Something else? Ask Aunt Vadge – bottom left of your screen!
Dear Aunt Vadge,
My period was due three days ago. I’ve been having sex and my partner used a condom every single time. Usually my breasts hurt for about two weeks beforehand, but this month there’s been no soreness at all. Is it normal for period symptoms to change? I took home pregnancy tests the week it was due and again a few days later, both negative. Should I wait and retake one? My period still hasn’t come, and I’ve had cramps in my legs and vagina, a sore lower back, and sugar cravings. I’ve been stressed with study and I’m trying not to freak out.
Yours, Freaking Out
Hi Freaking Out,
The ‘am I pregnant?’ wait is a horrible one, so let’s take the pressure off. If your partner wore a condom every single time, and none broke, slipped or leaked, then pregnancy is extremely unlikely – condoms fail through breakage or slippage, not for mysterious reasons. Add two negative tests taken around and after the due date, and the odds you’re pregnant are very low indeed.
A late period with different-than-usual symptoms is far more often down to stress, illness, travel or a change in routine than to pregnancy. Stress in particular – exam stress very much counts – can push ovulation later or skip it altogether, which shifts the whole period. The cramps, sore back and cravings you describe sound much more like your body gearing up for a period that’s running behind than like early pregnancy, which usually has no symptoms at all this early.
What to do now
If your period still hasn’t arrived in another few days, take one more test with your first morning wee, when it’s most accurate. A negative test on a period that’s over a week late, or any new symptoms that worry you, is worth a quick chat with your doctor to check what’s going on with your cycle. For the bigger picture of timing and risk, see when you can and can’t get pregnant. Try to be kind to yourself in the meantime – a late period is common and rarely means what your anxious brain is insisting it does.
Warmest regards,
Aunt Vadge
This is general information, not a substitute for personalised medical advice.
