Period 4 days late, Negative EPT test … Am I Pregnant?

About 2 weeks before my period was about to start I started feeling a little sick to my stomach. Nothing too strong, but upset. My period was supposed to start 4 days ago. I took an Ept test yesterday and it was negative. I feel really light cramping, bloated and tender breasts. My husband and I have been trying to have a child for 2 years, so every month has been so disappointing. Is there a reason why my period is late? If I’m not pregnant, is there a possiblity something is wrong?

Thanks,
Melissa

Dear Melissa,

Thank you for your question. Without knowing all your circumstances, it’s difficult to know for sure what is taking place; but, then again, the purpose of this website is never to “diagnose” but rather to provide helpful informative information & to encourage readers to see their personal health professionals for any “official diagnosis.”

Having said all that legal jargon, here goes: Your symptoms that you stated sound like you are pregnant, but I’d be careful about really getting my hopes up too high, if I were you.  Bloated & tender breasts, light stomach nausea and a missed period are typical indicators that someone is pregnant.  Keep in mind that home urine based pregnancy test kits increase in their accuracy when you are at least a week (or more) past the time your period should have begun.  The “pregnancy hormone” (hcg) increases in the weeks during your first trimester.  You can read more about early pregnancy symptoms and about home urine pregnancy test kits (both articles are found in the left hand column of the pages).

Now, having said all the hopefully, positive things above, let’s cover some of the other facts of life:

1. The same symptoms that you might experience which can indicate that you are pregnant can also be experienced by those who are not pregnant and may indicate health issues which a professional medical physician would need to diagnose.
2. Home urine based pregnancy tests are not 100% accurate.  I would definitely recommend you take another one.  Better yet, schedule an appointment with your physician (if you still haven’t had your period) and have a lab quality pregnancy test there.
3. Periods can be late for a number of reasons.  Stress is a big cause, as is sickness, poor diet or a major change in diet.  Even changing your exercise routine can cause your monthly cycle to go out of whack.  Now, a missed period is always one of the first indicators that someone is pregnant, but just keep in mind that it’s not a 100% for sure thing that you really are pregnant.

Best of luck to you & your husband, Melissa.

Hannah