# clear blue digital WARNING!



## Mrsball (May 10, 2013)

Hi 
I thought it was worth posting this to save other ladies worry..,, 
I've been testing positive since 7dp5dt
At 9dp5dt clear blue digital said 1-2 weeks
I had beta done at 10dp5dt which I understand would be
4w1d pregnant and this was a healthy 186 reading.

Did another clear blue today at 4w2d (or 16 days past ovulation) and still showing 1_2 weeks
If it wasn't for my beta yesterday I would be seriously panic striken right now!
Thought it was worth sharing to save any other ladies unnecessary worry! 
X


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## smartstuff (Jan 9, 2015)

All I want to say is CONGRATULATIONS!!!


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## Pregwannabe (Jan 4, 2015)

Congrats on your bfp, and how scary! I just got my bfp yest, got 1-2 weeks today on the digital. I started researching when i should expect 2-3 to pop up, and I came across this. A woman had a very similar incident to yours and she got more info from the company. Here is her summary:

There seems to be some confusion about what the results of this test mean. I'll try to clear things up. The 3 levels do in fact measure 3 different levels of HCG, but there's a huge range of sensitivity for each level. If your blood level is 250 and the test only shows 1-2 weeks, it doesn't mean the test is defective. What it does mean its that Clearblue's instructions are not really as clear as they should be.

The manufacturer has to file its test results with the FDA and that's public information. Check out the chart on page 6: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/reviews/K112870.pdf

The Pregnant 3+ weeks threshold is 2600 mIU/ml. However if you look at their data, only 21 of 90 tests they did with exactly 2513 mIU/ml of HCG tested positive. The other 69 were false negatives. You aren't guaranteed to get a "3+ weeks" result until after your level is at least 4000. Clinical guidelines at that gestation are 18 - 7,340 mIU/ml, however, so basically this test can't tell you anything other than "you're pregnant" at 3 weeks past conception.

Please realize that this means that many many 4-week conceptuses (when your doctor would say you are 6 weeks along) are going to test as "2-3 weeks", and that is absolutely not a reason to panic. If you get one negative test, that does not mean a negative result. You have to do several tests, possibly even from different boxes, to be sure.

In summary:

If you get "Not pregnant", you may still have an HCG level below 17. Try another test today, and then again in 2 days.

If you get 1-2 weeks, that means that your HCG level is almost definitely between 10 and 500. It is most likely to be between 10 and 180.
1-2 weeks can turn positive anywhere above 10 ml/IU, but it doesn't reach 99% accuracy until 17. Clinical guidelines are 5 - 50 mIU/ml

If you get 2-3 weeks, that means that your HCG level is almost definitely between 120 and 4000. It is most likely to be between 180 and 2900.
2-3 weeks can turn positive anywhere above 120, but it doesn't reach 99% accuracy until 500. Clinical guidelines are 5 - 426 mIU/ml

If you get 3+ weeks, that means that your HCG level is almost definitely above 2100. It is most likely to be above 2900.
3+ weeks can turn positive anywhere above 2100, but it doesn't reach 99% accuracy until 4000. Clinical guidelines are 18 - 7,340 mIU/ml

The error bars on this test are wide enough that I would consider the weeks results to be entertainment only. You should absolutely not use this test to try to determine what your HCG level is. If your specific HCG level is important, go get a blood test done.

All that said, this is the only test on the market right now that can give you any clue at all about how much HCG is in your sample, and it can provide you some useful information. To know whether a particular level is accurate for a single sample, you'd need to take something like 10 tests at once. But if you just want reassurance that your pregnancy is progressing, you can use one test each time, and even with the large error bars on this test, it will eventually show progress, because your HCG level is steadily increasing. You may not hit "3+" until your 6th week however and that would still be within clinical guidelines. I wouldn't make any decisions based on this test unless the decision is to see a doctor and get a blood test done.

/links


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## CrazyHorse (May 8, 2014)

Huge congrats, Mrsball!!

The digital PG tests are notorious for causing worry. I believe the ClearBlue digital tests are designed to show number of weeks since conception, while gestational age is measured from last menstrual period (or, in IVF pregnancies, from 2 weeks before EC). Of course, hCG levels also vary wildly between individual pregnancies, so people report a lot of variability in how far along they are when ClearBlue digital starts showing more than '1-2 weeks'.


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## Pregwannabe (Jan 4, 2015)

Also1-2 weeks means 1-2 weeks from conception, so 3-4 weeks pregnant.


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## staceysm (Nov 18, 2010)

Hi,

There has always been bad reviews about these and sadly people still buy them, as they think they will reassure you.

I have known of two women who were at least 10 weeks pregnant and only got 1-2 weeks pregnant and have then phoned their local EPU panic stricken and scans have shown their babies are ok.

I had the opposite, where it said I was 3+ weeks pregnant at 10 days past ET and a early scan showed just one sac, so women's HCG can really vary to.

Good luck with your BFP.

X


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## Mrsball (May 10, 2013)

Yeah see if know in Dr language I'm 4w2d but in clear blue language I am 11dp5dt so 16 days past conceotion so really it should show 2-3 weeks for me 
I'm not concerned thanks to my bloods! But if I hadn't paid for them yesterday I probably would be as it's my first bfp and all completely new to me! X


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## Artypants (Jan 6, 2012)

Also just wanted to say congrats, have been reading your diary and really pleased you got your BFP x


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## wibble-wobble (Apr 16, 2011)

I had 2-3 when I was expecting 3+ it put a lot of stress on me and I still had over a week at that point until my 7 week viability scan. Part of me was too scared to test again to see if the numbers went up a couple days later, but the other part of me needed to know if the numbers had dropped before I got my scan so I'd have some sort of idea what to expect when I got there. Thankfully I got a 3+ and everything was OK with my baby, it did cause a few sleepless nights.

Its nice to see the words pregnant followed by the numbers, but if I was ever to have another baby (which is highly unlikely unless I win the lotto) I wouldn't do the digi's. It's a bit of a marketing trap know how pregnant you are by using our tests, which aren't particularly accurate and for people that don't know they are 4 weeks pregnant when they miss AF can cause arguments. I know a couple that nearly split up over the weeks indicators as the husband was away 2-3 weeks ago


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## Blondie71 (Oct 26, 2011)

On the other side of the spectrum be aware if it's a multiple pg you are expecting that you will show 2-3 weeks and 3+ much earlier, people have panicked thinking high readings must mean an ectopic but it can indicate multiples too.


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