skairdykat
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Got this from pee on a stick.com
Situation:
A woman pees on a pregnancy test. She sees a positive result. (She may take more than one test and receive more positive results. Sometimes she gets mixed results: some positive tests and some negative tests.) Later, her period starts. She assumes she had a "false positive."
Commentary:
Assuming she has interpreted her results properly and the test is truly reading positive, the most likely explanation for her period is a very early miscarriage, also known as a "chemical pregnancy."
Life in its earliest stages is very tenuous; there is a miscarriage rate of approximately 15% prior to the confirmation of a heartbeat. (Once a heartbeat is detected, the miscarriage rate drops to about 5%. After the first trimester is completed, the rate drops even farther.)
The most common cause of early miscarriage is a genetic defect. These are usually random and do not indicate that there are any big scary problems or will cause difficulty with future pregnancies. Other common causes are problems with a woman's blood clotting factor (cutting off blood supply to the embryo) or the presence of antibodies that attack embryos. If a woman experiences more than one early miscarriage she should consult her doctor and explore testing for some of these problems. (Good news: they can usually be treated with great success!)
When an embryo implants, it secretes a hormone known as hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin.) This is the hormone detected by pregnancy tests. "Early detection" pregnancy tests are often quite sensitive and can detect a pregnancy within a few days of implantation, often before a woman has even missed her period. When a woman is trying to conceive, she is much more likely to test early and therefore detect a pregnancy almost as soon as it happens! So, if a miscarriage occurs (which it does about 15% of the time) she is more likely to know about it.
When a miscarriage occurs, the amount of hCG decreases and eventually returns to a non-pregnant, undetectable level (non-pregnant women of childbearing age usually have 0-2.5 mIU/mL of hCG in their bloodstream and close to 0 in their urine. Post-menopausal women can have a level as high as 9.5, which may be registered as a positive on a very sensitive test.) Because hCG levels are so low in extremely early pregnancy, it decreases very quickly after a miscarriage. A woman who has a positive test one day may have a negative test the next day before miscarrying. This does not mean the positive test was "false."
NOTE: Having a positive test followed by a negative test does not mean that a woman will necessarily miscarry. I promise! Check out this FAQ for reassurance.
Solution:
Because true false positives are very rare, it is best to assume that a positive result is genuine. If you receive a positive result but begin to menstruate, you should assume you experienced an early miscarriage. If it happens again, you should consult your doctor. Many women have discovered (often-treatable) medical conditions (such as Factor V Leiden or antiphospholipid antibodies) as a result of repeat pregnancy loss.
However, since early miscarriage is so common, this may be a heartbreaking experience, but not something to worry about in terms of fertility or future childbearing.
Situation:
A woman pees on a pregnancy test. She sees a positive result. (She may take more than one test and receive more positive results. Sometimes she gets mixed results: some positive tests and some negative tests.) Later, her period starts. She assumes she had a "false positive."
Commentary:
Assuming she has interpreted her results properly and the test is truly reading positive, the most likely explanation for her period is a very early miscarriage, also known as a "chemical pregnancy."
Life in its earliest stages is very tenuous; there is a miscarriage rate of approximately 15% prior to the confirmation of a heartbeat. (Once a heartbeat is detected, the miscarriage rate drops to about 5%. After the first trimester is completed, the rate drops even farther.)
The most common cause of early miscarriage is a genetic defect. These are usually random and do not indicate that there are any big scary problems or will cause difficulty with future pregnancies. Other common causes are problems with a woman's blood clotting factor (cutting off blood supply to the embryo) or the presence of antibodies that attack embryos. If a woman experiences more than one early miscarriage she should consult her doctor and explore testing for some of these problems. (Good news: they can usually be treated with great success!)
When an embryo implants, it secretes a hormone known as hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin.) This is the hormone detected by pregnancy tests. "Early detection" pregnancy tests are often quite sensitive and can detect a pregnancy within a few days of implantation, often before a woman has even missed her period. When a woman is trying to conceive, she is much more likely to test early and therefore detect a pregnancy almost as soon as it happens! So, if a miscarriage occurs (which it does about 15% of the time) she is more likely to know about it.
When a miscarriage occurs, the amount of hCG decreases and eventually returns to a non-pregnant, undetectable level (non-pregnant women of childbearing age usually have 0-2.5 mIU/mL of hCG in their bloodstream and close to 0 in their urine. Post-menopausal women can have a level as high as 9.5, which may be registered as a positive on a very sensitive test.) Because hCG levels are so low in extremely early pregnancy, it decreases very quickly after a miscarriage. A woman who has a positive test one day may have a negative test the next day before miscarrying. This does not mean the positive test was "false."
NOTE: Having a positive test followed by a negative test does not mean that a woman will necessarily miscarry. I promise! Check out this FAQ for reassurance.
Solution:
Because true false positives are very rare, it is best to assume that a positive result is genuine. If you receive a positive result but begin to menstruate, you should assume you experienced an early miscarriage. If it happens again, you should consult your doctor. Many women have discovered (often-treatable) medical conditions (such as Factor V Leiden or antiphospholipid antibodies) as a result of repeat pregnancy loss.
However, since early miscarriage is so common, this may be a heartbreaking experience, but not something to worry about in terms of fertility or future childbearing.
Cheers guys.
Ended up - (don't laugh) doing a quick CP check in public loo 
