Missed Period & Positive Pregnancy Test: What to Do?

Question
Well starting off...I was on birth control from the middle of August to the middle of October.  My last period was on Nov. 22, and they are always right on, so I was suppose to get it Dec. 20th.  Well I didn't get it, so I took a pregnancy test (on wednesday, the 1st day of my missed period) and it was negative.  Thursday afternoon i was feeling really abnormal, dizzy and nauseous, so I took another test, and it was positive.  I am sure that the test was done correctly and not mishandled.  I went to the hospital Friday morning to do a blood test to make sure, and it came back negative, so I took another test, and it was negative as well.  Today is Sunday, and I still haven't gotten my period, I'm feeling really sick to my stomach, craving things left and right.  I took yet another test today, and it was negative again.  I talked to my mother, and she said when she was pregnant, she always had a false negative, either on the urine or blood test, but she couldn't remember which.  I don't know if that has anything to do with me or not.  I'm just confused as to why I've missed my period when I never do, but yet my tests all but one have come back negative. And if I'm not pregnant, why did one come back positive?  Any help would be greatly appreciated!!  

Answer
Dear Ayla,

False negatives are more common than false positives on pregnancy tests. However, you have had several negatives at this point, as opposed to one positive.

You may very well be pregnant, based on the one positive and your symptoms. My question is - will you behave any differently if you have a confirmed pregnancy in the next two weeks? This is why I ask... many times, we get so impatient to know FOR SURE that we completely panic and stress ourselves out when there really is no need. It may simply be too early to pick up the hormone in a high enough level consistently. You may also be experiencing some irregularity coming off the BCP - it's just hard to know for sure yet.

It is possible for you to request a quantitative blood pregnancy test (serum beta hCG) which will give an actual amount of hCG in your bloodstream. It can detect levels from 5 mIU/mL and over. Anything under that amount is considered a non-pregnant level.

However, here is my suggestion - if you were trying to conceive, keep trying (just in case). Otherwise, act as if you potentially are pregnant for the next two weeks...just know that you might be and that you need to be a little more patient to find out for sure. In another two weeks, test again, using concentrated morning urine for the most accurate results. If you are pregnant, that should be long enough for the hormone to be present in a high enough level to be positive. If negative again, I would suspect you are not pregnant NOW, but you should be about due for another period and we can assess your cycles again at that time.

I hope this information has helped you and answered your questions. I know you want to know for sure, but aside from requesting the quantitative test, which can be expensive and normally is not done unless they have a positive test previously, waiting seems to be the most reasonable course of action at this point. Please write again with additional questions. I wish you a Happy New Year!

Brenda