Hoping someone may have some advice/ share if they have had a similar experience?
I started the mini pill (Desogestrel) in 2019. I take it regularly at the same time every day.
In the 3 years I have taken the pill, I have only taken it late/missed the pill twice, both of these times I took the morning after pill to be sure and both of these occasions were more than a year ago now. In the last year the pill has been taken at the same time, every single day.
The pill has stopped my periods, so over the 3 years I have had to take some pregnancy tests. I may have had like 1 or 2 odd symptoms but I have always been satisfied when I have seen negative test (I will come back to this).
In June time, I started to get irregular bleeding and noticed I had been having a few headaches. I went to the doctors about this in September when it had been persisting. I had bloods and a pelvic exam and was told everything was normal. Other than this bleeding (which was more like spotting), I have not had periods since early stages of taking the pill.
Following this appointment, I decided to keep a bleeding and headache diary incase I needed to go back to the GP. This means I noticed that I had another increase in headaches this month.
This month (December 2022) I have had lots of pregnancy symptoms, some of which wouldn't even be my typical PMS symptoms and I have a gut feeling I could be pregnant. I have taken 5 tests, different brands, (over the course of around a week) and all have been negative - I just don't feel like I can accept the negative result. I thought I saw a shadow on my third test, but the others are all obviously negative, so I think that one was negative too.
My symptoms have been pretty unusual for me:
-At the start of the month I was having headaches almost daily
-I had vivid, almost scary dreams for about 3 or 4 nights at the start of the month (have not had 'scary' dreams since I was a child)
-Been very fatigued - some days I have woken up really well but within an hour need to lie down and sleep again for another 2-3 hours
-I have had mild period cramps, which I have not had since my periods have stopped. It did start as just a generally tight feeling in my low abdo and that eased, but then have had these cramps
-Acid reflux type feeling
-Achey hips
-Sensitive (as in tender) nipples
-Some insomnia
-Craving salt (very unusual for me was I usually avoid extra salt other than basic seasoning)
-Bloating easily
There are other little symptoms too.
I did have shingles at the end of November and was given Acyclovir, I have researched and this does not seem to impact my pill. It did give me an unsettled stomach, but I did not have diarrhoea, so I don't think it will have affected my pill?
Sorry for the long post but I just want to try and include as much information as possible.
Has anyone had anything similar? Was it pregnancy or something else?
I'm not sure when I need to test as I have no period to go by - would it be better to see if I can get a blood test to check my HCG levels? Or, should I wait longer to do a test at home again?
I'm grateful for any advice/experience that people are willing to share! TIA.