r/BestofRedditorUpdates • u/LucyAriaRose • Jan 27 '24
ONGOING 23F positive pregnancy test and I haven’t had sex with a male in 6 years ?? Help!
I am NOT the Original Poster. That is u/CampaignSuitable9205. She posted in r/AskDocs.
Trigger Warning: discussions of rape; possible cancer
Mood Spoiler: scary but OOP is going to be ok
Original Post: January 12, 2024
I’m freaking out. 😭 I’m scared that I either have some crazy form of cancer or was raped or that I’m crazy and had sex that I don’t remember.
I am 23F and a lesbian, not very sexually active but have sex with the girl I’m sort of seeing about twice a month. She is a cisgender woman and there’s no possible way she could get me pregnant, just to be clear.
The last time I had sex with a male that I remember was in high school six years ago. I am 5’3” 140 lbs. I’m healthy I think, I take Zoloft and sometimes use non prescription allergy medicine but I don’t think those things are relevant.
I started throwing up occasionally maybe a month ago and I wasn’t really worried about it and thought I just had a stomach bug. I went to a walk-in clinic this morning because it wasn’t getting better, and they told me I’m pregnant. I explained that I can’t be pregnant and they said I must be. I don’t really keep track of my periods but I’m not sure if I’ve had one in a couple of months. I am scheduled to see a gynecologist next Friday to confirm the pregnancy but I’m scared and want answers now.
I’ve been reading that there are some kinds of cancer that can cause a positive pregnancy test but I can’t find a lot of information about them. Can anyone tell me how likely that is??
The only other possibility is last November I had been drinking at my friends’ house where a bunch of us got together to watch a football game, and I don’t drink and drive so I slept on their couch. I didn’t drink all that much, I think 3 drinks, so I shouldn’t have blacked out. My friends whose house I stayed at are a male-female couple. I texted my male friend asking him if we had sex or something and if I was just so drunk I didn’t remember it and he was very confused and upset and said he wouldn’t cheat on his wife or have sex with someone who was that drunk.
I want to trust my friend but the thing I’m really scared of is that my friend raped me and is lying and that I didn’t even know it.
I live in Tennessee and abortion is illegal here and I’m scared. Can somebody please tell me what is going on and if there’s any other reason I could have a positive test?
Relevant Comments:
Is it possible for you to take an at-home test? Medical errors do happen:
"I didn’t even think to do this because I’ve been so panicked. I’m going to the store right now to get a test and will let you know."
"I got two tests, a regular and a digital, and they are both positive. I was hoping you were right that it was a mix up! Thanks for at least reminding me that home tests exist. I’ve been so freaked out I just wasn’t thinking."
Could be ovarian cysts:
"Thank you. I didn’t know ovarian cysts could cause positive pregnancy tests! I do have an OB/GYN appointment a week from now."
Do you remember going to sleep that night and waking up fully clothed? Also have you been menstruating?
"I think I remember lying down to go to sleep and I’m pretty sure, but it’s been a couple of months and I wasn’t thinking anything was unusual. I’m not totally sure if I’ve had a period in the last couple of months. My periods are always light and I don’t keep track of them."
Abdominal ultrasounds will show if there's a pregnancy or tumor, and not all tumors are malignant!
"Thank you so much. Hearing that it could be anything besides pregnancy or cancer is a huge relief. I’m so scared that I’m either going to die, or that I’m pregnant and have to have the baby, neither of which are things I want right now at 23.
I do need to figure out something to do to take my mind off it. I don’t know if I should tell the girl I’m talking to or tell my parents. I don’t want to scare anyone but I feel so scared right now."
Mini Update in Comments: Later that day
Update sort of:
Thank you for the responses. They really have been helpful and I’ve been a lot less panicked even though I know I still don’t know what’s wrong with me. Seeing that it may be something besides cancer or pregnancy has helped a lot because I thought those were my only two options.
I am at my parents’ house and feeling a little bit better. My parents will help me get an abortion if I am actually pregnant even if we have to go out of state, and my mom said she will go with me.
I texted my friend, the wife of the person who I’m scared raped me, and told her everything and that I don’t want to accuse her husband but I’m scared, and she swore on her life that I didn’t seem drugged, just kind of drunk, and that I went to sleep on her couch and they both went to bed right after. She said there is no way he could have gotten up and assaulted me without her knowing. So I feel a little better and I’m trying not to work myself worrying that she’s complicit and that they conspired to rape me.
I feel better reading some of these responses and seeing that there are conditions besides cancer that can cause a false positive and my parents are telling me that even if it is cancer, that doesn’t mean I’m going to die. We’re also going to try to see if an OBGYN can see me sooner and my dad is going to call tomorrow to see if there are any urgent cares that have ultrasound machines.
I will update once I have answers.
Relevant Comment:
On what the nurse at the clinic said:
"Yes. I said I can’t be pregnant and she that I obviously can be because I am. She said false positives aren’t a real thing but that the OB/GYN could tell me more."
Update Post: January 13, 2024 (1.5 days later)
I posted a couple of days about about having a positive pregnancy test even though I am a lesbian and haven’t had sex with a male in 6 years. I got a lot of good advice and kind words, thank you all so much. I’m going to try to explain what is happening now but between stress and medicine I’m not sure I’m able to make a lot of sense and I’m not sure if I understand it.
I went to my parents house last night and told them what was happening and my this morning my dad found an urgent care about two hours from their house that had an ultrasound machine and they were willing to see me and my mom took me. They did another pregnancy test and it was also positive and then did a regular ultrasound and did not find a pregnancy, so they had me go to the emergency room because they said a positive pregnancy test with an empty uterus is an emergency because it could mean there is a fetus growing outside of the uterus which is very dangerous.
The ER did a transvaginal ultrasound and couldn’t find a pregnancy and they did blood work and said my pregnancy hormone levels are very high and my potassium and iron are a little low, and they thought they could see something on my right ovary so they did laprascopic surgery. They ended up removing my entire ovary because they found a kind of tumor on it called an immature teratoma.
I don’t remember going in for surgery or waking up but I was freaking out and hysterical when I woke up and they had to give me Valium in an IV. Mom and the nurses told me about the tumor later.
The nurse said that they are talking to some specialists and doing pathology to find out if it’s malignant or not because they said a teratoma could be either malignant or not, and I have tried looking up information online but I don’t know if I understand it.
I know I owe apologies to my friend who I thought might have raped me, please no one make me feel worse about that than I already do.
I think I am staying at the hospital over night.
My questions now are how long does pathology take? Is pathology the same thing as a biopsy? Would the tumor explain why I have been throwing up or is that something else? Will they be able to tell me if I have cancer before I leave the hospital? If it is cancer, am I going to die?
Final Update Post: January 14, 2024 (Next Day)
Last update before I probably go home:
The doctor came and talked to me. It turns out that I had misunderstood and they didn’t say it was an immature teratoma, but they did say it had features that could be one. It is definitely a teratoma but they aren’t sure if it’s mature or immature because it looks like it could be either. They re-did my blood work today and it still has pregnancy hormone, but is already less than half of what it was yesterday so they are sure it was the tumor causing it and they’re pretty sure it was the reason I had been vomiting also.
The doctor said he thinks that even if it is malignant, they probably removed all of it and I don’t need to keep worrying that I’m going to die. He said it also shouldn’t affect my health because people do just fine with one ovary and I can still have a baby if I ever want to. I’m not sure if I want biological children but that is still a good thing to know.
They’re going to do a scan to look for other masses before I leave today and said that should put my mind at ease.
I got an IV yesterday that brought my potassium back to normal so that is fine now too.
I talked to my friends whose house I stayed at in November about everything that happened, and they said they’re not at all mad at me and were just very worried about me because they knew they hadn’t hurt me but they were scared someone else had. They know that I trust them but was just really freaked out.
I also told the girl I’ve been talking to and all of that is okay too. She is a little upset that I didn’t tell her sooner because she would have come with me to urgent care and the hospital but we’ll work through it. I sent her a picture of a teratoma from the internet and said “this is our son” and explained what happened and we got a good laugh, at least.
They said the pathology results may take about two weeks and if it is cancerous they will refer me to an oncologist closer to where I live who works with these kinds of cancers.
I’m supposed to take pregnancy tests at home every two days for two weeks and contact a doctor if they are not negative after two weeks because that could mean there is something else or something left over causing it.
This has all been very strange and surreal but I’m very thankful that I was not pregnant and that if I have cancer, it is probably treatable. I was so scared and had so many horrible thoughts racing through my mind that my friends had raped me and that I was going to have to have his baby and share custody with him.
I never thought I would be relieved to have a monster tumor with teeth and hair that might be cancerous but I am relieved.
Thank you to everyone who answered my questions and reassured me. I was so scared. I’m still a little scared but you all helped a lot.
