Low/nonexistent HCG test levels but pregnant?

Page 1 of 1 [ 11 posts ] 

bananabread
Butterfly
Butterfly

User avatar

Joined: 20 Aug 2014
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Posts: 10

23 Aug 2014, 10:05 am

Hello.

There's definitely something going on. Either a chemical pregnancy or a continuing one. I really don't want to get too stressed out about it since there is no way of knowing for sure at this point but

- I had two negative blood tests, one at what would be 3.5 weeks (including the 2 weeks of no actual pregnancy factored in by doctors) and one at what would be 5 weeks
- All urine tests to this point incl. today have been negative, but they test at much higher levels
- I was tested for other medical concerns and told I do not have pelvic inflammatory disease or other medical issues. They do not see a cause for my symptoms.
- However, I have had the following symptoms of pregnancy (at what would be 6 weeks now, going on the 7th):
1) A week after unprotected sex I started feeling tingling in abdomen.
2) my stomach is steadily getting bigger. Before I eat it's not too noticeable but compared to its recent and usual completely flat state it is very, very noticeable, and it gets undeniably semi-pregnant looking if I do not have an empty stomach.
3) My chest has never been this big in my life. It's not huge but it's never been this big.
4)I have a lot of fat suddenly around thighs and hips compared to usual state.
5) My skin is much softer and smoother than usual.
6) I have the urge to hold my stomach a lot not from pain but just to hold it.
7) I can't bend over comfortably anymore. 2-3 weeks ago I started instinctively squatting down rather than the usual headfirst bend forward.
8) I dogwalk as a job and I had to tell her I can't for right now because I have extreme muscular pain in front and muscularskeletal back pain in back from carrying anything, walking up and down stairs, and being pulled by a small dog on a leash now. I NEVER have had this issue and I am usually quite rough-and-tumble.
9) A month ago my anxiety as noise and movement and crowds suddenly returned after almost a year of it being totally gone. Any semi-loud noise starts to cause me panic.
10) I started getting suddenly very emotional again at that point, which I can normally trace to not eating enough but I have been eating a very sufficient diet of late.
11) Sudden mild heartburn at times
12) Almost two (actual) weeks in I had strong periodlike cramping and nausea that seems it would have been a bad sign but since then my abdomen has only gotten noticeably bigger and I've gained more fat, etc.

I have a stressful living situation and am worried though that the panic that the stress is causing is or has caused something to go wrong. It's so hard to tell.

Lastly, I got a period like normal but it did not feel normal. All the pain I have been feeling feels like something is going on. I have also read multiple threads in multiple places saying the common wisdom is wrong, and a minority of women have periods partway or all the way through healthy pregnancies.

I read an older thread on here by someone who postulated that there is a recessive gene that causes HCG levels to not register for certain pregnancies at all or until very late, and mentioned multiple cases in her immediate knowledge of this happening.

I would appreciate scientific trains of thought on this and personal experiences because I have a strong feeling this is related to my lack of neurotypical hormone levels but that that doesn't necessarily indicate that this is not a pregnancy cause I have no f'ing clue what else it could be, all indicators point that it is the beginnings of one anyway. I'm trying not to invest too much or get too stressed-out either way but this is definitely not normal and kind of hard to ignore.



Dantac
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Jan 2008
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,672
Location: Florida

23 Aug 2014, 11:33 am

This may have already crossed your mind but has your doctor considered testing you for possible cancer?

Even rarer, a fetus that did not continue developing and has become ossified? (aka its like a bone mass that keeps growing...so you have similar physical symptoms of pregnancy but you're not pregnant anymore).

I know these are rather extreme cases...its the only thing I can think of. I hope you have consulted a couple of doctors to get different opinions.

edit: once again RSS feed tosses me into women's forum and I notice much later.



Last edited by Dantac on 23 Aug 2014, 3:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Jensen
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 15 Feb 2013
Age: 71
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,018
Location: Denmark

23 Aug 2014, 11:43 am

Go to a clinic and show them, what you wrote here. It all sounds very strange and should be examined.


_________________
Femaline
Special Interest: Beethoven


nerdygirl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Jun 2014
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,645
Location: In the land of abstractions and ideas.

23 Aug 2014, 1:36 pm

I concur - get checked out again, and completely. Make sure you get checked for things like an ectopic pregnancy as well. It could also be a "blighted ovum." I was checked for one of those when my 2nd pregnancy had some unusual signs at the beginning of it.

A period that is unusual could also have been the attaching of the fertilized egg to the wall of the uterus.

Definitely get a FULL check-up. Go to an obygyn for your appointment, if you haven't already.



HisMom
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 27 Aug 2012
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,271

23 Aug 2014, 4:43 pm

bananabread wrote:
Hello.

There's definitely something going on. Either a chemical pregnancy or a continuing one. I really don't want to get too stressed out about it since there is no way of knowing for sure at this point but

- I had two negative blood tests, one at what would be 3.5 weeks (including the 2 weeks of no actual pregnancy factored in by doctors) and one at what would be 5 weeks
- All urine tests to this point incl. today have been negative, but they test at much higher levels
- I was tested for other medical concerns and told I do not have pelvic inflammatory disease or other medical issues. They do not see a cause for my symptoms.
- However, I have had the following symptoms of pregnancy (at what would be 6 weeks now, going on the 7th):
1) A week after unprotected sex I started feeling tingling in abdomen.
2) my stomach is steadily getting bigger. Before I eat it's not too noticeable but compared to its recent and usual completely flat state it is very, very noticeable, and it gets undeniably semi-pregnant looking if I do not have an empty stomach.
3) My chest has never been this big in my life. It's not huge but it's never been this big.
4)I have a lot of fat suddenly around thighs and hips compared to usual state.
5) My skin is much softer and smoother than usual.
6) I have the urge to hold my stomach a lot not from pain but just to hold it.
7) I can't bend over comfortably anymore. 2-3 weeks ago I started instinctively squatting down rather than the usual headfirst bend forward.
8) I dogwalk as a job and I had to tell her I can't for right now because I have extreme muscular pain in front and muscularskeletal back pain in back from carrying anything, walking up and down stairs, and being pulled by a small dog on a leash now. I NEVER have had this issue and I am usually quite rough-and-tumble.
9) A month ago my anxiety as noise and movement and crowds suddenly returned after almost a year of it being totally gone. Any semi-loud noise starts to cause me panic.
10) I started getting suddenly very emotional again at that point, which I can normally trace to not eating enough but I have been eating a very sufficient diet of late.
11) Sudden mild heartburn at times
12) Almost two (actual) weeks in I had strong periodlike cramping and nausea that seems it would have been a bad sign but since then my abdomen has only gotten noticeably bigger and I've gained more fat, etc.

I have a stressful living situation and am worried though that the panic that the stress is causing is or has caused something to go wrong. It's so hard to tell.

Lastly, I got a period like normal but it did not feel normal. All the pain I have been feeling feels like something is going on. I have also read multiple threads in multiple places saying the common wisdom is wrong, and a minority of women have periods partway or all the way through healthy pregnancies.

I read an older thread on here by someone who postulated that there is a recessive gene that causes HCG levels to not register for certain pregnancies at all or until very late, and mentioned multiple cases in her immediate knowledge of this happening.

I would appreciate scientific trains of thought on this and personal experiences because I have a strong feeling this is related to my lack of neurotypical hormone levels but that that doesn't necessarily indicate that this is not a pregnancy cause I have no f'ing clue what else it could be, all indicators point that it is the beginnings of one anyway. I'm trying not to invest too much or get too stressed-out either way but this is definitely not normal and kind of hard to ignore.


I STRONGLY third the suggestion to get a thorough medical examination ASAP. Stress can cause illness and pain, but even practicing physicians (I know that there is one here in this forum) cannot diagnose your situation by reading about your symptoms on a message board.

A week after sex (or roughly 5 days post conception) is way too early to start "feeling" a pregnancy -- even a second or subsequent one. First pregnancies usually take much longer to "feel" as most first time mothers don't recognize a baby's subtle movements in the early days. And it is true that some women do not cease to menstruate during their pregnancies but they are a rare minority. The difficulty bending over could be caused by muscle strain, or pressure on ligaments and tendons. The pain and bulging (along with nausea and vomiting) could also be warning signs of hernia.

Can you please explain what exactly you mean when say that you had a period but that "it did not feel normal" ? Do you mean spotty bleeding that could be implantation bleeding ? Was it more painful than usual ?

Anything anyone posts here is mere speculation and isn't going to do you any good. Please get a medical examination ASAP. Good luck !


_________________
O villain, villain, smiling, damnèd villain!
My tables—meet it is I set it down
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.
At least I'm sure it may be so in "Denmark".

-- Hamlet, 1.5.113-116


bananabread
Butterfly
Butterfly

User avatar

Joined: 20 Aug 2014
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Posts: 10

23 Aug 2014, 9:12 pm

Thanks for the replies.

My nurse friend told me she felt pregnant that early in her pregnancy.

I got an exam incl. an ultrasound. That's what I was saying, they could find nothing wrong. They ruled out other medical issues but couldn't explain these symptoms.

I don't think this is a hernia, hernias don't make your areolas and boobs get bigger. Sorry if TMI but this is just all way too specific to pregnancy to be that.

I meant that it came as early as I've ever had it and it didn't hurt like a period usually does, I was still having tingling sensations in my abdomen the whole time which does not happen.

Since then I've just been getting noticeably bigger (at that point I wasn't really big but I feel like I"m going to burst and can't sit slouched over like a frog like I always did cause I actually have something in the way now. I have to walk with my feet much wider apart also, side-to-side. It's not that it hurts if I don't it's that my entire body feels like it's shifted./ I noticed it five days in starting and it's progressed a lot from there to the point I feel like a different person walking in a way I have never walked before, not from pain but cause there's no other way to do it.



Last edited by bananabread on 23 Aug 2014, 9:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

bananabread
Butterfly
Butterfly

User avatar

Joined: 20 Aug 2014
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Posts: 10

23 Aug 2014, 9:16 pm

I read about blighted ova and it said they produce HCG though. Wouldn't explain this.

AI am mostly just very interested to hear from anyone of the group of female humans who may have had this experience of having negative tests and/or a period the first month and still being pregnant. I know they exist and it is infuriating to go to the doctor and have them make broad, unfounded, and unscientific statements that that's not possible when people on this very site have discussed it being their experience. I highly believe it to be related to autism. Again, I don't know what's going on with me for sure but I believe it is something in this category anyway.



nerdygirl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Jun 2014
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,645
Location: In the land of abstractions and ideas.

23 Aug 2014, 9:34 pm

I'm not sure there's anything to suggest other than to wait a month and see what happens. You're still very early into the pregnancy if you are pregnant.

I know plenty of women who have gotten their period during pregnancy, one for five months!

I don't have any other thoughts other than to wait, which I know does not help the anxiety. Based on an experience I had, my obgyn basically said that there can be false-negative pregnancy test results but not false-positive ones.



HisMom
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 27 Aug 2012
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,271

23 Aug 2014, 9:42 pm

bananabread wrote:
Thanks for the replies.

My nurse friend told me she felt pregnant that early in her pregnancy.

I got an exam incl. an ultrasound. That's what I was saying, they could find nothing wrong. They ruled out other medical issues but couldn't explain these symptoms.

I don't think this is a hernia, hernias don't make your areolas and boobs get bigger. Sorry if TMI but this is just all way too specific to pregnancy to be that.

I meant that it came as early as I've ever had it and it didn't hurt like a period usually does, I was still having tingling sensations in my abdomen the whole time which does not happen.

Since then I've just been getting noticeably bigger (at that point I wasn't really big but I feel like I"m going to burst and can't sit slouched over like a frog like I always did cause I actually have something in the way now. I have to walk with my feet much wider apart also, side-to-side. It's not that it hurts if I don't it's that my entire body feels like it's shifted./ I noticed it five days in starting and it's progressed a lot from there to the point I feel like a different person walking in a way I have never walked before, not from pain but cause there's no other way to do it.


You had a vaginal ultrasound and they did not see a fetus ?

Are your areolas getting darker as well, or do they just seem bigger ? Are the veins in your breasts getting more prominent, too ? As in, are they are getting darker / more visible ? Even if you have a darker skin tone, those veins will probably be getting really visible / prominent if you were pregnant.

Should you see these signs, you will want to get a second opinion and a followup ultrasound. Something seems very off to me. Hang in there and good luck !


_________________
O villain, villain, smiling, damnèd villain!
My tables—meet it is I set it down
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.
At least I'm sure it may be so in "Denmark".

-- Hamlet, 1.5.113-116


bananabread
Butterfly
Butterfly

User avatar

Joined: 20 Aug 2014
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Posts: 10

24 Aug 2014, 8:36 am

This is so frustrating. I tried to make a post and it disappeared.

I had a regular ultrasound. I am only 7 weeks (5 gestational weeks) pregnant if I am. Nothing would show when I had it a week ago either way.

Ys, darker. I always have notably visible-through-skin veins according to other people so I am not sure how to measure this and it seems early.

It won't let me post a link cause I'm new but there is a thread called Anyone Want Kids or Trying to Conceive in Women's discussion last year that delves into this and the fact that doctors are in denial about the minority of women who don't receive positive tests but are still pregnant.

I appreciate your advice nerdygirl, you're the only one on here who is not increasing my anxiety about this. I am not sure I should post on here, it seems like I have a valid straightforward issue I am presenting here but people are trying every route around the question I am asking which is for more information on the known cases where this DOES happen cause I think it's something like this here. These symptoms do not all happen together unless the body is pregnant and I just want more information because it is frustrating being told by people with supposed medical knowledge that it's not possible while they fail to give any explanation at all for these symptoms or other cases where it did happen.



bananabread
Butterfly
Butterfly

User avatar

Joined: 20 Aug 2014
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Posts: 10

24 Aug 2014, 8:44 am

I'm doing one throwaway post to total 5 so I can post some links to actual cases.