A missed period doesn't always mean pregnancy

This is another question I come across all the time. Girls who haven't had sex wondering if they're pregnant because they missed their periods - or girls who have missed a period but had a negative pregnancy test wondering what is wrong.

First of all, pregnancy tests cannot have a false positive. You can have a false negative if the hormones haven't had time to build up, but if it's positive then the hormones are definitely there and you are definitely pregnant. Make sure you're taking the test within the time frame noted in the instructions (usually 4 days before your expected period, at most) and if it's negative, wait a week and try again. Also make sure you read the instructions before using it and make sure you fully understand what means positive and what means negative. The ones I used said two lines were positive, but that the lines might not necessarily be dark - and in my experience people tend to wonder if that light second line still means it's positive (it does).

Now that I've gotten that part out of the way...

If you've missed your period you should go to the doctor. If you're pregnant, you'll want to let your doctor know anyways - if you're not, you have to figure out why you're missing your period.

There are many common things other than pregnancy that can make you miss your period:

• Suddenly losing or gaining weight
• Stress
• Certain medications (mainly tranquilizers)
• Baing a heavy smoker
• Hormonal birth control methods
  

If you are on the pill it could be that the brand you are using is too low in estrogen, and your doctor may prescribe another one. If you were on the pill but are no longer using it, your body may just need time to adjust. Birth control methods that suppress ovulation (Norplant, Depo-provera) tend to also suppress menstruation.

And lastly if you are an older woman, you could just be starting menopause - in which case your periods are going to come and go and be as heavy or as light as they please. So you might want to keep some emergency supploes in your purse.