Pregnancy Symptoms But Negative Pregnancy Test: Am I Pregnant?

Question: Why do I have pregnancy symptoms but negative pregnancy test?

Because we are all human, it’s natural to become very watchful for pregnancy signs when we are trying to get pregnant.

Any body changes or unusual feeling may easily be interpreted as a pregnancy sign.

While it’s possible you could be pregnant without knowing, most women notice strange feelings in the very early days of pregnancy. At the same time, many early pregnancy symptoms are very similar to premenstrual (PMS) symptoms, so they are not a sure way to confirm pregnancy. Only a pregnancy test can confirm it.

Symptoms will vary from woman to woman, though a lot of women will experience body weakness, light abdominal pain with nausea and vomiting that may get worse after waking up.

Other symptoms you may experience if pregnant are increased awareness of your breast as it gets heavier and painful, belly cramps, food aversion, increased urge to pee and excessive white watery or watery-clear discharge. (If discharge smells bad, is green/yellow, or you have itching or burning, you should see your doctor to rule out infection.)

If you are having these symptoms but still test negative to pregnancy, it can be frustrating, especially when you’ve done everything right to get pregnant.

By now, you’ve learned your menstrual cycle and know when you are most fertile. You’ve also had intercourse during your most fertile period. After trying, you still test negative.

The truth is that most women that test negative to a pregnancy test are not pregnant. Home pregnancy tests are very accurate when used correctly, especially from the day your period is due or later, but testing too early or not following the instructions can give a false negative result.

If your period is approaching, you can expect to have signs that may mimic pregnancy.

Breast tenderness and pain, abdominal cramps, change in mood, low concentration than usual, acne on the face, abdominal bloating, sleepless nights with feeling fatigued are signs that tell a woman her period is close by.

A majority of women will have any of these symptoms a few days before menstrual period, and this is so because of the effect of female period hormones — estrogen and progesterone.

On the other hand, if you are expecting, it’s still possible you are pregnant; so don’t lose hope.

Taking a pregnancy test earlier than recommended, or using a less sensitive pregnancy urine test may cause you to test negative. Many brands advise testing from the first day of a missed period, and some guidelines suggest that if the first test is negative but your period still does not come, you should repeat the test about one week later.

This article explains possible reasons you have pregnancy symptoms but negative pregnancy test.

What causes pregnancy symptoms but negative pregnancy test?

If your test came out negative but you feel pregnant, these are the possible reasons:

1. You are pregnant

Without a doubt, if you are experiencing pregnancy symptoms, there is a chance you are pregnant.

During early days of conception, after the sperm fertilizes the egg in the oviduct, it takes about 6–12 days for implantation to occur. Implantation means your baby (the embryo) burrows into the endometrium and starts growing.

When this happens, your body without delay starts producing a hormone that tells if you are pregnant or not.

Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) is produced by the cells that will form the placenta as soon as your baby is attached to the endometrium.

This hormone can be detected in your blood and, after it rises enough, in your urine. On the contrary, if this hormone is not yet high enough in your urine, your home pregnancy test result will appear negative even if you are actually pregnant.

Generally, in pregnant women, HCG will continue to rise during pregnancy in the first trimester. In fact, there is an estimated range of HCG for each week of gestation.

If your HCG levels are rising as they should, it can quickly get to the level when it can be picked up by your test strip.

This implies that if you’ve tested only a few days after implantation or many days before your next period, you may still get a negative result.

Most home urine tests are most reliable from the first day of your missed period or a few days after, when HCG has had time to build up.

Another reason you could test negative is not taking into consideration the instructions in your test kit.

Commonly, you are advised to take a pregnancy test with your first-morning urine, especially if you are testing very early. Urinate into a container (or directly on the stick, depending on the brand), get your strip and dip the arrow-end into the urine specimen. After the number of seconds written on the pack, you can now remove your strip and place it on a flat surface.

Usually, most test strips will show result within 3–5 minutes. A single line in the control window means the test worked and you are not pregnant, while a double line (control and test line) on strip means you are pregnant. Digital tests may show words like “pregnant” or “not pregnant” instead of lines.

If you wrongly dip your test strip, use very dilute urine, or read pregnancy strip result for longer than suggested, your result may be inaccurate.

If you think you could be pregnant despite a negative urine test, especially if your period is late, talk to your doctor. A blood test for HCG is more sensitive and can detect pregnancy earlier than urine tests.

2. You are not pregnant and your period is coming

After ovulation, if there is no waiting viable sperm in your fallopian tube, your body begins to prepare for your next period.

Your body hormones — especially progesterone — cause increased proliferation and then shedding of the endometrial cells that cover the inner wall of the uterus.

About a week to your next period, estrogen and progesterone level will begin to drop after corpus luteum gets absorbed. This may cause women to start having period symptoms.

At this point, you will notice abdominal pain, headaches, sleepless nights, body weakness, decreased concentration, change in your mood and feeling weak. These are all signs your period is coming and may mimic pregnancy symptoms.

One other thing many women watch is vaginal discharge. Vaginal discharge volume and thickness will vary from time to time during your menstrual cycle, but it is not a reliable way on its own to confirm pregnancy.

Normally, in the first days of your menstrual cycle, after you’ve completed your period, vaginal discharge is usually thick, creamy and white. This type of discharge will also be seen few days before your next period.

If you now feel dry down there or have a sticky, creamy discharge, it may be because your period is coming.

On the other hand, an excessive watery clear discharge can sometimes happen in pregnancy because of high estrogen, but it can also happen in a normal cycle or with other conditions. So, discharge alone cannot prove you are pregnant.

If you have pregnancy-type symptoms but test negative with increased vaginal discharge a few days to your period, it means pregnancy is possible, but you still need a repeat test after your missed period to be sure.

What to do if you think you are pregnant but test is negative?

If you are expecting to conceive and now test negative but feel obviously pregnant, it’s important you follow these steps:

1. Did you take a pregnancy test 3–6 days before you’re expecting your next period?

Testing early before period is not 100 percent accurate and you may get negative results.

You can sit out for a few days and try testing a day or two after your next period date or about a week after if your cycle is irregular. If you get no period, it’s more reason why pregnancy is possible. Immediately after missing your period, you can test again for pregnancy.

Most pregnancy kits at this stage are more reliable and can tell if you are pregnant.

2. Are you dipping test strips in urine without following instructions?

Most pregnancy test kits require that you lower and hold strip for about the time written in the leaflet.

If you just lowered and removed your strips without following instructions, you may get an inaccurate result.

3. Are you reading your test strips too early?

If you are reading the result within a minute or two and discarding your strip, you may get a negative test result.

Most test strips require that you wait for 3–5 minutes to read results.

4. Are you reading your test result too late?

Just like reading too early is inaccurate, reading very late may also give a wrong result because of evaporation lines or colour changes on the strip.

5. Are you testing in the morning?

The best time you should try taking a pregnancy test when testing very early is the morning after waking up. At this time, HCG level is more concentrated in your urine and can more easily be detected. Later in pregnancy, most modern tests will work at any time of day as long as you don’t drink a lot of fluid just before the test.

I have pregnancy symptoms but negative test and bleeding

If you have pregnancy symptoms but are testing negative with vaginal spotting before your expected period, it could mean you are pregnant, but it could also be your normal period starting or another cause.

Important questions: How long did the bleeding last? Is it light or heavy? Is it continuous or intermittent? Do you have strong one-sided pain, dizziness, or feel very unwell?

After implantation, some women may experience slight brown stain or spotting a few days before period. This is often called “implantation bleeding” and may be an early pregnancy sign, but many women never notice this at all (Healthline – implantation bleeding).

However, if you missed your period, bleeding may indicate the start of your period or that you have an early miscarriage. Ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy outside the womb) may sometimes cause women to bleed too and can be life-threatening if not treated early (ACOG – early pregnancy loss; ACOG – bleeding during pregnancy).

Menstrual period blood is usually a continuous flow of red blood that will require the use of pads or tampons and lasts several days.

If bleeding is light, on and off, with mild cramps a few days before period, it could be related to early pregnancy, but it can also be normal spotting before a period.

You should wait a few days after missed period and try testing again. If your test is still negative and bleeding continues or becomes heavy, or you have severe pain, dizziness, shoulder tip pain, or feel faint, you should see a doctor or go to the emergency room urgently to rule out miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy.

I have pregnancy symptoms but negative test and no period

If you have pregnancy symptoms but test negative and yet no period, pregnancy is still possible, but it is not the only explanation.

The truth is that not all women will have HCG hormone rise at the same rate. If HCG levels are not rising fast, it may not be detected until a later date on urine tests, especially if you test very close to your expected period date (Office on Women’s Health – knowing if you are pregnant).

At this point, talking to your doctor and using a blood test may be necessary. A blood test is more accurate and can detect lower levels of HCG than urine tests.

There are also other reasons you may miss your period and test negative, such as stress, sudden weight loss or gain, excessive exercise, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), thyroid problems, some medications, or breastfeeding. Your doctor can help you check for these if pregnancy tests remain negative.

This guide explains reasons you’ve missed your period and test negative; if you are having abdominal pain, you can read this guide on causes of missed period with pain.

If your period is more than 1–2 weeks late, you have repeated negative tests, or you have worrying symptoms (severe pain, very heavy bleeding, fainting, or feeling very unwell), please see your doctor or go to the hospital for proper evaluation and ultrasound.

Still worried why you test negative and feel pregnant? Ask Us.