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Can Heartburn Be A Symptom Of Pregnancy?

Every woman’s body reacts to pregnancy a little bit differently. Many women will experience morning sickness, for example. Other women may not experience any nausea due to pregnancy. Some women will have severe back pain and others won’t. For many women, breasts become tender during pregnancy, while for others they become downright painful. Some women will crave pickles and ice cream, while others may crave pizza, and still others may crave nothing at all.

The symptoms of pregnancy can vary greatly. For some women, heartburn seems to be a common side effect of pregnancy. The changing hormone levels that can cause morning sickness can certainly cause a little bit of acid reflux. However, heartburn is not considered one of the most common symptoms of pregnancy, and most pregnant women will probably not experience heartburn that is related to their pregnancy.

The most common symptoms of pregnancy include:

  • A missed period. This is often the first and most obvious sign of pregnancy for many women.
  • Frequent urination.
  • Morning sickness, or pregnancy-induced-nausea. Morning sickness can happen at any time of the day, and may range from a little bit of nausea to full-fledged vomiting.
  • Implantation bleeding. When the fertilized egg attaches to the uterus, some women will have a very light bleeding. This will typically be from pinkish to reddish-brown in color, and typically lasts for 1-2 days.
  • Tenderness of the breasts. Breast tenderness is one of the very earliest signs of pregnancy. Increased hormones cause breasts to be sensitive and sore, and often to swell.

The most reliable and effective way that you can determine whether you are pregnant is, of course, with a pregnancy test. For most women, it may be possible to determine whether you are pregnant as early as 7-10 days after conception using a home pregnancy test. However, the time required depends greatly on the type of pregnancy test being used, as well as your own individual physiology. For some women, a pregnancy may not show up for as much as 14 days or more after conception.

Posted in Getting Pregnant, Morning Sickness |
Can Elavil Alter the Results of a Pregnancy Test?

Pregnancy tests, including home pregnancy tests, are generally a very reliable way to determine whether or not a woman is pregnant. Home pregnancy tests are, generally, around 97% accurate. While this is not a bad percentage, it does mean that 3% of the time you will have a false reading. 3% doesn’t sound so bad until, of course, you are in that 3%. However, it is important to understand the things that can alter a pregnancy test, including how medications, such as Elavil, may or may not alter a pregnancy test.

First, it is important to understand exactly how a pregnancy test works. Home pregnancy tests measure a hormone known as, human chorionic gonadotropin, also known as hCG for short. For a pregnancy test to show a positive result, your body must be producing a level of hCG that the test can detect. Not all pregnancy tests are the same, however. Some tests are more sensitive than others and will show a positive result earlier than tests that are less sensitive. More sensitive tests look for lower amounts of hCG. Here is where some medications can alter a pregnancy test.

Medications that contain hCG, such as Novarel, Profasi, and Pregnyl can, occasionally, alter a pregnancy test. For this to happen, however, the medications need to still be in the system at the time that the pregnancy test is taken. Generally, for drugs that are given by injection, this means that the injection must occur within a week or two of taking the pregnancy test. Medications that do not contain hCG, such as Elavil, are not known to alter a pregnancy test.

There are other things that can alter a pregnancy test. Waiting too long may make lines fade, for example, on some types of tests. Reading the test too early can also leave an invalid result. A chemical pregnancy, which refers to a miscarriage in the first couple of weeks after fertilization, can also leave a false positive pregnancy test, as can evaporation lines on the testing equipment.

The most reliable way to determine pregnancy is to confirm with a health care provider, who can use more advanced testing measures, to determine if anything has altered the results of your pregnancy test.

Posted in Getting Pregnant |
Can Antibiotics Keep You from Getting Pregnant?

There are any number of medications that can interfere with fertility. Some antidepressants, painkillers, and some medications that are used to treat chronic disorders can, sometimes, prevent you from getting pregnant, or at least contribute to a reduction of your chances of getting pregnant. In some cases, even simple medications like antibiotics may affect your ability to get pregnant one degree or another.

Having said that, there is little clinical evidence to suggest that antibiotics create any dramatic risk of preventing you from getting pregnant. Sometimes, women that are taking antibiotics will report changes in their ovulatory cycle, particularly in their normal pattern of cervical mucus production. However, studies have not been entirely conclusive at this point. It is just as likely that the infection for which the woman is taking the antibiotic may have prevented her from getting pregnant, rather than the antibiotics themselves. More often than not, antibiotics will actually help you get pregnant by combating whatever infection it is that is in your system in the first place.

Antibiotics are not known to affect male fertility either. There are a few antibiotics that can affect sperm production. Sulphasalazine is one of these antibiotics. Sulphasalazine is often used to treat inflammatory bowel disease. In general, when a man has a condition as serious as inflammatory bowel disease, it is important to remember that the illness itself is probably more likely to prevent you from getting pregnant than the antibiotic used to treat the disease.

Some of the most common things that will prevent you from getting pregnant are not related to antibiotics or medications at all. Endometriosis, problems with ovulation, poor egg quality, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and blocked or damaged fallopian tubes are all many times more likely to prevent you from getting pregnant than antibiotics.

Even if you are trying to conceive, you should not stop taking any medication without consulting with your health care provider. She can usually help you with the most up-to-date information about the effects of specific medications, including antibiotics, on getting pregnant.

Posted in Getting Pregnant |
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