Unfounded pregnancy scare fears

[RubieR4256]

Hello! I am 20 years old and I was diagnosed with anxiety in the past. I started taking anxiety medication for it and was on it for a year until I had a huge mental breakdown thinking I was pregnant after the first time I had sex...(sorry if this is TMI, I don’t have anyone besides my boyfriend to talk to about this. FYI we’d been dating for two years before we did anything and We’re waiting for college to be over to get married, it’s been 5 years and I know he’s the one) Anyway, I started to think for some reason that I was pregnant even though we had used protection and I had already had a period after. This went on for months of me worrying on and off of if I was pregnant (no new sex had occurred) until about 5 months afterwards I took a pregnancy test just to be sure. Surprise, surprise: I wasn’t pregnant. So I asked to up my dosage of medicine. I started to not like how it made me feel so I decided to get off of the medication entirely. I’ve been doing better and really trying to cope with it (non medically) but I’m still having trouble. Off and on I will still be SURE that I must be pregnant after having sex but it’s the same as before where we use protection, I’m on the pill and sometimes I will have had a period since the sex or it won’t even be actual sex at all. I have gotten off the pill about a month ago and started using Nexplanon, the birth control implant inserted into your arm, that gets rid of human error in the birth control process in hopes of relieving my anxiety towards getting pregnant. It’s been okay as far as a medical standpoint, it’s even alleviated my period and took all the pain that came with it (which can happen with the implant) Now I know what you might be thinking, my missing period can’t be because im pregnant. I hadnt had sex for a month before getting the implant, or since getting the implant, and they took a pregnancy test the day I had it inserted (which was negative because we went forward with the implantation) It’s starting to worry me enough to want to get a pregnancy test again just to be sure (which I know I’m not pregnant) but that seems to be the only thing to calm me. I know my missing period may be from the implant, but in the back of my mind I still keep thinking “what if it’s because I’m pregnant” which causes more needless anxiety. I don’t have money to keep wasting on tests I don’t need so I need to know why I am I feeling this way and how do I stop or at least work on it to calm the feeling of anxiety I have towards this? I really look forward to hearing from you. I really hope you can help even with a tiny bit of advice. I really could use it.

[Sam W]

Hi RubieR4256,

Unshakeable pregnancy fears can come from a variety of places. Since you mention you've been diagnosed with anxiety, are you currently seeing a therapist or otherwise getting treatment for that diagnosis?

Have you had a chance to read this article: You're Not Pregnant. Why Do You think You Are?. If not, can you take a look and see if any of the reasons offered feel like they apply to you?