birth control, weird symptoms

[sfbridges1]

Hello everyone. I've been on birth control for 10 years and have been on the nuva ring for 7 of those years. I had my period march 7 until march 9 (which is very normal for me) what wasn't normal was that for the first time ever, had no pms or cramps. Now that its the 17th I'm experiencing weird symptoms that been going on for about 3 days. Started out me just being very over tired, now I feel sick all the time, and my breasts hurt now. Not sure why this is happening. Me and my husband have sex about 3 times a month, usually tuesdays. Should I go to the Dr for a blood pregnancy test? I really don't want to go to the Dr for that.

[sfbridges1]

Thank you for the advice. I contacted my Dr and she said to skip the home test and come on in. I have an appointment soon.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Pregnancy occurs only during the time of ovulation. Ovulation is the release of a single, mature egg from a follicle that developed in the ovary. It usually occurs regularly, around day 14 of a 28-day menstrual cycle. Chances of pregnancy are less in your case and the symptoms can be due to hormonal imbalance.
Hence to confirm the status of pregnancy, I suggest you to test for pregnancy by a highly sensitive pregnancy test 10 days post ovulation with a sensitive ( 20 - 25 mIU ) pregnancy test. Also then I would suggest you to get your serum HCG levels estimated since this is more specific than urine for pregnancy tests.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.