[Ademan]

This is a bit early on to ask I suppose, but when it comes to my girlfriend's health I really would rather be safe than sorry. Her period for the past 3 years has been like clockwork, no more than a day off of her last period. We had an excessive amount of PROTECTED sex last month (condom, she is not on any kind of birth control but after this scare we are more than considering it) This month her period is approximately 5 days late. However she described it as a "lighter color" and a "medium flow" wheras she says she generally starts her period with a "heavy flow". Just to be sure I started looking at implantation bleeding just to compare symptoms, my diagnosis is that it is period. But I take this very seriously because ectopic pregnancies can be very serious.

She has for the past week or two been complaining of lower back pain, breast tenderness (which is a common symptom for her a week before her period) and nausea. This is all the information i have at the moment, if you have any questions feel free to ask.

This might be just paranoia on my part but seriously, I would much rather spend the 5 or so minutes it took to write this, and it turn out that its nothing, than do nothing, and it turns out to be an ectopic pregnancy and it ruptures one of her tubes.

Thank you I really appreciate your opinions and help
-Dan

[Chery]

Bless you for being such a considerate and caring man. We woman really appreciate it when our men care and would love to experience more of this compassion. I am including some sites, and my favorite on this list is the last one - It's Dr. Amy in the UK, and you can join for free and ask the doctor questions and will receive answers. Also, in the FAQ Tab, there are many other questions and answers that will reassure you before you think the worst. If your girlfriend has not had any serious infections of her reproductive systems within the last 5-8 years, there will probably be no danger. Also, thank goodness, ectopic pregnancies are not that frequent - but please remember the golden rule - when in doubt, always see you doctor.
Another thing you can try is to have her do a HPT or EPT as they might reveal a hormone level change. You did not mention how old she was and/or if this would be her first pregnancy - which is something a physician will also ask first, so please keep that in mind at her next doctor's visit. Good luck, and please keep us posted.

Check out the following sites, they will help you through this a little more to reassure if you are.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sym...gnancy/PR00102 scroll down and even get answers on flying while pregnant, exercise, dangers, etc.
http://www.epigee.org/pregnancy/symptoms.html
www.askdramy.com The U.K. online doctor.you can post on a forum, or 'ask the Dr. Amy' with a click. The FAQ Tab on the homepage is also a good place to click and has a lot of good subject matter. P.S. Most of the articles are printable in PDF format.

[Ademan]

Thank you for the response. I have not really talked to her about it today. She has not had ANY sort of reproductive or urinary infection to the best of my knowledge. If it makes a difference a year or two ago she was on the patch for about a month but quit because it amplified her already intense periods. She and I are both only 19. She and I are both free of any sort of STD/STI. All I can say as far as her feedback is that she hasn't reported any other "strange" symptoms of her period.

EDIT: right now I'm under the impression that an ectopic pregnancy is extremely unlikely, considering how painstaking I've been insuring that she not become pregnant, combined with the likelihood of an ectopic pregnancy is probably enough to eliminate it as a possibility, but I really can't until I know for sure (ie see a doctor) in temporary lue of that I'm looking for your opinions, I'd also like to explain that since her period had not come until last night, wednesday night we had (again protected by condom) intercourse. Afterwards she reported a cramp that was "higher up" than normal period cramps, which i assume means more towards her head. I don't know what that means, but that was really the biggest reason why I was worrying, and yet somehow I forgot to mention it in my first post

EDIT: well I saw her today and she apparently has cramps off to one side that she's never had before. She said "i've had cramps there, just not ONLY there, it would be on both sides normally". However her period is otherwise completely normal, and so after her getting slightly annoyed at the fact that I (probably have) blown the problem out of porportion, I conceded to have her tell me if it got any worse.

Should I have her take a home pregnancy test? If its positive its likely ectopic, correct? If its negative, its normal period flow and whatever caused the period to be late also caused the one-sided pain?

Thanks again,
-Dan

[Chery]

Dear Dan. Other than suggesting to see a doctor, there is not much we can suggest from here. If the pain gets worse, maybe a check into the emergency room would be indicated. Depending on what side the pain is on, it could also be of other nature, so the best bet for her is to see a professional. She must take signals from the body very serious, as only your body can tell you when something is wrong and she needs to learn to listen and feel what is going on. Again, it's best to get reassurance from a professional.

Good luck - and again, keep us posted.