Is My Period Late Or Am I Pregnant

How Soon Can I Use A Home Pregnancy Test

Some home pregnancy tests are more sensitive than others and can be taken before your missed period. But you may get more accurate results if you wait until after the first day of your missed period.

This is because the amount of the pregnancy hormone, called human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, in your urine increases with time. The earlier you take the test, the harder it is for the test to detect the hCG.

hCG is made when a fertilized egg implants in the uterus. This usually happens about 10 days after conception .

How To Know If Your Period Is Late

It can be hard to know if your period is late, if you donât know your average cycle length or when your last period was. With Clue you can view your recent period dates, cycle averages and predictions for your next three cycles. You can set a reminder to let you know when your period is coming, and to alert you if itâs late.

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Home Pregnancy Test Accuracy

If used correctly and at the right time, home pregnancy tests are fairly accurate at detecting pregnancy. Used correctly means that you read the directions and follow them. Each test has slightly different directions, so if using different brands, it’s important to read the directions. Also, using the test at the right time makes a difference in ‘accuracy’. Women who test too early will get inaccurate results.

The absolute best time to take any pregnancy test is a few days after a missed period. This is when the hormone hCG, the pregnancy hormone produced by the growing balls of cells if there is indeed a pregnancy, is most easily detected by home pregnancy tests. Too soon before that and you may get a false negative as your body has not produced enough hCG.

Some tests do claim that they can get you early results, meaning results before your next expected period. If you truly read their statements, however, you’ll find that the early results are only possible for a small percentage of women, not every woman. It’s most likely a marketing ploy to encourage you to take more tests and hence spend more money.

I have had three different experiences with home pregnancy tests. With my first pregnancy, I saw a positive result on the day of my expected period. With my second pregnancy, I didn’t get a positive result until almost my sixth week of pregnancy . With my third, I was able to test two days before my expected period and get a positive result.

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Understanding The Menstrual Cycle

The menstrual cycle is the process by which your body prepares an egg for fertilization, and also the period in time when your body removes the egg to prepare for the next egg. This is sometimes called a “monthly cycle,” and while 28 days is an average menstrual cycle length, it can range from about 24 days to 34 days.

Menstrual Cycle Timeline

• Day 1: Your menstrual cycle begins with the start of your period. The tissue lining around your uterus breaks down and an unfertilized egg begins to leave through your vagina along with blood. The bleeding of a period usually lasts 4-8 days, averaging 5 days for US women.
• Day 5: Your estrogen levels rise once bleeding has stopped, and this does several things. These include:
• The lining of your uterus thickens, preparing it for a new egg.
• Ovarian sacs that contain eggs grow and mature, preparing one for ovulation.

Calculator: Is My Menstrual Period Late

Is your period late or could you be pregnant? Use this menstrual period calculator to see if your period is late or if a baby may be the way!

Missing a period, especially if you always had regular menstrual periods, is a significant event, so naturally, the next question that follows is, “Am I pregnant?” Pregnant women have no menstrual period. But not every woman who misses her period is pregnant.

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Is It Possible To Miss Period For A Month

It is possible to miss your period for months. The right question is: What causes missed period for months? The commonest cause is pregnancy. If you are pregnant, you will not see your period coming out. Birth control pills, drugs, premature ovarian failure, polycystic ovaries and stress can also make you miss period for months.

Things That Delay Your Period

A missed period is often the first sign of pregnancy, but there are other reasons for lateness, too. Here are some other factors that can delay your monthly flow:

Extreme diet and exercise

A healthy diet and regular exercise can do wonders for your health. But if you overdo it, you might say bye-bye to your periods, at least temporarily.

Athletes who train really hard or who dont get enough calories may stop menstruating, Dr. Higgins says. Its the bodys way of telling you that it doesnt have enough resources to support a pregnancy.

When your periods stop due to weight loss, diet or exercise, youre experiencing secondary amenorrhea. This means you previously had periods, but they have stopped. Secondary amenorrhea might happen to you if you:

• Eat an extreme, calorie-restricted diet.
• Have an eating disorder, such as anorexia or bulimia.
• Lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time.
• Undergo hardcore exercise training, such as for a .

Polycystic ovary syndrome

PCOS is a hormonal imbalance that interferes with the release of an egg . When you dont ovulate, you usually dont have a period. Many people with PCOS have irregular, late or missing periods. Other symptoms of PCOS include:

• Excess facial or body hair.
• Thinning hair.
• Weight gain or trouble losing weight.

Doctors diagnose PCOS by checking your symptoms and performing medical tests when needed. Medication and lifestyle changes can help manage the symptoms.

Stress

Some examples of major stress include:

Youth

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Get A More Accurate Test At Your Doctors Office

Even though your trip to the bathroom has made you pretty certain youâre pregnant, getting it confirmed by a medical professional is critical.

Most doctors are able to offer patients both urine tests and blood tests to check for pregnancy. While the results of the urine test are typically available within just a few minutes, lab results may take several hours or days to get back. Unlike a simple urine test, blood tests are able to give you and your doctor a better sense of where youâre at in your pregnancy and how things are developing. Itâs possible your physician asks you to do more than one of these tests over the course of your pregnancy to determine how things are changing over time.

The Source has clinics across Texas and provides free pregnancy tests. Click the button below to schedule a 30-minute appointment with one of our doctors today.

Late Period: Everything You Need To Know

Having a late period might come as a surprise, especially if youre not trying to get pregnant. Should you take a pregnancy test? The truth is, there are many reasons for late periods other than pregnancy. Your health, age, diet, stress, and exercise can all affect the regularity of your menstrual cycle. In this article, well look at the most common late period causes and go over some common questions about delayed menstruation.

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Does A Missed Period Mean You’re Pregnant

Rachel Gurevich is a fertility advocate, author, and recipient of The Hope Award for Achievement, from Resolve: The National Infertility Association. She is a professional member of the Association of Health Care Journalists and has been writing about womens health since 2001. Rachel uses her own experiences with infertility to write compassionate, practical, and supportive articles.

When you don’t get your period as expected, you might start to worry. The absence of your normal menstrual cycle can be concerning since it can indicate a pregnancy or it may be related to an illness or stress. It is considered one of the major possible signs of early pregnancy.

People have different names for it such as a late period, skipping a cycle, or a missed period. In essence, it simply means that your normal menstrual cycle or period didn’t happen when it should have happened. Throughout your lifetime, you may have a missed period for a variety of reasons. It may also just be delayed.

Many women will go through various cycle abnormalities in their life due to various factors. This is not necessarily a problem for all women, but can also indicate a larger health concern for some. A missed cycle can also make trying to get pregnant or confirming early pregnancy more difficult for others.

Similar Symptoms Of Period And Pregnancy

Before your period is coming, you may have tender or swollen breasts, you may experience headache, fatigue, constipation, acne. All these signs happen to be same or similar to those early pregnancy symptoms.

Table below shows the similar symptoms of the period and pregnancy.

Similar Symptoms of Pregnancy and Period

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Medicines And Medical Treatment

As discussed above, a number of contraceptive treatments can stop you having periods. Other medicines can affect periods too. Examples are some medicines for schizophrenia , an anti-sickness medicine called metoclopramide and strong painkillers called opiates.A number of operations may result in absent periods. For example, after a hysterectomy you will not have periods. A hysterectomy is an operation where the womb is removed. As the blood during a period comes from the womb, you will never have periods again afterwards. Another operation , which is sometimes done for heavy periods, also causes periods to stop. In this operation the lining of the womb is removed. This is not usually permanent and periods start again in time.

Treatments for cancer, such as radiotherapy or chemotherapy, can also damage the ovaries and result in absent periods. Recreational drugs such as heroin may also cause periods to stop.

What If I Can’t Tell Whether My Pregnancy Test Is Positive Or Negative

Sometimes it can be hard to tell whether the test is positive or negative. The line may be faint, or you may worry whether you peed too much or too little on the stick.

No matter how faint the line or plus sign, if you see it, you are most likely pregnant. The faintness of the line can mean you are early in your pregnancy and your hCG levels are still low.

Also, the pregnancy test should have a control line that tells you whether the test was done correctly. If the control line is blank, then the test did not work and you should take another test.

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How Do You Know If Your Period Is Late

Whether youre busy or just have a lot on your mind, its easy to forget when you should expect your period to start. But if youre not sure when to expect your period, its hard to know if its late.

A period tracking app like Flo can help. By logging your usual menstrual cycle dates, Flo can predict when you can expect your period. This information can also be very useful if you need to go to your health care provider when you miss your period. Having information about your cycle can help them understand whats happening inside your body.

What Are The Physical And Psychological Effects Of Drug Use Disorders

While the specific physical and psychological effects of drug use disorders tend to vary based on the particular substance involved, the general effects of addiction to any drug can be devastating. Psychologically, intoxication with or withdrawal from a substance can cause everything from euphoria as with alcohol, Ecstasy, or inhalant intoxication, to paranoia with marijuana or steroid intoxication, to severe depression or suicidal thoughts with cocaine or amphetamine withdrawal. In terms of effects on the body, intoxication with a drug can cause physical effects that range from marked sleepiness and slowed breathing as with intoxication with heroin or sedative hypnotic drugs, to the rapid heart rate of cocaine intoxication, or the tremors to seizures of alcohol withdrawal.

According to the DSM-5 , the diagnostic reference that is written and endorsed by the American Psychiatric Association, in order to be diagnosed with substance-related use disorder, a person must exhibit a maladaptive pattern of drug use that leads to significant problems or stress, as manifested by at least two of the following signs or symptoms in the same one-year period:

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When Should I Call The Doctor

If your PMS is severe, your doctor can help with treatments, including medicine. Call the doctor if you:

• dont feel better after trying home treatments
• feel very sad or hopeless
• ever think about hurting or killing yourself
• cant do your usual activities because of your PMS symptoms
• have PMS symptoms that dont go away after the first few days of your period

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Early Pregnancy Symptoms Quiz

For each question, choose the best answer. The answer key is below.

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Why Is My Period Late A Better Understanding

An irregular period is a normal occurrence when a girl first has her period, and when menopause begins. It happens because the womans body goes through a transition during these times.

Generally, a healthy woman has her period every 28 days, before reaching menopause. However, as per doctors, there is nothing to be worried about if a woman has her periods in a gap of 21 to 35 days. There are several reasons why your period is delayed, and some are serious while most arent. Read on to better understand it.

Symptoms Of A Late Period And Pregnancy

The symptoms of a late period will be obvious to many women who menstruate regularly. If you were expecting your period, and it doesnt begin, youll know its late. Not all periods arrive like clockwork, and its very normal for periods to occur on a slightly different schedule. Pregnancy isnt the only thing that can cause a late or skipped period. But if youre wondering whether your missing period might mean youre pregnant, you can look for other early symptoms of pregnancy. During the first 8 weeks of pregnancy, many women experience:

1. Fatigue

During the first trimester , your body produces large amounts of a hormone called progesterone. This can make you feel sleepy. Even during the first week after conception, you may feel more tired than usual.

2. Spotting

Implantation bleeding is one of the earliest signs of pregnancy. It is very light bleeding, often called spotting, that happens as a result of the fertilized egg implanting to the uterine wall. Implantation is usually 6 to 12 days after conception, or the moment the egg is fertilized by a sperm.

Some women also have mild abdominal cramps during implantation. Other women dont notice any symptoms with implantation.

3. Breast Changes

You may see changes in your breasts as early as 1 to 2 weeks after conception. Your breasts may be swollen and tender to the touch. You may have soreness or a feeling of fullness in your breasts.

4. Headaches

5. Missed Period

6. Nausea

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