Ovulation test can it detect pregnancy | Mumsnet (2024)

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Ovulation test can it detect pregnancy | Mumsnet? ›

An ovulation test was not designed to detect pregnancy, so it should not be used to test for it.

If you're pregnant, your hCG levels will continue to rise, doubling every couple of days in early pregnancy. In this case, the positive result on an ovulation test may well be a reading of those climbing hCG levels. However, an ovulation test isn't a reliable way to tell whether you're pregnant.

Traces of HCG are present from 6 days after ovulation, but it typically takes 7–10 days after ovulatation for the body to build up enough HCG to show up on a test. If you have an irregular cycle and don't know when your period was due, it's best to take the test at least 21 days after having unprotected sex.

You should start to test during the time you're expected to be fertile, once a day. A positive test lets you know you're about to ovulate (usually within 36 hours) and to have sex that day and/or the next day. When is the best time to take an ovulation test? You can take an ovulation test at any time of day.

The hormone that ovulation tests are looking for, luteinizing hormone (LH), peaks right before ovulation, but is present throughout your menstrual cycle. A lighter line on ovulation test results means a little LH was detected, but not enough to indicate an LH surge which happens right before ovulation.

What are my LH levels if I'm pregnant? Although the hormone spikes to kick start ovulation, LH levels do not remain high during pregnancy. The amount of LH in your body will start to drop after ovulation and LH levels are typically very low during pregnancy (<1.5 IU/L).

Superfetation is rare because, once a person is pregnant, changes in their hormones typically prevent their body from continuing to ovulate, Dr. Greves explained. But if a person does ovulate again—and if that egg becomes fertilized and implants in the uterus—they can carry a double pregnancy.

They don't have the kind of sensitivity it takes to distinguish LH and hCG. So, this means that if you're pregnant and you take an ovulation test, it might show a false positive because it's accidentally identifying high hCG levels, not LH. This does not mean that it's accurately detecting your pregnancy.

A positive ovulation test is generally a good sign that indicates an LH surge and normally ovulation should occur within 36 hours. But in some women ovulation may not occur and LH surge may be because of conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), pituitary disorder, or perimenopause.

Do ovulation tests help pregnancy? ›

An ovulation test can accurately tell you when you are most likely to conceive if you have intercourse and can help you get pregnant faster. Ovulation tests work by identifying the rise in hormones that surge just before you release an egg, so you know when you should have sex to get pregnant.

It is not recommended to use ovulation tests or fertility monitors as a means of tracking your ovulation in order to avoid pregnancy. Ovulation tests only identify the LH surge up to 24 to 48 hours before ovulation, and sperm can survive in the body up to 3 to 5 days.

Most women only do not see an LH surge when they are not ovulating. If you do not ovulate during your menstrual cycle — i.e. experience an anovulatory cycle — your body does not release an egg, so it cannot be fertilized. In other words, conception cannot occur without a surge in LH.

An OPK can be positive if you're pregnant — but it's quite possible it's a false positive. “LH and hCG have very similar molecular structures, and the over-the-counter predictor kits aren't sensitive enough to distinguish between these two hormones,” says Dr. Styer.

The other is the test line (T) that shows the ovulation test result. Unlike a pregnancy test, two lines alone is not a positive result since your body makes LH at low levels throughout your cycle. A result is only positive if the test line (T) is as dark or darker than the control line (C) line.

Trace levels of hCG can be detected as early as eight days after ovulation. That means you could get positive results several days before you expect your period to start. However, the first part of your cycle is more variable than the second, making it tricky to determine the best time for an early test.

If you are not having regular periods, the kit may still work, but it may difficult to know when to start testing or even what stage of the cycle you're in. If you are receiving persistently positive results, it most likely means that your LH levels are abnormally elevated. In such a case, the kit may be unreliable.

Your hCG level is elevated when you are pregnant, and elevated hCG levels suppress ovulation. After a miscarriage, hCG levels need to drop below 5 mIU/mL for your menstrual cycle to resume (and your pregnancy tests to return to normal).

While ovulation and periods naturally go together, it is possible to ovulate without having a period. This often occurs for women with irregular periods. Conversely, it is possible to experience monthly bleeding with no ovulation.

In many cases, you might get a positive result from an at-home test as early as 10 days after conception. For a more accurate result, wait until after you've missed your period to take a test. Remember, if you take a test too soon, it could be negative even if you're pregnant.