Am I pregnant??

[Mr Pharm S]

Well not me as I havent got the relevant bits!!

Lady took morning after pill a week ago, within the 72 hours, had some spotting but no period, due period in about a week. Took a pregnancy test twice and said not pregnant. Not on pill!!

Is this too early to tell? What is the earliest a lady could tell from a test. I thought it was up to 4 day before period due!!

Is it a case of waiting till 4 days before period due then take another test??

Any detailed info out there for these specific queries? regarding times and menstrual cycle timings etc

[Zoggite]

If it were me, I'd feel pretty confident that I wasn't pregnant: EHC was taken in the optimum window of efficiency, and 2 pregnancy tests a week after intercourse should, by now, reveal something if there was something to reveal:
"HCG is produced by the placenta during pregnancy, shortly after the embryo attaches to the uterine lining. Usually HCG can be detected by a home pregnancy test 7-10 days after conception. The further in to the pregnancy you are the higher the levels of HCG in your urine.This pregnancy dip strip detects HCG in urine at a concentration of 10mIU/ml (MilliInternational Units) or greater. The concentration of HCG in non-pregnant women is normally 5.0mIU/ml. At the time of the last missed menstrual period, urine HCG levels are about 100mlU/ml with peak levels of 100,000 to 200,000mlU/ml seen at the end of the first trimester."

But I wouldn't feel 100% sure until I'd started a period though...
On the other hand,either way I couldn't do anything about it anyway until I was really overdue by at least a few days...

[Raoul]

i must say i feel stupid for not knowing how OC works, and how to answers questions about " oh i missed a pill on day 10, 15 ...etc will i get pregnant...etc"

being training for 2 months, dispensing 100s of OC, i feel ashamed
tho i will make sure to read the whole chapter in the BNF and get familiar with the whole issue regarding OC and EHC.
will try to contribute tom( yes as i wanted to read this chapter since 3 weeks ago, but i keep on postponing, now i promised to read it tom.

[mm45]

The BNF has a resonably good section on this. But its something that I always tend to check up in the PIL when asked because I get confused with all the different timescales between the pills.

[Titch]

Originally Posted by Zoggite

If it were me, I'd feel pretty confident that I wasn't pregnant: EHC was taken in the optimum window of efficiency, and 2 pregnancy tests a week after intercourse should, by now, reveal something if there was something to reveal:
"HCG is produced by the placenta during pregnancy, shortly after the embryo attaches to the uterine lining. Usually HCG can be detected by a home pregnancy test 7-10 days after conception. The further in to the pregnancy you are the higher the levels of HCG in your urine.This pregnancy dip strip detects HCG in urine at a concentration of 10mIU/ml (MilliInternational Units) or greater. The concentration of HCG in non-pregnant women is normally 5.0mIU/ml. At the time of the last missed menstrual period, urine HCG levels are about 100mlU/ml with peak levels of 100,000 to 200,000mlU/ml seen at the end of the first trimester."

But I wouldn't feel 100% sure until I'd started a period though...
On the other hand,either way I couldn't do anything about it anyway until I was really overdue by at least a few days...

Zoggite - not sure if it's my interpretation of the info given in the original post but I worked out that EHC taken on about day 14 which is not the optimum window of efficiency - it's now considered to be the worst time to take it.

This topic was posted in 2 sections - see other thread for my full reply.

Like I said could just be how I interpreted it. Fully agree with rest of what you said tho!

[Zoggite]

I see what you mean, Titch- UPSI did occur in the most fertile ('risky') period of cycle, but I meant that EHC had been taken within 72 hours of UPSI, which is when it's supposed to be the most effective- as opposed to 6-7 days after UPSI;
While we're on the subject of reliability of pregnancy tests: I was taught at uni in Belgium that doing a test too soon could mislead women who were trying for a baby, as "false positives" were common: apparently, a third of all fertilised eggs are spontaneously aborted before the 3rd week and therefore go undetected, the bleeding being mistaken for a "normal" menstruation, and had the woman not taken a pregnancy test, she would never have known that she had been pregnant technically for 2 weeks...
Once the 18th-19th day after conception has been reached, the risk of spontaneous abortion drops a lot, so a positive test then is more reliable...
Has anyone else heard of this reasoning?

[Titch]

Yes have heard of this reasoning and from personal experience would agree with it.

[Onion Bunny]

Received a phone call query today... lady had unprotected sex twice last month before and after (didn't mention the dates) her period was supposed to be due (period missed). She said she always has regular period and this is the first time she missed a period so she's quite concerned. Done a home pregnancy test twice since her missed period but both negative, went to GP surgery and had a urine test done but also negative. She said her next period is due on 17th Sep. I asked about what other symptoms she's got and she said slight stomach cramp (not as bad as her 'normal period') but no sore / tender breasts or nausea / vomitting, etc...

I'm not sure what's the cause of this? I don't think she's pregnant as all 3 tests came out negative... but what's the cause of her missed period?

[Sir_Dispensalot]

Originally Posted by Onion Bunny

Received a phone call query today... lady had unprotected sex twice last month before and after (didn't mention the dates) her period was supposed to be due (period missed). She said she always has regular period and this is the first time she missed a period so she's quite concerned. Done a home pregnancy test twice since her missed period but both negative, went to GP surgery and had a urine test done but also negative. She said her next period is due on 17th Sep. I asked about what other symptoms she's got and she said slight stomach cramp (not as bad as her 'normal period') but no sore / tender breasts or nausea / vomitting, etc...

I'm not sure what's the cause of this? I don't think she's pregnant as all 3 tests came out negative... but what's the cause of her missed period?

Stress?
poor diet/gone on diet?
hormonal problem?
random factors?

nothing to worry about if only one is missed and the tests were negative.

refer to doc if the next one's missed as well.

[Onion Bunny]

Thanks! I feel a bit better now...I did tell the lady to go back to the doctor again if she misses her coming period. But I thought I sounded like an idiot for not knowing what to suggest over the phone...

Sometimes just feel like spanking myself...