is it possible to get a false positive pregnancy test result?
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In very rare cases, you can have a false-positive result. This means you're not pregnant but the test says you are. You could have a false-positive result if you have blood or protein in your pee. Certain drugs, such as tranquilizers, anticonvulsants, hypnotics, and fertility drugs, could cause false-positive results.
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In fact false negatives – where the pregnancy test says you're not pregnant but you actually are – are more common than false positives. However, it's also important to say that this shouldn't give you false hope. A negative pregnancy test is still most likely to mean you're not pregnant.
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If you get a positive result, you may want to call your doctor to talk about what comes next. In very rare cases, you can have a false-positive result. This means you're not pregnant but the test says you are. You could have a false-positive result if you have blood or protein in your pee.
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Because hCG is usually only present in your body when you're pregnant, false positive results are incredibly rare. If you use a reliable pregnancy test, like Clearblue, you can be over 99% certain you're pregnant if you see a positive result.
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Getting a false-negative pregnancy test because of the hook effect is rare. False-negative test results can happen for many reasons. One older study that tested 27 different kinds of at-home pregnancy tests found that they gave false negatives almost 48 percent of the time.
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False-negative results If an hCG test comes back negative, that generally means you're not pregnant. However, if the test was performed too early in the pregnancy, before your body has had time to produce enough hCG, you can get a false negative.
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What can cause a false positive? Getting a true false positive – one where you were never pregnant in the first place – is incredibly rare. Pregnancy tests detect the hCG (human Chorionic Gonadotrophin) hormone in your body, which is only present when you're pregnant.
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Chemical pregnancy It's possible to have a positive pregnancy test even if you aren't technically pregnant. This is called a false positive. It's sometimes caused by a chemical pregnancy. A chemical pregnancy occurs if a fertilized egg, known as the embryo, is unable to implant, or grow, very early on.
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This scenario is pretty rare, but it can definitely happen. So why were the pregnancy tests negative? One explanation for a false negative pregnancy test is what's called the hook effect. It's not common but sometimes this effect leads to urine and blood tests giving the wrong result.
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The medication can cause a false-positive result if you take the test too soon after a missed period. Medications that may cause a false positive pregnancy: Antihistamines.
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However, negative results are less reliable. For example, if you do a pregnancy test too early, you could be pregnant, but there may not be enough HCG in your body to give a positive test result. Pregnancy tests vary in their sensitivity (how soon they can detect HCG and what level of HCG needs to be present).
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As with urine/home pregnancy tests, it is possible to end up with false results (both negative and positive) from a blood pregnancy test. ... So, your negative result is because there may not be enough hCG in the blood to detect a pregnancy.
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As what happened with New_here above, a pregnancy may initially be detected by an early pregnancy test, which will give you a positive result. But then, when you test again at a later time, you get a negative result.
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You could have a false-positive result if you have blood or protein in your pee. Certain drugs, such as tranquilizers, anticonvulsants, hypnotics, and fertility drugs, could cause false-positive results. If you get a negative result, you're probably not pregnant.
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A false positive can be the result of the fact that in many fertility treatments, hCG is given to “trigger” ovulation and may remain in the blood. A false negative might occur because a low level of hCG may be undetectable in a urine test despite a pregnancy starting.
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Cue: panicked visit to your ob/gyn, only to learn that you're actually not pregnant and had nothing to stress about. Thankfully, false-positive pregnancy tests are rare, but they can happen. Here are some of the most common causes of a false-positive pregnancy test.
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Getting a false-negative pregnancy test because of the hook effect is rare. False-negative test results can happen for many reasons. One older study that tested 27 different kinds of at-home pregnancy tests found that they gave false negatives almost 48 percent of the time. That's huge!