# What is High HCG-beta mean? Anyone had a healthy baby with a high hcg level?



## naturallyspeaking (Sep 1, 2006)

I had my 1st blood work done for confirming pregnancy yesterday and I just got the result.
My LMP was 5/24 but conception was 6/13 so that makes me 6 weeks + (baby age). My hcg level is 160411. Normal range should be 0-100000. What is this mean? Is this something to worry about? Could this be from me having nausea? I did have one of the worst nausea while in the doctor's office yesterday but didn't throw up or anything. Thank you.
HCG-beta (Quant) *160411* mIU/mL High 7/28/2008 0 - 100000


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## AllyRae (Dec 10, 2003)

It could mean lots of things...I suppose the first thing it means is you're pregnant.







:

a) absolutely nothing--it's just the way your body produces HCG while pregnant
b) more than one baby
c) your dates are off by a day or so--most people do not know the exact day they implanted. Even 12 hours can make a difference.
d) your lab was wrong. I had quants taken 12 hours apart by two different labs for this pregnancy--one had me in miscarriage range and one had me in the high end of the range.

My numbers were always a bit high for all of my successful pregnancies, and I just had one little baby in there.


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## naturallyspeaking (Sep 1, 2006)

Thank you AllyRae, it made me feel a little better.
I just did quick search on high hcg and the following came up. I don't mind having twins (actually I'm hoping) but Down Syndrome issue is another story. I wonder anyone who had high hcg and had a healthy baby...?
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*What do high levels of HCG mean?*

Women who have high levels of HCG may have an increased risk for having a baby with Down's Syndrome. If high levels are detected, the doctor may perform an amniocentesis to test whether or not you are carrying a baby with Down's Syndrome.
High levels of HCG may also indicate pregnancy with twins or more.
Below is a chart of normal ranges of HCG levels in pregnancy (single fetus pregnancies).
*HCG Levels during Pregnancy:*
*Week of Pregnancy:*
*Normal HCG Levels:*
1
5-50 mIU/ML (usually around 25)
2
5-50 mIU/ML
3
5-50 mIU/ML
4
10-425 mIU/ML
5
19-7,340 mIU/ML
6
1,080-56,500 mIU/ML
7-8
7,650-229,000 mIU/ML
9-12
25,700-288,000 mIU/ML
13-16
13,300-254,000 mIU/ML
17-24
4,060-165,400 mIU/ML
25-40
3,640-117,000 mIU/ML


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## AllyRae (Dec 10, 2003)

I was 5 1/2 weeks and my HCG was 13,000 this time around. It was around the same with my first son and he doesn't have DS. I'm just one of those people that consistently produces hcg way above the range. When I was pregnant with the twins, my HCG was in normal range and I miscarried--so apparently normal is low for me.







:


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## angela40 (Mar 25, 2008)

it is really variable. it can also mean molar pregnancy or nothing at all or ovarian hyperstimulation. it tapers off after a while. high hcg is correlated with hyperemesis. it can also throw off thyroid test results.
hope you feel better!


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## coyotemist (Aug 23, 2007)

If at some point you actually ARE worried about Down Syndrome (and honestly, just by those numbers I wouldn't be worried at all!) you can have the First Trimester Screening (also known as the Nuchal Transluscensy test). My actual risk for my age before that test was 1 in 596, after that test it was 1 in 1800.

With risks like that I wouldn't bother with an amnio (although we had one for a completely different reason). So don't worry about the numbers, they don't mean much-other than you are pregnant! Congratulations!

An early dating ultrasound (in the next few weeks) could clear up and concerns you do have (molar pregnancy, twins, nothing out of the ordinary...)


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## ferretfan (Nov 13, 2005)

a friend of mine had high levels (cant recall the exact #s) and she's expecting twins in late october


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## mischievium (Feb 9, 2003)

The only other thing that no one has mentioned is high hCG is found in women with a molar pregnancy, it's not very common, though, so I wouldn't worry too much about it .


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## allie193 (Jan 28, 2007)

With DD I had my blood drawn at 6w and my hcg was 154,000! After having a molar pregnancy in my last pregnancy I was terrified, it was higher than my molar preg! It turns out for me that is a good sign, the high hcg seems to lead to there being a baby (oh and me being VERY sick!) so I hope it means the same for you!


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## naturallyspeaking (Sep 1, 2006)

Well, I found several other sites with the hcg level guide and my figure (160411) is not that high or out of range for the weeks I'm in.
This is the chart I found and according to this and other sites, the range for my weeks is 7650-229000. I guess my lab result somehow had a range only to 100000. (It didn't specify what weeks of pregnancy for this range either).
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*Guideline to hCG levels during pregnancy:*

hCG levels in weeks from LMP (gestational age)_*_ :

3 weeks LMP: 5 - 50 mIU/ml
4 weeks LMP: 5 - 426 mIU/ml
5 weeks LMP: 18 - 7,340 mIU/ml
6 weeks LMP: 1,080 - 56,500 mIU/ml
7 - 8 weeks LMP: 7, 650 - 229,000 mIU/ml
9 - 12 weeks LMP: 25,700 - 288,000 mIU/ml
13 - 16 weeks LMP: 13,300 - 254,000 mIU/ml
17 - 24 weeks LMP: 4,060 - 165,400 mIU/ml
25 - 40 weeks LMP: 3,640 - 117,000 mIU/ml
Non-pregnant females: <5.0 mIU/ml
Postmenopausal females: <9.5 mIU/ml
_* These numbers are just a GUIDELINE-- every woman's level of hCG can rise differently. It is not necessarily the level that matters but rather the change in the level._


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## nuwavemomma (Jul 20, 2006)

You know, the other thing I wonder is if it's not so much an issue of one woman's pregnancy producing more HCG (assuming singleton) but how well the "average" liver is able to process HCG and how an individual compares to that. If the liver's not running on all cylinders so to speak, wouldn't that mean more estrogen in the system, more nausea, more symptoms in general? That would make sense wouldn't it?


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