False Negative Pregnancy Test Result Due To Underactive Thyroid?

Posted on Thu, 1 Aug 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 1 Aug 2013 Answered on

Sun, 25 Aug 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : Can an underactive thyroid cause a false negative pregnancy test?

Answered by Dr. Aarti Abraham (13 minutes later)

Hello,

Thanks for writing to us.

An underactive thyroid cannot cause a false negative pregnancy test.

If you are pregnant, the urine pregnancy test is upto 97 % reliable in diagnosing a pregnancy.

Of course, a blood B HCG test, or a pelvic ultrasound, is more reliable.

Take care.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T

Follow up: Dr. Aarti Abraham (3 hours later)

So the hormones the thyroid produces is not the same as the pregnancy hormone?

Answered by Dr. Aarti Abraham (1 hour later)

It is not the same.
Thyroid hormone TSH and pregnancy hormone B HCG are similar, not the same.
WIth underactive thyroid, the TSH is raised ( it is opposite effect ), so if at all, the kit would cause false positive result, however even that does not happen, as the kit is specific for B HCG.
In short, an underactive thyroid does NOT affect your pregnancy test result.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad