Pregnancy symptoms and missing a menstrual period

Pregnancy symptoms and missing a menstrual period

Interpreting initial pregnancy symptoms and missing a menstrual period

Initial pregnancy symptoms such as missing a menstrual period, light spotting, nausea, elevated body temperature, frequent urination etc., are experienced in very different ways by women, therefore, considering only the physical or biological reactions of the woman’s body there are no standard rules to confirm or infirm a pregnancy. There are women who claimed they knew they were pregnant from the very first day after conception; from psychological signs like waking up in the morning with an inexplicable strange feeling, to extreme nausea in the very day of conception. On the other hand, some women claim they had 1 or 2 pregnancy symptoms while some of them claim they had none, except from missing a menstrual period.

Apart from missing a menstrual period, light spotting is another clue indicating a possible pregnancy. Light spotting or bleeding is a symptom related to the implantation of the egg in the endometrial lining. Usually this symptom appears after 1 – 1.5 weeks after the ovulation and it is a sign of pregnancy. As implantation occurs approximately at the same time the menstrual cycle becomes due, it is often ignored. Nausea can also be associated with pregnancy. Nausea is also called morning sickness as it usually manifests in the mornings. Curiously, nausea is one of the most frequent initial or early pregnancy symptoms, as 80% of pregnant women are feeling sick during the first months of pregnancy. Another sign which could indicate pregnancy is a more elevated body temperature than usually. This symptom is somehow difficult to be followed unless a clear record of regular body temperature is kept so that variations may be followed.

In the event of missing a menstrual period or if experiencing other pregnancy symptoms, the easiest way to confirm if these are reliable signs of pregnancy is a pregnancy test, which will tell with 99% accuracy whether a woman is pregnant or not. The gynecologist can confirm or infirm a pregnancy with certainty only after 7 weeks after conception. However, the one most reliable method to check whether these initial pregnancy symptoms are true signs of pregnancy is to do a blood pregnancy test. This method basically measures the amount of human chorionic gonadotropin hCG (a hormone produced by the placenta) in the woman’s blood. However, the test may fail to be accurate when is performed before 7 days after conception. It is highly recommended that until a final result, a women experiencing pregnancy symptoms to be very careful and take any measures a pregnant woman would take.

Missing a menstrual period is sometimes one of the misleading pregnancy symptoms

Even though missing a menstrual period is one of the most common pregnancy symptoms experienced by women, it is sometimes a misleading clue for pregnancy. For women with a regular menstrual cycle this symptom should be taken as a reliable pregnancy sign. Menstrual cycles usually begin at ages between 8 – 15 years old. The average of a complete menstrual cycle is 28 days but, as only 10% - 15% of women actually have a 28 days cycle, it is perfectly normal for a healthy regular menstrual period to last from 26 to 36 days, calculated from the day the previous menstruation started. For women at a childbearing age (15 – 45 years), missing a menstrual period is a sign that more investigation needs to be done in order to confirm or infirm pregnancy. A simple way to check if missing a menstrual period is a pregnancy symptom is to keep a record of your menstruation cycle.

However, there are cases when missing a menstrual period cannot be taken as a clear indicator of pregnancy. For example, women with an irregular menstrual cycle cannot rely on this pregnancy symptom. In medical terms, missing a menstrual period for 3 consecutive months (in case of a regular cycle) or 9 consecutive months (in case of an irregular cycle) is called secondary amenorrhea. Common causes of an irregular cycle or amenorrhea are hormonal imbalances, diet, weight loss, anorexia, bulimia, obesity, stress, excessive or performance sports, medication, illegal drugs abuse, malnutrition, polycystic ovarian syndrome or syntax failure between pituitary gland and hypothalamus.

However, either with a regular menstrual cycle or not, missing a menstrual period should be always interpreted belonging to the common list of serious pregnancy symptoms.