Raised hcg, no pregnancy, no period

Hello,

I wasn't thinking in terms of ovca, I came here wondering about cysts. But since reading forums I wonder if my "separate" issues could be related. I went to to dr a few weeks ago with a slight pain in my side, upper right abdomen. I thought I was an ulcer. At that time I had missed my period for 1-1.5 weeks, but didn't mention it every home pregnancy test was negative. The slight pain has been there for months, but not really a big deal. Next, "separate" issue was my bloating and uncomfortable preggo looking belly-I was still getting my period at this time-so I was looking into ibs but didn't mention it to my dr because I was trying to cut gluten and dairy to see if it would help-I didn't think it was related to my "ulcer". Now since my period is a no show (almost two months late) I went in to the lab only for a pregnancy blood test. The nurse called the next day and while I was waiting for a "yes" or "no" she gave me a "it's complicated". She said my hcg levels were raised but not enough to be a pregnancy and to be this early in a pregnancy (she said I should be 6weeks if I were) that they were not enough to be pregnant. She didn't want to say anything yet because we will do further testing this week. But she mentioned it could be a "growth". What does this mean? I thought she meant cyst but I don't seem to have cyst symptoms. It's still so early in the game and it's a holiday weekend so I have to wait until Monday morning to go in for more testing. Of course reading online all I see is pregnancy and ovarian cancer. I really don't feel sick, I already have two kids and certainly don't feel pregnant. Any opinion?

[Annekathryn Goodman, M.D.]

Hi There
bHCG is a test for pregnancy.

a low level can mean an early pregnancy

sometimes it is a false elevation due to interference with other female hormones. This is common around menopause.

rarely there can be tumors from placental tissue called gestational trophoblastic neoplasia. Tis can occur after a pregnancy in about 1 in 100,000 pregancies.

it is very rare in the US .
best wishes