2 hour hold with 2 cups of coffee during that time. Was taken at the same “wait time” as the tests in my OP.

Fully aware I need to put the tests down and wait 😂

Also, I’m sorry for your loss 🫶🏼

I had a mmc at 8 weeks. Tests were negative after 5 days.

Sorry for your loss.

Thank you for replying. I’m so sorry for yours too, and again if this seems insensitive so I hope you don’t mind the question, was it medically managed or surgery? As I have heard surgery makes HCG drop a lot faster. Again, I truly hope it does not come across insensitive

@drivingmyselfcrazy1 maybe contact the EPU? They’ll be able to do a blood test to see how your hcg is doing

EPU won’t do anything unfortunately, I did contact them but they said I have to wait 6 weeks as it’s normal for HCG to linger that long due to how far along I was 😔

Hi @drivingmyselfcrazy1 I’m sorry for your loss. I had MMC at 9 weeks back in July (development stopped at 6), it took 7 weeks for HCG to fully clear, I didn’t have a period, which came about a week later. I didn’t have any medical management, it happened spontaneously.

I had a similar situation within that time where I couldn’t track lh and was guessing at ovulation and thought line had got darker from a new pregnancy. I called my gp and they had me in for blood tests 72 hours apart. Hcg was decreasing so I knew it was still the old one clearing. I’m now 3DPO on my 2nd cycle since.

I hope you get some answers soon, it is awful not knowing what is happening.

Thank you so much for replying & I’m so sorry for your loss. The fact the lines are so faint and seem to be getting lighter when I have diluted urine (expected) suggests to me that there must be a small amount of HCG hanging on; so maybe I didn’t ovulate when I thought I had. So strange as never experienced those symptoms without ovulating but suppose it could just be my body going crazy after loss. I wish you all the best for this cycle, fingers crossed for you.

Oh that’s annoying, my EPU saw me after 4 weeks to do the blood test. Hope you get some answers soon