Worried I might be pregnant

[Summer9173]

Hi everybody, 

I’m so sorry this isn’t to related about OCD however I know your recommended not to take anti-depressants during pregnancy. I just wanted to ask, I’m 3 days late to my period currently (I keep track of it on my flo app) however I’ve recently started Fluoxetine and Propranalol as well as been extremely depressed and stressed as well as extreme anxiety because of my OCD and I know this can contribute to late periods too. 
 

I’m still very young and in no fit state to be a mother mentally and physically as well as financially however I know many people have scares. I am not on contraception because I found it made my OCD worse, however I’ve been so out of it this month because of my OCD it’s come with wreckless behaviour which I deeply regret so much. I haven’t been using a condom however he does not ejaculate and I make sure of it, yet you do hear stories about ‘pre-cum’ and this is what I am worried about most  I’m so scared that if I do a test and it comes back positive I will completely break down, I have all my period symptoms but it’s really making my ocd and intrusive thoughts worse having this worry on top of everything, I was doing so well too  

[Nicnac]

There is one way to find out and that is a pregnancy test. Don't worry about medication in pregnancy. I came off it on doctors advice in early pregnancy then had a horrible relapse. There is  70% chance of relapse during pregnancy if mum's come off medication.

The mental health midwife has put me straight back on it and says it is safe. Not sure about the propranolol though.

 

[Serenity77]

If it helps I was on fluoxetine throughout my whole pregnancy and my daughter is now 5 and perfect in every way x

[Summer9173]

21 minutes ago, Serenity77 said:

If it helps I was on fluoxetine throughout my whole pregnancy and my daughter is now 5 and perfect in every way x

Thank you  however I am only 19 and I really don’t think I’m old enough for a child, i know it’s probably me overthinking because My period is 3 days late however I also have been under a lot of stress and bad anxiety as well as medication changes, the only reason why I am worried is because I did have unprotected sex however (I’m so sorry for the TMI he never You know) Like the pull out method but with nothing, but then of course you hear stories about ‘Precum’  I’m so scared  it’s like another added worry now x

[Summer9173]

Quick update I did start my period in the end thank god  it’s crazy what huge amounts of stress can do to your body but I started yesterday which was probably the best Christmas present I could’ve asked for when you have a scare (ladies we know). Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas though and have a very happy new year  

[Darwinia]

Glad you got the result you were hoping for. A couple of things occurred to me reading your posts as they brought the big sister out in me. I hope you don't mind the suggestions:

1) Get prepared for PMT if you have OCD. if you're not on the pill then your period probably will fluctuate so give yourself a window in your calendar a few days before you expect it (I mean, literally put an appointment in your calendar "warning - PMT"), to be prepared to have your OCD spike a bit. I, along with a lot of other women I've seen on these boards and in real life, have clocked a relationship between the drop in oestrogen a few days before a period starts and a "wobble" in resilience to OCD and other anxiety-related issues. But if you know it's coming, you can tell yourself "Aha! It's just OCD. Not something I need to pay attention to".  Being on the contraceptive pill helped me a bit as I could skip periods altogether and avoid that fluctuation in hormones.

2) Protect yourself. An unwanted baby isn't the only thing you might get from unprotected sex - if you're a fan of TMI, I can go into details . I know it's probably the nightmare scenario for you right now, but there's a lot of other things you might want to avoid! Have condoms in your purse, under the bed, etc. Be the girl your friends can ask for a spare one from, on a night out! And talk to a practice nurse/family planning clinic about alternatives to  whichever pill you tried before. What I mean is, don't let the bad experience of one pill put you off taking something different if that was what you wanted - they are other options and it can take a while to find the one that works for you. E.g. for some women, the injectable is perfect because they don't have to stress about "Did I take it?" or if the condom breaks.

 

xxx

[Caramoole]

Good advice from Darwinia which I'd echo There are many variations of pill that may suit you better.  If pregnancy is an absolute No No for you the Withdrawal Method does still pose a risk.  Pleased to hear that everything is back on schedule

[Summer9173]

5 hours ago, Darwinia said:

Glad you got the result you were hoping for. A couple of things occurred to me reading your posts as they brought the big sister out in me. I hope you don't mind the suggestions:

1) Get prepared for PMT if you have OCD. if you're not on the pill then your period probably will fluctuate so give yourself a window in your calendar a few days before you expect it (I mean, literally put an appointment in your calendar "warning - PMT"), to be prepared to have your OCD spike a bit. I, along with a lot of other women I've seen on these boards and in real life, have clocked a relationship between the drop in oestrogen a few days before a period starts and a "wobble" in resilience to OCD and other anxiety-related issues. But if you know it's coming, you can tell yourself "Aha! It's just OCD. Not something I need to pay attention to".  Being on the contraceptive pill helped me a bit as I could skip periods altogether and avoid that fluctuation in hormones.

2) Protect yourself. An unwanted baby isn't the only thing you might get from unprotected sex - if you're a fan of TMI, I can go into details . I know it's probably the nightmare scenario for you right now, but there's a lot of other things you might want to avoid! Have condoms in your purse, under the bed, etc. Be the girl your friends can ask for a spare one from, on a night out! And talk to a practice nurse/family planning clinic about alternatives to  whichever pill you tried before. What I mean is, don't let the bad experience of one pill put you off taking something different if that was what you wanted - they are other options and it can take a while to find the one that works for you. E.g. for some women, the injectable is perfect because they don't have to stress about "Did I take it?" or if the condom breaks.

 

xxx

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply  I really appreciate your message especially when I was crazy stressing lol !! I guess I really do have a lot to learn as I’m only 19 with both adult life and my OCD, but I’m such a sensible person in general so I don’t know why I was being sort of careless with the unprotected sex side, I think there was just so much going on I didn’t think twice about it when I really should have so I’ve defiantly learned there  

Honestly I didn’t realise how bad your period can make your mental health!! I had such a foggy brain, I was feeling horrendous like I had the flu, so depressed and thoughts of hopelessness, heightened anxiety and awful hot flushes and my OCD got 100xs worse  but now I do know it’s hormone related i can kind of relax because as soon as I start, those horrible symptoms sort of calm down a little bit  I’m defo looking at going back on the pill as even though the ‘Yasmin’ contraceptive pill was quite harsh in terms of hormones (I was crying all the bloody time) I didn’t feel even near as bad as what I do now I’m off it, I have a doctors appointment to talk about going on a low dose hormone pill. The ‘Yaz’ contraceptive pill is used to treat PMDD however it’s been discontinued because of an extreme risk blood clots in women, so we’re going to look at a similar option… I’ll keep you updated on how that goes  

 

Thank you so much and have a lovely new year!! Xx

[Tamagochi]

Although I am a man… I would also highly advise you to prevent further stress because of this.  

People with OCD, we must try to reduce all stress important sources as much as possible and this is obviously a significant source for OCD, anxiety, stress, depression…

An unwanted pregnancy can be a trauma for life for some people, same with any sexual transmitted disease that can be also for ever (herpes, hiv…) 

I would highly advise a good contraceptive method for woman to avoid unwanted pregnancy if you are not looking for pregnancy plus condoms strictly to avoid STD if you are not with a stable partner.

In health.

[Darwinia]

@Summer9173 Well done lovely. It can take a while to find the right "fit" for contraception and that might change as your circumstances do. Especially as you need to find something that works for the clear-headed busy you in the day time as well as the "oops, think I had one more cocktail than I meant to" woman enjoying being young in the evening. I recommend you discuss with your GP/nurse the pros and cons of continuous hormone release methods given you have OCD and have noticed you are affected by fluctuations in hormones, rather than one where you take a break for a week. 

Enjoy the rest of 2021!!

xx 

[Caramoole]

It's also worth remembering The Family Planning Association who's speciality is contraception

[Summer9173]

54 minutes ago, Caramoole said:

It's also worth remembering The Family Planning Association who's speciality is contraception

Thank you for the recommendation there  I’ll give them a call as they have a contact number on the website and hopefully there I’ll find something more suitable for my ocd/pmdd  

[Lynz]

Hi Summer. Glad to hear your period has now arrived.

But I'm a nurse and I've worked in a sexual health clinic and believe me the amount of women who end up pregnant when only using the withdrawal method is very high indeed. Withdrawal only is not an effective method of contraception and you are effectively having unprotected sex if you only use withdrawal. Stories about "pre cum" are not just scare stories they are the actual truth. So please please please use contraception if you feel that getting pregnant would be a terrible thing for you. Using a condom is easy and any guy who protests about this is not worth keeping in my opinion. I'm 33 and married and my husband uses condoms as I don't react well to hormones and he's happy to use them with no issues whatsoever.

[Summer9173]

25 minutes ago, Lynz said:

Hi Summer. Glad to hear your period has now arrived.

But I'm a nurse and I've worked in a sexual health clinic and believe me the amount of women who end up pregnant when only using the withdrawal method is very high indeed. Withdrawal only is not an effective method of contraception and you are effectively having unprotected sex if you only use withdrawal. Stories about "pre cum" are not just scare stories they are the actual truth. So please please please use contraception if you feel that getting pregnant would be a terrible thing for you. Using a condom is easy and any guy who protests about this is not worth keeping in my opinion. I'm 33 and married and my husband uses condoms as I don't react well to hormones and he's happy to use them with no issues whatsoever.

Hi Lynz, thank you so much for your reply  I’ll know not to make the same mistake again as I know it genuinely is just pure luck now and I need to stop being so reckless In regards to that. I have been looking for a contraceptive pill that helps with PMDD as I do feel more comfortable being on some form of contraception, is there any pill or contraceptive method that you recommend for PMDD at all or doesn’t really effect your mood etc. I’ve heard the Yaz pill is pretty good for pmdd? Although I’m not to sure if it’s been discontinued or not or if it has a sister pill that would help  I’m looking at going on contraception in general however I don’t want it to effect my OCD as I've been on contraception that has done that and gave me extreme depressive episodes and mood swings. 
 

Thank you so much again for your reply  

[Lynz]

12 hours ago, Summer9173 said:

Hi Lynz, thank you so much for your reply  I’ll know not to make the same mistake again as I know it genuinely is just pure luck now and I need to stop being so reckless In regards to that. I have been looking for a contraceptive pill that helps with PMDD as I do feel more comfortable being on some form of contraception, is there any pill or contraceptive method that you recommend for PMDD at all or doesn’t really effect your mood etc. I’ve heard the Yaz pill is pretty good for pmdd? Although I’m not to sure if it’s been discontinued or not or if it has a sister pill that would help  I’m looking at going on contraception in general however I don’t want it to effect my OCD as I've been on contraception that has done that and gave me extreme depressive episodes and mood swings. 
 

Thank you so much again for your reply  

Don't worry about it we all makes mistakes like that, especially when younger - I know I did!

For PMDD you basically want a pill or contraceptive method that stops ovulation so that would rule out the coil and probably the mini pill as well. The combined pill would suit better or any method that has both oestrogen and progesterone in it. Unfortunately though it's trial and error on what works best for each individual person as some women are completely fine on one method but have a terrible time on different ones and there's no reliable way of predicting really. Good luck!

[Hedgehog]

Hi Summer, 

I have OCD, have been on Sertraline for about a year, and have been on the pill for about 13 years. 

I love being on the pill, it really helps me feel less anxious about pregnancy. I had OCD around pregnancy when I was about 19 or 20. I know some of my friends are unable to take it as it affects their mood negatively but I have not found that; I get very little PMT and it makes my periods less painful and lighter. 

Just wanted to share my experience in case its of use!

[malina]

Hey Summer,

I have been on the pill for many years now and have never had any issues with regards to my OCD. Everybody reacts differently, I took Rigevidon for a few years but I started to get some spotting so changed to Millinette, which I've been on for years now and have no issues with at all. I completely agree with @Hedgehog, I love being on the pill and it sometimes gives me a sense of empowerment (I'm getting all feminist here ). It can just be a really good feeling to know that you are taking control of your body and being responsible for yourself.

Unfortunately it is a bit of trial and error sometimes, we are all different and there is no way to know how you'll react to medication until you try it. But no matter what, I think it's worth giving contraception a chance because your current method is really risky. Best of luck with it!

[Hedgehog]

Hi @Summer9173 I just thought of this app I saw advertised. I haven't tried it yet myself as I'm already comfortable on the pill but am considering it. It might be another option if you'd prefer a hormone-free contraception option: https://www.naturalcycles.com/

[Handy]

I usually give them my shirt it's pheromones cause a period to start if it's due. 

[Hedgehog]

On 31/12/2021 at 23:34, Hedgehog said:

Hi @Summer9173 I just thought of this app I saw advertised. I haven't tried it yet myself as I'm already comfortable on the pill but am considering it. It might be another option if you'd prefer a hormone-free contraception option: https://www.naturalcycles.com/

Hi @Summer9173 I was just looking into Natural Cycles that I mentioned above and found it was misleadingly advertised please don't take this recommendation. It's apparently only 93% effective and there were a bunch of unwanted pregnancies from it. It's right at the end of this article: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/11/13/18079458/menstrual-tracking-surveillance-glow-clue-apple-health 

I'm so sorry for the misrecommendation! I was just about to start using it myself but won't be anymore. Sorry everyone I don't know how to change my original post to say please ignore the suggestion!

[Summer9173]

6 hours ago, Hedgehog said:

Hi @Summer9173 I was just looking into Natural Cycles that I mentioned above and found it was misleadingly advertised please don't take this recommendation. It's apparently only 93% effective and there were a bunch of unwanted pregnancies from it. It's right at the end of this article: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/11/13/18079458/menstrual-tracking-surveillance-glow-clue-apple-health 

I'm so sorry for the misrecommendation! I was just about to start using it myself but won't be anymore. Sorry everyone I don't know how to change my original post to say please ignore the suggestion!

That’s absolutely fine please don’t be sorry!!  I actually ended up going on the Eloine contraceptive pill which is Yaz’s sister pill (basically the UK version of YAZ) which helps with PMDD and bad pms symptoms which can heighten anxiety and depression, ocd etc, I highly recommend it as 1 week before my time of the month I’m an absolute mess and it’s really helped for sure  

[Hedgehog]

Thank you, Summer! And that's awesome, I'm so glad you found one that helps significantly.

[Saffron37]

On 24/12/2021 at 16:37, Summer9173 said:

Like the pull out method but with nothing, but then of course you hear stories about ‘Precum’  I’m so scared  it’s like another added worry now x

Hey Summer, glad to hear that your fears are relieved! Have you considered a form of birth control like an IUD? I have a copper IUD and it's absolutely great, extremely effective. Also non-hormonal, so none of those side effects. Perhaps that would give some comfort?

Edited January 16, 2022 by Saffron37

[Saffron37]

On 31/12/2021 at 19:54, Handy said:

I usually give them my shirt it's pheromones cause a period to start if it's due. 

I don't think that's how it works....

[Summer9173]

4 hours ago, Saffron37 said:

Hey Summer, glad to hear that your fears are relieved! Have you considered a form of birth control like an IUD? I have a copper IUD and it's absolutely great, extremely effective. Also non-hormonal, so none of those side effects. Perhaps that would give some comfort?

I’ve defiantly spoken about the IUD with a sexual health nurse and I would defiantly recommend it too from what I’ve heard and reviews it sounds amazing!!  especially hormones wise - however the lovely nurse did recommend I try other contraceptive methods first as I am quite young still and the IUD process is very painful, I’ll see how the pill does go and if it does end up not going to well I’ll definitely have a look at the IUD regardless, but thank you so much