Kind of worried I've hurt my body...

[backpackco]

OK, So here's the timeline, and I'm having some added anxiety about being pregnant, so I need some reference to that as well, but I'm mostly worried that I've hurt my woman system with all this hooplah. Here we go...

On October 31, I had unprotected sex with someone I am not in a relationship with nor do I ever plan to have a relationship with. It was unprotected. No birth control, no condom. He did not ejaculate, and I had given him a blowjob before intercourse, so I don't know if that affects precum? Anyway, we had sex for maybe 2 minutes before realizing how unsafe it was, and he never came.

I took a plan B 2 hours after having intercourse with him, because I wanted to be on the safe side. Approximately a week after taking the Plan B (the ONE pill kind, generic brand) I got my period that had been originally expected. It was on time, and regular. Now here's where I'm afraid I've really messed up my lady parts & hormones...

I started convincing myself I was pregnant about 3 weeks after having sex, so I took TWO home pregnancy tests that came back negative on November 22, 2014 . That didn't stop my worrying, so I went to the doctor after I got back from Thanksgiving break. I saw this doctor on December 2, 2014. He got a urine sample from me, and I was tested for pregnancy which came back negative as well. My next period was due on December 4th, but once the birth control was prescribed on December 2, I went and got it that night and took the first pill.

I was also in a traumatic 'survival' type experience where my car crashed 30 miles from anyone, I had frost bite on my feet and hands, and had to go to the emergency room. This was 2 days after my period was supposed to be due, but was late. I had also been stressing about finals and my Trigonometry class at this time. Keep in mind, I had been on birth control for 5 days by this point.

I've had 3 negative pregnancy tests. My period is now 14 days late, and I'm having an internal freak-out session on WHAT THE HECK DID I DO TO MY BODY?

[Heather]

Well, I see you reporting:
• Stress, big-time
• Use of Plan B
• A serious trauma and then illness following
• Starting a new hormonal method of contraception

Any one of those things could knock a cycle out of whack, and with all of them, I would be surprised if your menstrual cycle was NOT impacted.

Have you yet talked to your doctor about what's going on with you mentally and emotionally? In other words, have you told them you cannot stop worrying about this, and asked for their help with that?

[backpackco]

I haven't, but I did see a therapist after the outdoors trauma, and told her I was kind nervous about the pregnancy-scare but after I told her everything I think she disregarded it since it seems really unrealistic to be pregnant with all the signs pointing against it.

[Heather]

Are you still seeing her? I ask because if this has continued, I'd be surprised if she still felt that way, especially since she knows you did just go through what sounds like a pretty literal life-or-death trauma (glad you made it through!), and those kinds of experiences often bump up all kinds of anxieties, including irrational fears.

In other words, yes, pregnancy is clearly a non-issue here...except in your head. But for a therapist working with you, if that's hanging on, then it is an issue to work through. make sense?

[backpackco]

You're the most help I've ever gotten on this issue. I have an appt scheduled with my therapist after Christmas break, so I will talk to her about it. Thank you so much

[Heather]

You're quite welcome. And again, I am so sorry you had to go through that, but glad you came out on the other side! Big traumas like that are...well, big. In fact, one thing we know about traumatic experiences is that they almost universally tend to be the most traumatic, for everyone, if and when someone's life itself feels in danger, which I imagine yours did.

So, you may want to also leave yourself some room to feel out-of-sorts for a while, including some things feeling bigger than they are, or just feeling more afraid of things in general. You went through something giant and scary there.