Not "trying" to conceive but... (experiencing weird symptoms) HELP!!!

[x0xAlieBx0x]

Hello, I'm 19 years old. Deff. not trying to have a baby right now, but something weird is happening. I had my last normal period this month on June 11th. My periods usually start out really heavy and miserable and lasts for about 5-7 days. I had unprotected sex on the 16th and 27th... (not my smartest move, i know.) But on June 28th I got what seemed to be the start of my period, except it wasn't heavy, it started at night (usually i start in the morning when i wake up or in the afternoon) along with cramps but not like the normal cramps. After one day it started getting lighter, and has now lasted until the 1st of July. On the first I was outside sitting in the hammock and I just started crying... for like no reason. Then, soon after I felt like I wanted to lay down and take a nap, so I layed down. Then I started getting hot flashes and was sweating but my mom said I felt cold, and we took my temp. and it was low. About 30 mins. later I start getting hot flashes again and begin getting sick.... I researched my symptoms and took a pregnancy test on the 30th and today the 2nd, they both came back negative. I have a bad feeling I'm pregnant though. What are my chances?... Thank you for your time and responses.

[x0xAlieBx0x]

Btw, my periods are usually 25-31 days apart.
 

[x0xAlieBx0x]

*and I had a bad headache along with the hotflashes

[Jaimee]

Welcome to MDC!! 

Let's break this down a bit...

CD 1 6/11

CD 5 unprotected sex

CD 16 unprotected sex

CD 17-20 bleeding and cramping that was not normal

CD 20 crying, hot flashes, headache, low temp, sick

CD 20 & 22  HPT-

CD 24 today (7/4)

Without knowing when you ovulated it's hard to say if the unprotected sex was a risk or not.  When you ovulate (O) can vary quite a bit cycle to cycle.  Many common things like stress, illness, injury, travel poor diet, strenuous exercise, etc. can delay O by days or even weeks, which accounts for the chance in length of your cycle.  What does not vary much is the time between ovulation and your period (called your luteal phase or LP).  Do you recall any fertile cervical fluid this last cycle?  If so that could give you a clue about your ovulation timing. 

Period length and heaviness can also vary cycle to cycle and it is not unreasonable to have a lighter period after a shorter cycle.  However, you had bleeding extremely early.  I'll address that more below.

Without more information we'll have to make some guesses.  First, the average LP length is 12-14 days.  If your cycles are usually 25-31 days this is quite a bit of variation, meaning your O day varies.   It could be CD 11-19 based on averages.  This would put CD 16 smack in the middle of that.  Your bleeding started on CD 17, which would put O at CD 3-5... not at all likely.  In fact I don't think it's possible at all (someone correct me if I'm wrong please!).   So I do no think that the bleeding you experienced was a period.  Let's say you did O around CD 16.  To catch the egg the earliest you could have O'd is CD 15 because the egg only lasts 12-24 hours.  So let's stick with CD 15 as a guess. 

CD 15 possible O day

CD 16 unprotected sex

CD 17 bleeding... 2 DPO

Well, 2 DPO is too early to be implantation bleeding.  And the bleeding you described sounds too heavy to be ovulation bleeding (which is usually just a bit of spotting).  

Okay, what if you O'd really early like CD 10 or 11, which is very early but not impossible.  The unprotected sex on CD 5 is a factor, but the sperm would have had to last for 5-6 days.  So you're combining unlikely early O with unlikely long-lived sperm.  But it could happen.  If that was case then...

CD 5 unprotected sex

CD 10-11 possible O

CD 17 bleeding... 6-7 DPO

CD 20 & 22 HPT-

Implantation occurs sometime between 6 and 12 DPO so this would line up to make your bleeding implantation bleeding.  It would also make the days you took tests around 9-10 DPO and 11-12 DPO.  A lot of women would not get accurate results at these times.  So my advice would be to wait until 14 DPO or beyond to test again.  That would be today or a later.  Use first of the morning urine.  If it's still negative and you're still experiencing symptoms then you could consider getting a more sensitive blood test.  Otherwise you're looking at waiting until the end of this next cycle, which would be around July 12th or 18th for your next period.

I wanted to add that a lower than normal temp is NOT indicative of pregnancy.  Pregnancy usually results in about a 1 degree higher temp than normal. If it turns out that you're not pregnant then I would say that the bleeding you experienced was hormonal/annovulatory bleeding from hormonal fluctuations.  This could occur for a variety of reasons

Keep us posted!

Edited by Jaimee - 7/4/11 at 4:32pm

[x0xAlieBx0x]

Thank you for all that information! I'll keep you updated.

I'm planning on making a doc. appointment tomorrow. Its been just drops of brownish sometimes pink blood. Just enough to wear a pad. It doesn't do it all day, but off and on. And earlier today it was starting to stop i think... It was really light brownish. Every morning I've woken up sweating (even with the air and fan on). I've been drinking a lot of water (and I'm a caffein addict).  I have slight cramping, and I noticed that the area around my nipples has been getting little bumps, which aren't normally there.

Its been a week now since the bleeding started, and my period is due in 4 days. I'm really starting to think that I am pregnant...
Its been so hard to sleep, even when I'm tired and exhausted.

I just want to know already!!!  lol

[x0xAlieBx0x]

My appointment is scheduled for Thursday, as of now. :]

[Jaimee]

I understand how frustrating it is to wait.  What type of test did you use?  I would go out and get a First Response Early Response or Answer test both which only require an hCG level of 25.  You should be at that now.  It is not at all uncommon to bleeding around the time of your expected AF.  Spotting is not unusual either.  BUT both these things could still be hormonal fluctuations.

Often you can simply  call your doctor and say you think you might be pregnant and request the blood test without even going in for an appointment.  These days a lot of doctor's offices have you go to a separate lab to get your blood drawn (like Lab Corps or Quest Labs) anyway.  You might consider giving that a try instead of waiting until Thursday. Then you would have your results and could make an appointment with an OB or midwife instead of your regular doctor.  Alternatively you could just call your OB and request the blood work from him/her instead.

If it turns out that you're not pregnant I would highly recommend looking into a different form of birth control if you do not want to be pregnant right now.  Also I highly recommend reading a book called Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler which explains the cycles of your body.  It is so enlightening I feel like it should be required reading for every woman.  It can teach you how to chart your cycles using your morning temperature and tracking your cervical fluid so that you know when you are fertile, when you O'd, how long your LP is, when exactly to expect AF, if you're pregnant, and if there are any issues with your cycle that need addressing.  The women on these forums are very wise and helpful.  You can post your charts online using a free site like www.fertilityfriend.com (do NOT use this site to AVOID pregnancy) and share them with us so we can give you tips and help you decipher anything that may be confusing.

Good luck!

[x0xAlieBx0x]

I used First Response. I took 3 and they all came back negative. Earlier today I had more hot flashes, and dizziness, but I didn't throw up that time. 
It's so scary when it happens :( 

I stopped spotting today it seems. 
I'm for sure not having sex for a while after this experience, so that will be my birth control. 100% affective. lol.. 

It sucks, because I don't have sex that often AT ALL. Once in a blue moon, then this happens. 
I also have been getting bad mood swings... Things that I would normally just try to ignore, have been impossible to do so lately. 

Anyways, I can't wait to go to the doctor and get some answers.  

Again, thank you so much for all the information, help and advice.

I appreciate it a lot. 
I'll be sure to let you know what's going on. 
Hopefully nothing really bad... :/

[Jaimee]

Were you recently on the birth control pill by any chance?  FRER are pretty reliable tests by the time of your missed period... when did you take the third one?  Did you use first of the morning urine? Good luck at your appointment tomorrow!  Do not leave without blood work!

[x0xAlieBx0x]

Nope, I haven't been on BC since I was like 14. I took the third one the day after I took the 2nd one. 

I didn't use morning urine for any of them. Unless waking up from a nap and taking one counts?? 

I'll be sure they do blood work. I told them I wanted a paps (I've never had one before), do they take blood before they do that anyways?
Thanks for the good luck! I'm gonna need it.  :]

[Jaimee]

As far as I know, blood work is not standard with a pap.  I've never had it done.  Blood work would be standard with a physical, but a pap is not part of a physical at your regular doctor.  Your OBGYN may not actually do blood work at their offices and would require you to go somewhere else.  That's why I was thinking you might want to just call and request the paperwork for the test and skip the appointment until you get the results.  If you are pregnant you would get a pap done at your first or second prenatal appointment anyway.

So you took the third HPT on CD 23?  Well that was a bit ago and possibly too early!  If you have another test laying around, I would take it tomorrow with first of the morning urine and see what you get.  Or you can hold your pee for about 4 hours to really concentrate it and take one today.   If you don't have an extra one, then just wait for the blood test.

[x0xAlieBx0x]

I think I'll just talk to my doctor tomorrow and MAKE HER find out if I am or not.
Idc how but she WILL. Or I'll be upset, because I'm not gonna wait any longer! lol

I feel alright today. But I took my temp just out of curiosity and i got a new thermometer so I wanted to test it out.

It was 99.3. Is that normal??

I thought a regular temp was 98.6?

[Jaimee]

Our body temps do fluctuate more than you might have realized.  My "normal" temp is around 97.5-98 degrees during the day.  My temp during my luteal phase (and pregnancy) is 98.5-99 degrees during the day.  Some women get above 99 during that time.  So yes, it could be normal for you during your LP or pregnancy.  Good luck tomorrow!

[x0xAlieBx0x]

Thank you!!! =)

[x0xAlieBx0x]

Ok so i took a test a few hours ago.. 
And i only saw one line at the time, and that was faint, so i thought it was negative.

But then I go back to look at it and i see another line, thats also real faint...

But its been sitting for a couple hours.... so could it be a false positive?

[SilaMarila]

I would try again with another test with first morning urine tomorrow. The control line should be very dark. If you barely see a control line the test could be defective. The second line you saw may have been an "evap line". A true positive will show up within the time frame of the test (directions in the box) and will have color (pink or blue dye test). Sending good thoughts your way that it was indeed a faint positive!!!

[Jaimee]

Oh ho!  That's some news!  Well, was it a pink dye or blue dye test?  The pink dye tests are notorious for evap lines.  If you let the test sit for longer than the allowed window  (usually 10 minutes) then you cannot consider the test positive anyway.  I agree... first of the morning urine is the way to go!  But if you get an hCG quant test today that will settle the matter.  Good luck!

[x0xAlieBx0x]

The tests that I took yesterday had blue lines. 

It was two of those cheap-o tests from Dollar General for $7.

Called Rexall? Both the lines on both of the tests were faint.
But I waited 5 minutes and only one line appeared, then came back hours later and saw that both of them had two faint lines.

One of the First responses did that too though after it sat for a while....

I went to the doc. today, got a paps (everything looks fine she said), then got my blood drawn 3 times, then peed in the cup. 

She told me it may take a while for the results, but geese! WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!! lol UGH! 
STRESS..... :((

[Jaimee]

I have no idea why it would take a while for a pregnancy test.  I would call back tomorrow and ask.

A line after the allotted window is a negative....for now.

[x0xAlieBx0x]

Well... Still no period.

Or answers.

I think I'll go buy more tests since the doctor told me that the results may not be in until Tuesday.

So it was pointless going...=|