I'm confused

[sarahjane2babies]

Hello everyone

I've read on line that you can take a ovulation test to check for pregnancy which I did this morning and a line came up, so went an bought a pregnancy test and it's came up negative I'm really confused could I be pregnant ? Thankyou

[catwoman276]

I have never heard/read that ovulation tests can be used to check for pregnancy. My understanding is that they each look for different hormones. Ovulation tests look for estrogen/estradoil and/or luteinsing hormone (LH) to determine the fertile window of the menstrual cycle whereas pregnancy tests check for the presence of the pregnancy hormone, human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG), in your urine. Your body only begins to produce HCG after you conceive. If you've had a negative preganancy test then HCG is not being detected - it may be too early to detect so worth testing in a few days time if you think that you still could be pregnant. Hope that helps!

[catwoman276]

Well you learn something new every day! Did a bit of research and you're right. Borrowed from the web "Interestingly, hCG and LH are both known scientifically as glycoproteins, which simply means that these hormones are made up of a protein with a sugar attached to it. Of even greater interest for this discussion, is the fact that the protein parts of hCG and LH look very similar. So similar, in fact, a standard ovulation test (OPK) is unable to distinguish between LH and hCG in your urine. Therefore, if you have enough of either of the two hormones (LH or hCG) in your urine at the time you test using an OPK, you will get a positive result on the OPK.  
In theory, therefore, a positive result on an ovulation test taken after you have missed a period could definitely indicate that you are pregnant. But, while it might be tempting to use your extra ovulation test as a pregnancy test, most OPKs are not as sensitive as an early detection pregnancy test, which means that you will run the risk of getting a false negative...so, even if you are pregnant, your OPK will not be sensitive enough to detect the small amounts of hCG that are present in your urine in the first few days after conception. If you suspect that you have conceived, the quickest, most accurate way to confirm pregnancy is to use an early detection pregnancy test." Good luck! X

[twistedfate27]

I've heard that too. Keep taking the ovulation kits for more than a few days and if you keep getting a positive then I would call your doctor for a blood test. I know i myself have low hcg levels normally as well as throughout pregnancy and have never shown up on a HPT until 13.5wks (with both my pregnancies!) best of luck and keep is informed!