Nausea - pregnant?

[asianonymous.livejournal.com]

Hey VPers,

I've been feeling nauseous for the past few days, and it's worrying me. I have been on Tri-Sprintec birth control for over a year, and I have never felt any nausea, save for when I first started the pill. I am normally a strict pill-taker, but since I was away from my boyfriend for over a month, I got a little sloppy. From mid-June to late July I took all of my pills within a two-hour time frame every day. I also took one pill 12-15 hours late during this time, but that was it.

I saw my boyfriend July 28th-August 9th, and we had sex daily with no other form of protection. (During this time and the week prior, I was really strict about taking my pill at the same time each day.) My withdrawal bleed started August 12th. Is this indication enough that there's no way I am pregnant?

I've also noticed an increase in appetite this week. (I do occasionally notice that my appetite increases during my 3rd week of active pills, but I don't recall this ever occurring during my placebo week - which ends tonight.)

I leave for Europe to study abroad in several days, and I'm fretting over the thought/possibility of being pregnant. Is it totally unlikely? I realize that I'm probably worrying for no reason, and I don't THINK I'm pregnant, but can anyone offer me some re-assurance/peace of mind? This nausea thing is really throwing me off.

Thanks in advance.

Comments

[queensugar.livejournal.com]

There's really no reason to be concerned about pregnancy. Approximately a zillion things can cause nausea, and pregnancy is just one of them. Given that you are using a highly effective method of contraception correctly and have not missed a withdrawal bleed (and in fact had one very recently), the odds are endlessly more likely that you are simply feeling nauseous for one of only a zillion reasons.

For what it's worth, a two-hour time variation absolutely does not meaningfully impact the efficacy of your pills on combination brands like Tri-Sprintec; taking your pills within two hours of the same time each day is actually very prompt, not "sloppy."

Long story short: don't sweat it. There's always some tiny, tiny, tiny chance of pregnancy while on HBC, but nausea alone is not remotely close to being a specific enough symptom to trigger that concern.

[archangelbeth]

Your chances are probably really, really low, as queensugar says. So I wouldn't stress. However, if you're concerned that you picked up that "winning" lottery ticket? Dollar Tree Stores have good tests, according to peeonastick.com, they're inexpensive, and that might give you even better peace of mind than knowing that the odds are very much in favor of "not pregnant."