Hi,
This is my first post so apologies for its length, I am losing my mind and hope someone has experience or insight.
I'm 42 years old, had been trying to conceive for a year or so but had recently let go of that idea (I have been pregnant before).
My period stopped suddenly 3 months ago. I have always been regular as clockwork. I took a First Response (FR) digital pregnancy test and negative. Second month passes and no period, another (new box) FR digital test, negative. We have been in full COVID lockdown for three months, homeschooling my 10 year old and I'm in the last months of my PhD. I have been sick the whole time, nauseous, exhausted. So, to say I have been stressed is an understatement.
Everyone close to me chalked up my symptoms to extreme stress related to my PhD.
I have finally been able to make a GP appointment for next week and, as I just missed a third period I figured I should another take a test as I knew my GP would ask me to. My partner went out and bought two FR digital tests. The first one was POSITIVE and I just about died. I immediately took the second test and negative. Cue mass confusion.
I did a little googling and found out that FR tests are not always reliable and, in Australia, have actually been recalled multiple times. So my partner went out and bought three completely different brands and every single test came back POSITIVE (six tests all up). I have been pregnant before and have been experiencing similar symptoms this whole time but the initial negatives made me overlook it.
HOWEVER, from more googling, I discovered perimenopause can give false positives and also mimic symptoms of pregnancy ( as I said, I'm 42).
I'm honestly so confused. If anyone has any similar experiences I am all ears. I have booked in for my GP but can't see them until next week and it's really doing my head in.
Thanks for anyone who has taken the time to read this.
x