Can anyone relate? (Period + symptoms)

Rseed · January 2014

Hi everyone, normally I'm lurking around, just reading and gaining insight, but I have to reach out today. I suffered a miscarriage in August (6 weeks, first pregnancy) and DH and I are still trying. My cycle has been normal, 26-28 days each month, but this month, on day 23 I spotted one drop of light pink. Day 24, I spotted one drop of a darker brown. That evening, I began getting a little more, and for the next 3-4 days afterwards I continued - sometimes red, sometimes brownish, but considerably close to a normal period I guess. I was weirded out, at first thinking it might be implantation, and since day 23 I've had heartburn, random shooting pains in my breasts, a constant lingering headache in the front of my head, occasional dizziness, and gas/constipation. I took a pregnancy test on day 24 of my cycle, came up negative.

I'm convinced that it was a normal period, and I'm OK with that, but if it were the case that I had these symptoms and no period came, I'd be convinced 100% that I was pregnant. It's worse than how I felt when I was first pregnant.

Has anyone else felt this way or had this happen? I don't know if it's regular period symptoms just showing up after being off the pill for about a year, or what. I'm lost, and blah feeling. Has anyone bled a lot and still gotten a positive before? I'm asking because I know you ladies are TTC and have had a loss like me. Thanks in advance

ngolimento · January 2014

I'm sorry, but it sounds like what is referred to as a chemical pregnancy, where the egg is fertilized but fails to implant.

I'm sorry you are going through this.

ETA: You may want to join us on the Trying To Conceive After a Loss board.

blackbird818 · January 2014

Seriously, this sounds like you're asking us if you're KTFU????
:-w :-/

AnyMax · January 2014

Peledreamsofrain said:
I'm sorry, but it sounds like what is referred to as a chemical pregnancy, where the egg is fertilized but fails to implant.

I'm sorry you are going through this.

ETA: You may want to join us on the Trying To Conceive After a Loss board.

How do you even come to the conclusion of a CP from the info she provided?

Rseed · January 2014

Blackbird, I'm not asking that, what I'm asking is if people have felt this way after a strange period. I've been on BC for a year and never had period symptoms like this, hence why I mentioned perhaps theyre kicking in a year later. I asked about other people, not myself.

If I were asking if I were knocked up, I would have asked... Am I pregnant?

I might not post much but I know better than to ask that question. My bad if someone misinterprets me.

Rseed · January 2014

I mean off BC

luciddreamer106 · January 2014

If you had a negative pregnancy test, then you're not pregnant. The symptoms you're describing are just like PMS symptoms and you probably just had a light period.

LaRomana09 · January 2014

Peledreamsofrain said:

I'm sorry, but it sounds like what is referred to as a chemical pregnancy, where the egg is fertilized but fails to implant. I'm sorry you are going through this. ETA: You may want to join us on the Trying To Conceive After a Loss board.

Without ever having had a + HPT, I don't see any reason to jump to CP. Plenty of people have these types of symptoms during their TWW.

luciddreamer106 · January 2014

Peledreamsofrain said:

I'm sorry, but it sounds like what is referred to as a chemical pregnancy, where the egg is fertilized but fails to implant. I'm sorry you are going through this. ETA: You may want to join us on the Trying To Conceive After a Loss board.

Peledreamsofrain Why do you think she had a CP? She never got a BFP....

buggirl72 · January 2014

Peledreamsofrain said:

I'm sorry, but it sounds like what is referred to as a chemical pregnancy, where the egg is fertilized but fails to implant. I'm sorry you are going through this. ETA: You may want to join us on the Trying To Conceive After a Loss board.

I'm scratching my head on this one. I'm not exactly sure why you think this is a CP since the OP got a BFN.

A CP is a pregnancy that is only confirmed by chemical means - either a urine test or a blood test. Implantation occurs with a CP, the m/c happens prior to HCG levels rising high enough to visualize anything on an u/s. I guess if a pg failed before implantation, the person would have zero pg symptoms since HCG does not start rising until after implantation (maybe @RedTwizzlers can weigh in on that one).

OP - periods can be wonky after a loss and that wonkiness can happen many cycles later. It sounds like you either got your period or just had spotting pre-AF. Are you charting and do you know when you O'd this cycle? Also, did the spotting become light flow at any point (or heavier)? Again, from what you described, it sounds like you already hit CD1.

ngolimento · January 2014

AnyMax said:
I'm sorry, but it sounds like what is referred to as a chemical pregnancy, where the egg is fertilized but fails to implant.

I'm sorry you are going through this.

ETA: You may want to join us on the Trying To Conceive After a Loss board.

How do you even come to the conclusion of a CP from the info she provided?

She had a positive pregnancy test followed by heavy flow.

ETA, sorry I misread.

OP, you never were pregnant, though I'm still sorry for your first loss.

AnyMax · January 2014

Peledreamsofrain said:

AnyMax said:
I'm sorry, but it sounds like what is referred to as a chemical pregnancy, where the egg is fertilized but fails to implant.

I'm sorry you are going through this.

ETA: You may want to join us on the Trying To Conceive After a Loss board.
How do you even come to the conclusion of a CP from the info she provided?

She had a positive pregnancy test followed by heavy flow.

ETA, sorry I misread.

OP, you never were pregnant, though I'm still sorry for your first loss.

Rseed · January 2014

I ovulated on day 14 (9 days before spotting began, which is why I didn't think it was a period at first). I never got even a faint positive, so that's why I didn't mention that I thought I was pregnant. I'm pretty sure, it was a period, just an early one... I'm surprised these symptoms are appearing NOW so much, when my previous periods I've maybe had cramping and that's it. I hope this isn't what I have to look forward to each month!

ngolimento · January 2014

Jesus I'm disoriented today. Sorry everyone, apparently I'm not dealing with my caffiene and wine withdrawals well. I am going to back slowly away from the internet today.

buggirl72 · January 2014

Peledreamsofrain said:

Jesus I'm disoriented today. Sorry everyone, apparently I'm not dealing with my caffiene and wine withdrawals well. I am going to back slowly away from the internet today.

It's okay - reading is hard

Belle3184 · January 2014

I'm sorry for your loss. Your post was a little hard to follow, so I'm not exactly sure what you're asking; however, a loss can change your cycle quite a bit. I've had early pregnancy symptoms on cycles that I did not end up being pregnant. Early pregnancy symptoms are similar to PMS symptoms. It can mess with your head. In the future, trust the pregnancy test. It's the only way to know if you are or aren't pregnant. Symptoms can be misleading, especially when you desperately want to be KU.

ngolimento · January 2014

buggirl72 said:
blockquote class="Quote">
Peledreamsofrain said:

Jesus I'm disoriented today. Sorry everyone, apparently I'm not dealing with my caffiene and wine withdrawals well. I am going to back slowly away from the internet today.

It's okay - reading is hard

Lol thanks normally I am awesome at it. I'm just going home and sleeping, I give up on today.

Rseed · January 2014

Yeah I might not have the best wording with things. I just was looking to see if I was crazy, if my feelings were normal, or what other people have experienced with periods/TTC after a loss also. I'm sure a lot of it often can be us seeing into the symptoms, but this month they were so noticeable to me as they were so much more present, I guess I could say. Also, my periods got pretty regular once I went off BC (I was on it for almost 10 years) so I wasn't expecting it to take only 3-4 months for my cycle to regulate. I went off last January, so it's been almost 8 months of regular cycles (minus my pregnancy). Feeling this way has been confusing, I'm not used to it and thought I knew what to expect.

luciddreamer106 · January 2014

Rseed said:

I ovulated on day 14 (9 days before spotting began, which is why I didn't think it was a period at first). I never got even a faint positive, so that's why I didn't mention that I thought I was pregnant. I'm pretty sure, it was a period, just an early one... I'm surprised these symptoms are appearing NOW so much, when my previous periods I've maybe had cramping and that's it. I hope this isn't what I have to look forward to each month!

***Quote fail***
Loss can really mess with our cycles. Even without a loss, our cycles can change over time and that's normal. One cycle, I'll have hardly any cramping and the next they'll be so bad I want to curl up in a ball and stay home. Symptoms can vary quite a bit from one cycle to the next and you may get new ones and lose others throughout your life.

alilbear · January 2014

Rseed said:

Yeah I might not have the best wording with things. I just was looking to see if I was crazy, if my feelings were normal, or what other people have experienced with periods/TTC after a loss also. I'm sure a lot of it often can be us seeing into the symptoms, but this month they were so noticeable to me as they were so much more present, I guess I could say. Also, my periods got pretty regular once I went off BC (I was on it for almost 10 years) so I wasn't expecting it to take only 3-4 months for my cycle to regulate. I went off last January, so it's been almost 8 months of regular cycles (minus my pregnancy). Feeling this way has been confusing, I'm not used to it and thought I knew what to expect.

Your cycle is normal, until it's not. It can change with or without a loss. After I stopped BC, my cycles were still 28 days. Then I got pregnant; which ended in a mmc. Since then, my "normal" has been nothing normal.I so badly want a normal, but every cycle has been different. It took 45 days for me to get my first AF. That cycle was then an AO cycle and my following AF was very similar to pre-loss. My next cycle I experienced spotting around what could have been implantation. It wasn't. That period was HELL.. heavier flow and longer than ever before. Ohh and lets add my new least favorite PMS symptom - nausea. I'm still not pregnant. These changes are incredibly hard to accept, and very confusing, but I'm trying to embrace the crazy since I can't do anything else. I'm trying to not focus to my "symptoms" and more on what the test says. Hang in there.

Unknown · January 2014

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RedTwizzlers · January 2014

buggirl72 said:

Peledreamsofrain said:

I'm sorry, but it sounds like what is referred to as a chemical pregnancy, where the egg is fertilized but fails to implant. I'm sorry you are going through this. ETA: You may want to join us on the Trying To Conceive After a Loss board.

I'm scratching my head on this one. I'm not exactly sure why you think this is a CP since the OP got a BFN.

A CP is a pregnancy that is only confirmed by chemical means - either a urine test or a blood test. Implantation occurs with a CP, the m/c happens prior to HCG levels rising high enough to visualize anything on an u/s. I guess if a pg failed before implantation, the person would have zero pg symptoms since HCG does not start rising until after implantation (maybe @RedTwizzlers can weigh in on that one).

OP - periods can be wonky after a loss and that wonkiness can happen many cycles later. It sounds like you either got your period or just had spotting pre-AF. Are you charting and do you know when you O'd this cycle? Also, did the spotting become light flow at any point (or heavier)? Again, from what you described, it sounds like you already hit CD1.

**sig**

Medically speaking, a pregnancy begins at implantation. So you can't be pregnant without implantation, and like you said, hCG doesn't start being produced until after implantation. So you cannot be pregnant without hCG. In the non-medical community, people talk about pregnancy being the presence of a fertilized egg even if it's not implanted, but medically that is not a pregnancy. A c/p is a stupid, stupid term IMO that should never be used. But it usually refers to a pregnancy that is not detectable on ultrasound. With current u/s techniques, you can usually see a sac even before 5 weeks so the c/p thing is kind of irrelevant at this point IMO. But I don't run the world, soooo...

OP - you've gotten good advice. I'm not sure from your post which CD you're on now, but if you're a few days after your BFN you can always take another HPT. But otherwise, you're not pregnant. Your symptoms could be post-O and/or AF symptoms. Like everyone else has said, things can change at any time, especially after a loss. I hope your body gets back to normal soon.

Rseed · January 2014

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and also for sharing your own experiences with AF and your cycles after your loss. It's a bit reassuring, and since I don't like discussing these things with friends (who haven't gone through this) or family (who ends up pitying what happened) that often, it's great to chat with you ladies knowing that you understand!

I haven't begun temping, but I do check CV and use ovulation test strips (I know people are mixed on those but I do like them and feel they help). I will look into temping more so I understand how it works before I even begin doing that.

Let's hope this new year brings some good baby-making luck to us all!

Unknown · January 2014

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Frenchteachermama · January 2014

You've already gotten some great advice from PP but I just wanted to add that I was also a 28 day cycle person before my loss (when off BCP too) and since my loss my cycles were 21, 24, and 23 days. I also get brown and red spotting that starts around CD 18 - CD 22 and lasts until I get my period. My periods have also been MUCH MUCH lighter than they were before. So to add to what PP said, miscarriages can change everything and I agree that using FF is very helpful. I start getting positive OPKs around CD 9 but FF doesn't confirm O until CD 12 so it's been helpful to pinpoint my O date.

I'm so sorry for your loss, welcome to the board.

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