Pregnancy symptoms can make someone trying to conceive feel anxious and apprehensive, but know that not all symptoms that seem to be pregnancy-related are actually due to pregnancy. But when should you take a symptom into consideration in the first weeks?

Sometimes the body plays tricks on a woman and creates all the possible symptoms of pregnancy. This can be confused with PMS symptoms or simple hormonal changes. The main factor that causes this confusion is the change in progesterone. Together with estrogen, it is what causes pregnancy symptoms, such as nausea and more1. In fact, the most frequent pregnancy symptoms are:

  • Nausea
  • Breast tenderness and swelling
  • Dizziness
  • Aversion to foods and smells
  • Heightened sense of smell
  • Changed taste (for sweet, salty, or bitter)
  • Drowsiness
  • Cramps
  • Fainting

Most of these symptoms, such as sleepiness, breast tenderness, and changes in taste, for example, are caused by progesterone. But these symptoms do not always appear only in pregnancy, as progesterone also increases after ovulation due to the corpus luteum, which secretes the hormone to help maintain a possible implantation2. So that’s why a woman may have symptoms even without being pregnant. Because the body naturally produces progesterone after ovulation, except in cases where hormone production is low, but that’s a topic for another post.

How to Differentiate Pregnancy Symptoms When They Are the Same?

This is the hardest part because without a missed period, it’s complicated to tell the difference between pregnancy and PMS symptoms. If the symptoms are present since the end of the fertile window, it’s advised that the woman waits for a relevant menstrual delay of 5 to 15 days before suspecting pregnancy. I consider a 7-day delay reasonable for a pharmacy or blood test. If you take the test or pregnancy exam before the delay just because of the symptoms, you may get a false negative and end up frustrated unnecessarily3. But if anxiety is getting the best of you and you can’t wait, opt for the more sensitive tests. You can find pregnancy tests with a sensitivity of 10 mIU from Famivita, which can detect HCG even before your period is late, here.

See, sometimes a woman may be pregnant and not develop any kind of pregnancy sign or symptom. Both situations have happened to me, so that old saying that every pregnancy is different is the pure truth. Nausea, back pain, strong cramps, changed taste, and smells that bothered me… those were my main symptoms in the first and last pregnancy. In the second one, I felt absolutely nothing in the first weeks! I only suspected pregnancy at 2 months gestation.

So we conclude that pregnancy symptoms are not always what they seem— a woman may indeed be pregnant but might also have symptoms simply due to the post-ovulation hormonal increase. Don’t rely solely on symptoms; this will keep anxiety in check and make things lighter for those trying to conceive. And for those suspecting pregnancy, my tip is: wait at least 5 days to take a test and confirm your suspicion. False negatives can happen, but if you take the test at the right time, confirming the pregnancy is easier, especially using a sensitive test of 10 mIU, like Famivita’s pregnancy tests.

See also: First Pregnancy Symptoms