Hello,
Welcome to the forum and thanks for posting on it. It is true that pregnancy is the first possibility that
comes to mind once the periods are missed. The urine pregnancy test is not 100%accurate for pregnancy and
false negative results can occur if the levels of HCG are too low. False negative pregnancy tests are when the
test is done in a wrong way or the HCG is too less to be detected by the normal urine for pregnancy tests. Low
HCG levels may indicate possible miscarriage or an ectopic pregnancy. If you are having symptoms of pregnancy
and since you have missed your periods, so I would sincerely suggest you to get serum HCG test or an
ultrasound uterus done as it is the most confirmatory test to confirm the status of pregnancy. Once the status
of pregnancy is clear then we can think about other possibilities. It can happen because of hormonal
imbalance, increased stress, eating disorder, increased smoking, alcohol or caffeine use and medical
conditions like PCOS, fibroid, polyps and endometriosis. Also since you are 43 years of age, hence it can
occur because of premenopause also. Symptoms of premenopause are irritability and mood swings, hot flashes,
night sweating, irregular periods decreased blood loss during periods, dry vagina, breast heaviness and
tenderness and joint and muscle pain. Lastly stopping the birth control pills after taking them for a long
time can cause hormonal fluctuations and hence delaying of periods. Now taking all these points into
consideration, I would suggest you to get an evaluation done from a gynecologist and get investigated for all
these possibilities. I hope it helps. Take care and please do keep us posted in case you have any additional
doubts. Kind regards.
