Stress and EC

[katlyn]

Hello,

I had my last period on April 18th. Though it is not always consistent, I expect it to be around a little after mid-May (16-19). I did something of low to moderate risk with my boyfriend on April 21st and took EC on April 23rd. I then bled a little lighter than my normal period on April 28th for three days. After that, In early May, I had my final exams, which had been a very stressing week. There were other things happening too which stressed me. After I finished my finals on May 15th, I thought I was going to have my period in a few days, so my partner and I decided to do genital rubbing. We did not have intercourse. He used a condom and withdrew before ejaculation. However, my period hasn't arrived since. It had been a month since I last bled, and six weeks since my last actual period. I took a pregnancy test ten days after the risk and it was not pregnant. Did I take the test too early? When should I take another test and be worry-free? Is my period late because of stress and/or EC? If so, approximately how much late could it possibly be?

Thank you.

[taylor_alyse]

Hi Katlyn!

Welcome to Scarleteen!

There is no way for us to tell you if you are pregnant or not if you have engaged in activities that involve risk of pregnancy. Also, pregnancy test 10 days is a bit early to give you an accurate result. However, it is likely your period cycle was thrown off because of both the EC and stress, and there is no way for us to tell you how late it could be! It could be weeks late, it could skip this month all together. . .both of those factors individually can significantly change your cycle, let alone combined. Both bleeding lighter than normal and having an altered cycle after taking EC is very common.

A pregnancy test generally can be taken 5 days after the latest you'd expect a late/missed period or a few weeks after the risk. Because a pregnancy can take anywhere from 5 days to two weeks, home pregnancy tests should be taken 14 days after a risk-- thus, it is not possible to say if your test results were accurate because yes, you did take it a bit too early.

I've heard it said that periods are like bodies are like snowflakes--they are all different! So I can't give you the specific, to-the-T answer you are looking for. I would suggest that you monitor your body and don't stress. If after 14 days from the risk, you would like to take another test, you can do that to know for sure. But after bleeding twice in two weeks because of the factors you mentioned, it is "normal" your body didn't follow it's normal cycle.

Have you checked out these articles?
http://www.scarleteen.com/article/bodie ... _companion

http://www.scarleteen.com/article/bodie ... _my_period

[katlyn]

Thank you so much

So, I took a pregnancy test this evening, which is 15 days after that Friday and it's not pregnant! From the timing, it's not too early to be inaccurate, so I can believe what I see?

[Heather]

Yep!

And for future reference, it might help to know that stress all by itself rarely impacts periods, but not managing stress can. In other words, if you learn some ways to manage stress -- like meditation, breathing, activity, creative endeavors, getting extra rest, self-pampering or other kinds of self-care -- you can have stress but not have it likely to have an impact on your cycles.

[katlyn]

Hello and thank you for the advice. My boyfriend is also very supportive and encouraging and have helped me managed stress.

It is almost three weeks after the risk, as well as when my period should have come. I was tested not pregnant after some days over two weeks of the risk. However, today I had minor bleeding coming from my vg throughout the day. It was mostly dark red and it looked (and felt) like period, but much less and looked more dried up. It was like normal period and it contained what looked like walls of the vg in my normal period. Do these symptoms mean anything?

[Sam W]

Hi katlyn,

We can't say for certain what the bleeding is, but if it's feeling like and looking like a period (keeping in mind that periods themselves will look and feel different from month to month), then it's most likely your period.