Why is the doctor telling me to take a pregnancy test?

[Concerned22]

So I had to speak to the doctor about my mental health etc and reducing my medication because of the side effects I’d been experiencing.

I explained to her that my moods had been very up and down and that I had cried hysterically in Aldi car park for no apparent reason, that I’d been feeling light headed and confused and just not quite with it. I had also been feeling nauseous the day before and that morning I had been sick (4.30 am).

The doctor said to me “are you sure you’re not pregnant?” And I said no I can’t be, I’m on the pill but I tested before my period (technically a withdrawal bleed) because I had messed up my pill (I missed 2 within the first 7 days and then had light spotting a few days after which, from what I’ve been told by the doctor, can then lead to you ovulating due to the dip in hormones. I also get ‘ovulation pain’ every month even though I’m not meant to ovulate? I’m not sure what it is if I’m not ovulating...) anyway, due to that and noticing stronger than usual PMS symptoms I took a 6 days early pregnancy test about 4 days before my ‘monthly’ was due, it came back negative and I got my ‘monthly’ as expected. It was the same as normal from what I can tell, lasted about 4.5 to 5 days, using tampons. The doctor then told me something that I’ve not heard of before. She said that some women still get their withdrawal bleeds if they get pregnant on the pill? I thought that if you bled then you weren’t pregnant (apart from implantation bleeding but that’s much lighter than a period, it was far too heavy to be that). Has anyone heard of or experienced this before? The doctor told me I need to do a pregnancy test again in a week. Since then I have experienced nausea again, pain in the left side of my uterus one evening (the pain that I said was ovulation pain but possibly isn’t as I shouldn’t ovulate). This morning I was woken at 04:30 again by feeling sick but I haven’t actually been sick but have felt nauseous on and off all day. Surely I can’t be pregnant? I don’t understand why the doctor is telling me to do another test. I did do one straight after the call (so wasn’t fmu) and that came back negative as well. Can anyone shed any light for me? I know the simple answer as google says is “If you’ve had your bleed you’re not pregnant”, but what the doctor has said has confused me. I’ve also heard of people not showing up on home pregnancy tests until 6+ weeks pregnant but surely a withdrawal bleed and a negative test is a definite BFN???

Thank you all for reading and your answers!! Xx

I don't have an MD. Do you?

The doctor has told you to do a pregnancy test to rule out the possibility that you are pregnant.

You asked the same thing 4 days ago. Are you expecting different answers?

You missed your pill, had unprotected sex around your ovulation date and are now complaining of symptoms commonly occurring in early pregnancy.

The vast majority of people would have got a positive test by now if pregnant, but there are always the tiny percentage of those who don't. It is possible to get pregnant on the pill, and possible to continue to have periods or other bleeding during pregnancy.

It must be annoying, but I guess she is just being cautious and wanting to rule it out completely.

You’re probably not pregnant, but there’s a chance you might be. That’s why you’ve been told to take a pregnancy test.

@TomHardyAndMe

You asked the same thing 4 days ago. Are you expecting different answers?

You missed your pill, had unprotected sex around your ovulation date and are now complaining of symptoms commonly occurring in early pregnancy.

Yeah, I’m really confused. Possibility of different experiences from different people if i ask twice. :) x

Yes you can still have a breakthrough bleed if you’re pregnant. Some people have periods throughout pregnancy. Unlikely, but not impossible.

If the dr has asked you to do a test, you should do one rather than posting here?

Some people on here are so bloody rude.

It sounds like you’re probably not pregnant but there might be a small chance you are and your doctor is probably being cautious as you are on medication.

Take another test again when the doctor said to, just in case. Good luck with everything OP

You could ask 100 times and get all manner of opinions. It will have no bearing on whether you’re pregnant or not. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Rather than posting asking for opinion just take a test. Clearly they’re asking as they’re suspicious of your symptoms and they all point to pregnancy. We’ve all heard of women having periods whilst pregnant. If you told me your symptoms and also told me you pill had been messed around (even with a period) I’d be telling you to test too! They have to do the simple tests to rule things out before investigating further.

I bled heavy like a period for the first 12 weeks of my pregnancy. The placenta was 'leaking'.

Testing 4 days before your expected period isn't going to give you a reliable result even if the test was an extra sensitive one. It is good advice to take another test just in case. It doesn't need to be extra sensitive - normal will be fine.

It is possible to have periods while pregnant so it's a good idea to test even though you've bled. As others have said, it is quite unlikely, but pregnancy tests are cheap and easy so it's defo worth doing another one.

It's taken you longer to type all of that than to do a test. JFDI.

It’s not as if taking a pregnancy test is medically invasive & challenging to do. Just take the test so the doctor can rule it out as a consideration.

The doctor just wants to definitively rule it out.

An early test isn’t as good as a test a bit later when things may have progressed more and your hormones show the pregnancy more clearly.

If you test again when the doctor advised, and it is still negative, then that’s ruled out.

As an aside, you might be experiencing more symptoms because you’re stressed. Try not to worry too much.

Just do the test. My friend's daughter became pregnant on the pill and had a monthly bleed. She was diagnosed pregnant until she was five months gone. It happens and you say you missed a couple.

Of course I hope you are not pregnant but it won't hurt you to have a test.

Thank you! And thank you for being so kind.

Thank you! This is the reason I posted, in the hope that someone may have experienced similar to me. I really appreciate your answer and for being so kind x

@skeggycaggy

It’s not as if taking a pregnancy test is medically invasive & challenging to do. Just take the test so the doctor can rule it out as a consideration.

In response to sketchy and others, just to confirm to everyone, I will of course do the test. I wouldn’t not do something the doctor has told me to do, but she said do it in a weeks time. I’m just concerned and was hoping that someone may have experienced something similar may make themselves known to me as I cannot find anything online that is like this. Because doctor told me to do a test in 1 week time, not straight away I thought I would ask on here in the meantime.

On a separate note, there’s no need for any of the rude comments that I have received from some people. We all have different levels of experience / understandings and different worries. Some things that people on here have said “we’ve all heard of”, I’ve never heard of and can’t see anything on any websites. People post on forums like this for support and advice and in my case, as a last resort. Definitely not to be told that they are wasting time and shouldn’t be posting on here. If you don’t like my question, no one is making you answer it.

I really appreciate all of the kind and supportive responses, thank you. It has put me at ease that this is something that can and does happen more often than I realised.

All the best everyone x

@Concerned22 a hope you’re ok. You’re right theres no need for the nasty comments. If people don’t like your question they can scroll on by and read the next thread.

I got pregnant whilst taking the pill a few years ago. I didn’t miss a pill so really wasn’t expecting it. I also had what I thought was a period the first month, so I didn’t find out until I was 8 weeks. Unfortunately at my 12 week scan i’d had a mmc. I don’t know if this was anything to do with still taking the pill for those 8 Weeks ( but could of been a million reasons I guess.)

Try not to worry. The gp could just be ruling it out before looking at other causes. And if you are, hopefully it’s good news for you x