6 days late with a negative test. Could I still be pregnant?

[thenorthremembers]

Hi there everyone, technically not a teen anymore (I'm 21), but I figured I could come here to get a little more peace of mind and an outside opinion. I hope I'm posting in the right place. Sorry this got a little long, I was trying to make it short and sweet.

Here's a little background info:

• Last period: July 8-15th (slightly tricking into 16th).
• Date period was expected, via Period Tracker: August 6th.
• Days late: 6, 7 now that it's after midnight.
• Last time I had sex: August 7th, but this was after my period was expected. The last time before that was July 22nd.
• Average cycle length: My app says 29 days, but I've only had 1 29-day cycle in the last 6 months. My shortest was 28 days and my longest was 36.
• Current cycle day: 36, 37 now that it's past midnight.
• Birth control method used: Trojan condoms. Currently not on the pill or anything else, due to personal health reasons.

I have been heavily expecting my period this month, as I'm going on vacation soon and wanted it to be over before that, and I think that I've wound up stressing myself late; I have been known to do that multiple times before.
My cycle can be all over the place. Back in October, I had a 20-day cycle and spotted for 13 days. Pretty sure my cycle was rerouting itself. Every once in a while, I'll get an abnormally long cycle as well, my longest one previously being 36 days and before that, 34.

Every few months, I will have absolutely no PMS before my period, up until the day or two before, and that throws me off a little.
That happened this month. For the last two days, I have been lightly cramping and my breasts have been heavy and sore. The breast soreness stopped today, so I think my period may come tomorrow.
I took an HPT this evening (First Response), about two hours ago, and it came out as a very solid negative almost immediately.

While my long-term boyfriend and I use condoms, we typically start without one and put one on a couple minutes in, long before he has the feeling that he's going to finish.
Obviously I know that there's a risk with that, but it's a very small one; while pre-ejaculate contains no sperm, there may be residual sperm in the urethra if it was not flushed out. Just knowing him, I can tell you that our chances of getting pregnant that way are extremely slim.

Some other important factors that should be taken into consideration:

• I smoke (not heavily at all).
• I've been under a quite a bit of stress as of late, since like March, actually. Things calmed down for a while in between, but as of the last few weeks, my stress level has been pretty high. I also do have pretty bad anxiety, that was diagnosed, but I am not medicated for it.
• My sleep schedule has been kind of out of whack.
• I have been eating a little differently.
• I have lost a little weight.

While I've been known to be late before, I have never been this late, but I truly don't believe that I'm pregnant. The negative test kind of backs that up, but I've heard of women getting false negatives before, quite frequently.
I will be testing again in the morning with the "first pee of the morning", since that's the most accurate. I just needed to see the negative tonight so I could relax. I'm fairly certain that this is all nerves and that my period was delayed because I was expecting it so much.
Hopefully it doesn't ruin my vacation now, haha.

So a little insight would be appreciated. What do you all think?

[luckiicloverxx]

Hey there,

It's quite common to get false negatives, as you have mentioned, so your best bet at really knowing is to see a doctor. But I really do think it's just the result of you stressing yourself out (I know people who were under so much stress that they missed their period altogether, which is possible).

[thenorthremembers]

Update: Took another test this morning to get a more accurate reading, and it's still a very solid negative. Still no period though.

I still think I'm just stressing myself out and making myself late. Like I said, this has happened to me multiple times before. The chances of me being pregnant are so low. I never really thought I was actually pregnant, but the little anxiety voice in the back of my head kept whispering "But what if??".

If it doesn't come by the time I'm back from vacation, I will absolutely make an appointment with my doctor. I'm guessing that once I'm on vacation I'll be able to relax enough that it'll come. I'm experiencing some light cramping right now and while my breasts are still quite heavy, the soreness is gone. That's a telltale sign for me that my period is very close.

[thenorthremembers]

Originally Posted by luckiicloverxx

Hey there,

It's quite common to get false negatives, as you have mentioned, so your best bet at really knowing is to see a doctor. But I really do think it's just the result of you stressing yourself out (I know people who were under so much stress that they missed their period altogether, which is possible).

I agree, it's just the stress. My stress levels have been through the roof so it's quite possible that the stress caused a hormonal imbalance. Or I could've just ovulated late. Because my period tracker app isn't 100% accurate, I also may not be as late as I think I am, especially if I just ovulated late. The female body is quite frustrating, haha.

I don't know how common false negatives are. I do know that most the times doctors offices use the same pregnancy tests that you can buy in the store. If that comes up positive they will do a blood test to determine if you are pregnant and possibly a few other things.

This only comes from the few times I've had pregnancy scares. One month I missed my period altogether and the doctors office told me to take a test. They didn't request to see me or anything like that.

If you don't start your period then you should call your doctor just to check in with them. I don't know what they will say and they might treat it differently then my doctor did.

I would say that stress might be the reason you are missing your period. I know I missed my period a few years ago and I was under quite a bit of stress which ended up, likely, being the reason.

[thenorthremembers]

Originally Posted by ~Abibliophobe~

I don't know how common false negatives are. I do know that most the times doctors offices use the same pregnancy tests that you can buy in the store. If that comes up positive they will do a blood test to determine if you are pregnant and possibly a few other things.

This only comes from the few times I've had pregnancy scares. One month I missed my period altogether and the doctors office told me to take a test. They didn't request to see me or anything like that.

If you don't start your period then you should call your doctor just to check in with them. I don't know what they will say and they might treat it differently then my doctor did.

I would say that stress might be the reason you are missing your period. I know I missed my period a few years ago and I was under quite a bit of stress which ended up, likely, being the reason.

I'd have to agree with you. With everything that's been going on in my life the past few months mixed with a new semester of college rolling around the corner, I can honestly say that I've never been this stressed in my life, so I'm quite positive that that's the reason I'm so late. I'm still cramping, probably because my body knows I should be having my period right now and it's confused. The only time I have ever missed my period completely was once back in middle school. But I was stressing myself late even back then. Gotta love anxiety, right?

I've taken two tests now and they both came up as very strong negatives. Very dark right away. But I obviously still waited the full 3 minutes to examine the test. If nothing comes by the time I get back from vacation, I'll make an appointment with my doctor to figure things out.
Like I said, I really don't think I'm pregnant. I just have really awful anxiety and I'm sure I'm just late due to stress. It also seems like I keep getting longer and longer cycles as I get older. It's strange.

Out of curiosity, how many times have you ever missed a period completely (like not from pregnancy)?

Also, in regard to how common false negatives are, I did a little reading and false negatives really only happen if a woman takes a test too early (like before her missed period), or doesn't follow the instructions properly.
I took my tests on the evening of my 6th day late and the morning of my 7th day late, so I would think it'd detect the hormone if it was there.

Hey,

To answer your question I have missed my period twice. Once was a few years ago, I wasn't sexually active or anything, so the only thing I can contribute it too was stress. The other time I missed a period I was sexually active and on birth control. This can sometimes happen with birth control and I had taken it differently then I normally do which might have been a factor.

I think calling your doctor to schedule something is a good idea if your period doesn't come. It's always wise to check in with your doctor if things are going weird with your body.

And, I think that if you were getting a false negative it wouldn't be happening so many times. Once would be a fluke but more than that and it's probably an indication that you aren't pregnant.

[thenorthremembers]

Originally Posted by ~Abibliophobe~

Hey,

To answer your question I have missed my period twice. Once was a few years ago, I wasn't sexually active or anything, so the only thing I can contribute it too was stress. The other time I missed a period I was sexually active and on birth control. This can sometimes happen with birth control and I had taken it differently then I normally do which might have been a factor.

I think calling your doctor to schedule something is a good idea if your period doesn't come. It's always wise to check in with your doctor if things are going weird with your body.

And, I think that if you were getting a false negative it wouldn't be happening so many times. Once would be a fluke but more than that and it's probably an indication that you aren't pregnant.

Absolutely. I'm hoping that vacation will help me relax enough for it to come. But I will definitely schedule an appointment with my doctor and even take another test or two if it doesn't come by the time I get back.

I've definitely heard of some women getting quite a number of false negatives, but from what I've read, they just had really low levels of HCG.
Typically, the levels are supposed to get higher and higher every day and I'd assume that most healthy women work that way. This is also coming from forums that have women who are actively trying to conceive and actually have their partners ejaculate inside of them; we really only go without a condom for a little bit before we put one on, and I'm aware of the risk that pre-ejaculate poses, but like I said in my original post, that risk is minuscule for this particular time frame.

Thank you so much for the peace of mind, I really appreciate it. I just needed the reassurance so I could get this out of my head.

[Coffee.]

I also agree with you and Jenna, it seems very unlikely you're pregnant. In terms of other advice, I really would recommend you use the condom on the whole time or consider doubling with another birth control method. You're absolutely right, pre-cum has no sperm in itself, but that is putting more unnecessary risk especially if you're not using another birth control method. You can check out different methods on this site (some are non-hormonal if that's your concern).

[thenorthremembers]

UPDATE:
Hi everyone, I wanted to thank you all again for your responses. I got my period on Monday last week and it has come and gone like normal.
I am making an appointment with my doctor to get on birth control pills so I can regulate my cycle a little more and so I don't wind up stressing myself out so much.
Thank you all again, so much

[Coffee.]

Yay! I'm so glad to hear everything worked out and you'll be adding a more effective method! Let me know if you have any questions about the pill or other contraceptives!

[thenorthremembers]

Originally Posted by Coffee.

Yay! I'm so glad to hear everything worked out and you'll be adding a more effective method! Let me know if you have any questions about the pill or other contraceptives!

Our method is pretty effective, I just have very bad anxiety that tends to go haywire when my body does something differently. My main reason for going on the pill is to regulate my cycle a little more. It's been kind of out of whack for about a year now. I've had some unnaturally short cycles and unnaturally long ones. That makes it difficult to keep track of regularity. If I'm on the pill, there's no guesswork involved. I've also already decided the pill is the best birth control method for me, in conjunction with condoms.
I've had medical atlases, dictionaries, and terminology books at my disposal since I was a little girl, so I'm pretty well informed about contraceptive methods, along with human anatomy and physiology.

Thank you again for the peace of mind!

[Always *]

You're absolutely right, pre-cum has no sperm in itself, but that is putting more unnecessary risk especially if you're not using another birth control method.

Traci, I actually heard different. I heard that sometimes pre-cum can have trace amounts of sperm but that if a man has sperm in his precum, this will always be the case, and that if a man doesn't have sperm in his precum, then that'll also be the case. But in both cases there isn't enough sperm for it to be a huge risk because there's often not enough for it to project high enough into the cervix or something. Of course, I only read 1 study and it was a few years ago, I just thought I'd put in my two cents given the topic.

As said, if you've gotten 2 tests and all that, you're likely not pregnant. I am also glad to hear you got your period, that's great news I hope you will like whatever birth control you choose.

[thenorthremembers]

Originally Posted by Always *

I heard that sometimes pre-cum can have trace amounts of sperm but that if a man has sperm in his precum, this will always be the case, and that if a man doesn't have sperm in his precum, then that'll also be the case. But in both cases there isn't enough sperm for it to be a huge risk because there's often not enough for it to project high enough into the cervix or something.

From what I've read, the only way there can be traces of sperm in pre-ejaculate is if it has not been flushed out since the last time there was an ejaculation (whether it be from masturbation, sex, whatever). While they really haven't scientifically confirmed this, most say that peeing will flush out any residual sperm in the urethra. Seems like that would make logical sense.
I've also read that even if you don't see the pre-ejaculate, there is still trace amounts of it. It just kind of depends on the guy and the situation, I guess.
That's the case for my boyfriend.
But anyway, just from being with him for so long now and knowing his habits, I can tell you that the chances of me getting pregnant that way are slim to none. We take great care to ensure we don't get pregnant before we're ready.

I have an appointment next week with my doctor to discuss birth control and I hope she'll have some good information for me. I'd prefer to be on the pill, but I know that there are many different kinds and some women have different side effects. I hope I get on one that won't make me gain too much weight and can clear up my face a little. It's not bad, but breakouts annoy me.