Patient's question:
Last month, my period just finished, and after having unprotected sex, I took emergency contraception. (I had taken it every month for the past three months.)This month, my normal period has not arrived on time. If I am pregnant, what symptoms would I experience?
Follow-up question: Maybe it's because I just moved to this new and unfamiliar environment that my appetite has been fluctuating. Recently, my appetite has worsened, and I can't even eat meals. I wonder if I might be pregnant?
What are the methods to determine if I am pregnant? (The more, the better) When can I accurately confirm whether I am pregnant?
Doctor's answer:
Hello: The method is very simple, just do a simple early pregnancy test to confirm the diagnosis! It's not as complicated as you think. I hope you can understand! The symptoms of early pregnancy are:1. Menstruation stops. In healthy married women with a regular menstrual cycle, if menstruation does not occur 1–2 weeks after the expected date, pregnancy should be the first consideration. Pregnancy is more likely only if menstruation has stopped for more than 40 days. If menstruation still does not occur in the second cycle, pregnancy is even more likely.
Although the absence of menstruation is an important early symptom of pregnancy, pregnancy can sometimes occur without menstruation or with infrequent periods. In some cases, early pregnancy may be mistaken for menstruation due to slight vaginal bleeding. Women who marry before menarche, breastfeeding women, or women in menopause may experience amenorrhea before actual conception. Conversely, 1–2 episodes of light vaginal bleeding before the 12th week of pregnancy (equivalent to the expected date of menstruation) may also be misinterpreted as not amenorrhea. Speear et al. even reported that in 225 non-miscarried pregnancies, 22% of women experienced vaginal bleeding within 196 days of pregnancy. 80% of these cases occurred within the first 40 days of pregnancy and were considered implantation bleeding. This type of bleeding is more common in multiparous women, occurring three times more often than in primiparous women. However, vaginal bleeding during pregnancy is often an abnormal condition.
Amenorrhea can also be caused by psychological or environmental factors. The most common causes are sadness, fear (including fear of pregnancy or eagerness for pregnancy), and environmental changes.
2. Nausea or vomiting. Pregnant women often experience gastrointestinal dysfunction, leading to nausea or vomiting. The so-called "morning sickness" of pregnancy usually occurs in the morning and subsides within a few hours.