hCG levels only at 15,7 at 18dpo??

[kala1988]

I'll try to keep this as short as possible. my lmp was jan 23, on feb. 22 i took a home preg. test. it was positive. i took another that night, one the next morning, and another the night, then one more the morning of feb 24th. trry. hat evening i had some pretty severe cramping and went to the ER. they did a urine test that came back negative. i asked the doc. how it could be negative when just that morning it was positive. he never gave me a straight answer. they did a cuant. blood test and it came back positive. however, my hCG level was only 15.7 (at this point i was roughly 4 wks preg.) he said that there was no way anything was showing up on ANY test and that my levels were far too low to have a healthy pregnancy and that i would most likely miscarry. When i got home i took one more home test (this was around 2am on feb. 25th) for curiousity's sake, and it came back positive. i have an appointment to get another blood test done tomorrow to see ifm y hCG levels are increasing like they should. but in the meantime im SO confused as to how this is even possible, how does my blood say that my levels are way too low to show up on a test, yet i have 6 positive tests that say otherwise. (by the way, ive tried 3 different brands of the digital tests, so im not just misreading the results) any input would be greatly appreciated. my husband and i very much want to get pregnant and we're both worried sick that something might be wrong since my levels are this low. thanks

[cocacolapanda]

From what I was told many hospitals use the same over the counter type tests that we use, they may not "look" like the ones we use at home, but there the same thing.  A blood test is the most accurate.  And your dr SHOULD have known that any pee test you need to make sure it's not diluted.  wow, that would make me SO mad!!  Yeah, I got my information from the link smjmekg posted, it's a very nice and helpful website!

Honestly, I wouldn't worry, If you don't have any spotting or bleeding, call to make an apt with your dr and don't bother going to the ER (unless you start bleeding of course!)  Either way, set up an apt, let the dr know you've had some sever cramping and ask if they can check your levels to make sure there going up ok.  They may not do an ultrasound till your close to 6 weeks though, so hopefully your dr will get you in for blood work to help put your mind at ease!

[jschoch8]

Hm that's like being 4 days late and the tests showing neg- take a home one in like 48 hours If its positive or faint you're levels are probably going up

[smjmekg]

Your doctor was a JERK! Wow. It is possible to show up on a blood test even with getting negative urine tests. Like cocacolapanda don't worry. A lot of tests are more sensitive than they say. Check out the site www.    pee   on   a    stick    .com (without the spaces it would have been deleted without spacing) it shows multiple tests the level they SAY they can detect and the level they can actually detect. First Response (line test) says it can detect as low as 25 mIU/mL BUT the lady from that website has called a rep and they said it had been tested and picked up as low as 12 mIU/mL. So the tests can be more sensitive than they say.

[kala1988]

actually, it had only been about 2o min since my last trip to the bathroom when i took the test at the hosp. they were practically force feeding me water so i could go. i asked if that would interfere with an accurate reading and the dr. said that their tests were much more accurate than anything you can buy on the market and if im "really" pregnant then it shouldnt matter. (i must add that this particular ER doc. also got a colorful complaint from me today when i called the hosp) all the tests taken at home HAD been after holding it for at least 3 hours, or first thing in the morning. after the hosp test i insisted htat they do a blood test and was told by dr. idiot that "our urine tests are much more accurate, a blood test would be a waste of all of our time"... needless to say i called him on that point when the blood test came back positive. im just concerned because i honestly dont know if there is anything to worry about or if my doctor was just a complete head case. thanks for the input. that definitely settles my nerves a little!

[cocacolapanda]

Well, to start with I'd like to say that for example the Clear Blue Digital test that I like to use says it can detect up to 25 hCG, however if you read on several sites you'll notice that they can detect lower amounts, and that even though the test is rated for 25, having 15 COULD get you a positive as the tests are more sensitive, but garinteed at the 25 hCG.

That being said it's POSSIBLE to get a positive pregnancy test at 15.7, as many tests do detect lower than the amount they say they detect.  I'm not saying that they should all catch 15.7, but there's a chance.  Also, when you took the urine test at  the hospital, did you go to the bathroom 3 hours before that?  And when you took the tests at home did you?  If you took the tests at home when you waited at least 3 hours you would be less diluted and a higher chance of getting a positive.  If you didn't wait the 3 hours, the hormone would be more diluted and a less chance of getting a positive.

3 weeks LMP: 5 - 50 mIU/ml
4 weeks LMP: 5 - 426 mIU/ml
5 weeks LMP: 18 - 7,340 mIU/ml
6 weeks LMP: 1,080 - 56,500 mIU/ml
7 - 8 weeks LMP: 7, 650 - 229,000 mIU/ml
9 - 12 weeks LMP: 25,700 - 288,000 mIU/ml

BY the chart, at 4 weeks, your numbers could be accurate.  With out having another blood test to get the numbers in 2-3 days you really can't worry yet.  Cramping can be normal, since it's severe I'd suggest keeping track of how bad it is, etc. Also, you aren't bleeding, so that's a good sign!  Hopefully your numbers tomorrow increase, but for now, I'd say there isn't much to worry about!