How to Identify If You're Pregnant or Getting Your Period?

During the two weeks between ovulation and the start of periods, many of you asked yourself repeatedly how to tell if you were pregnant or just starting your menstrual period.

This window can be a period of stress, excitement, and expectation for women attempting to conceive. On the other hand, this time can be stressful for women who worry about an unintended pregnancy brought on by unprotected sex.

Typically, it might be challenging to distinguish between PMS and early pregnancy symptoms. However, this article teaches you how to distinguish between the typical symptoms of PMS and early pregnancy.

What is PMS?

Premenstrual syndrome, or PMS, is a collection of physical and emotional signs that begin one to two weeks before the first menstrual period. Each woman experiences these symptoms differently, both in terms of duration and severity. Usually, PMS goes away as your period starts.

Some Symptoms of PMS

While some females encounter emotional problems during PMS, pains, and other physical despairs bother others. Here are some typical symptoms of PMS.

• Skin breakouts

A bulk of women undergo pimples and acne earlier in their monthly periods.  Premenstrual breakouts generally vanish after the periods. Also, numerous women feel extreme fatigue and headaches prior to their periods. They sense worn out even if they are not concerned about any tiring movement.

• Mood Swings

Another PMS symptom is mood swings. Most women experience an emotional rollercoaster before their period. Prior to periods, depression and anxiety are also frequently present. Before periods, the majority of women also have muscle cramps in their legs, belly, etc., with or without spots.

• Lower Back Ache

Lower back discomfort is another typical symptom that females experience before and more frequently during their period. Some women participate in joint aches, as well. Breast keenness, soreness, and plumpness that range from mild to harsh is another typical PMS warning.

• Bloating

Most women may experience bloating and brief weight gain before their periods. Impending periods are often indicated by changes in eating and sleeping habits. Previous to periods, the vaginal discharge also alters.

• Digestive Problems

Digestive problems like constipation, diarrhoea, and gas also emerge prior to monthly periods. Improved urination is also a symbol of impending periods. Transformations in eating practices,  food disliking, or craving also occasionally arrive prior to periods for many females.

Standard Signs of Early Pregnancy

Not all females encounter all of these early pregnancy manifestations. Nevertheless, many of them partake some of these signs in altering magnitude.

Breast sensitiveness is the standard early pregnancy sign. Fatigue and tiredness occur as the transformations transpire in metabolism to sustain emerging new life. Sickness and dizziness are other definitive early pregnancy symptoms.

An increase in basal body temperature is also linked with early pregnancy. The body temperature might grow by half to one and a half degrees. Food desire and hatred of a particular food can attack from the early days of gestation itself.

Headaches and gentle cramps also occur before you skipped your period, suggesting odds of early pregnancy. Differences in the skin like skin darkening and areola darkening also transpire during the earlier week of gestation. 

Constipation is recognized as a sign of early pregnancy. In some circumstances, light bleeding or spotting may also occur during the first week of pregnancy. One of the first indicators of pregnancy is increased urination. The early stages of pregnancy can also cause weight gain and bloating.

Symptoms Common to Approaching Periods and Early Pregnancy

You will realize that many of the symptoms of PMS and early pregnancy are similar as you go through the signs listed above. Common Signs of both include headaches, tiredness, mood swings, constipation, acne, skin breakouts,  breast transformations,  modifications in eating and sleeping practices, light spotting,  weight increase, and bloating.

How to Identify If Your Period is Arriving or you are Pregnant?

Although the majority of the symptoms of upcoming menstruation and early pregnancy are similar, paying great attention to, comparing, and analyzing a few signals will help you tell the two apart. You can use the following information to determine if you are pregnant or just about to start your period:

Cramps

• Upcoming Period: Back discomfort is a common side effect of PMS, and the cramping will be really bad. Women experience different degrees of severity. Usually, the cramp gets better as the period begins and disappears at the end of the cycle. Early pregnancy does not cause joint pain that troubles women shortly before their menstruation.

• Pregnancy: Cramping females encounter early in gestation will not be severe. The gentle cramps near this time window of gestation are nothing, but implantation hurt occurs with an egg embeds into the uterine wall. These cramps emerge in the lower back or lower belly and stay more prolonged than PMS cramps.

Exhaustion

• Forthcoming Period: Even if you are not physically exhausted, you will feel extremely exhausted. When your period is really close, the fatigue that occurs as a result of an oncoming period disappears.

• Pregnancy: Encountering extreme exhaustion and fatigue, associated with a delayed period, can be an early pregnancy symptom.  You feel overly tired and want to sleep throughout the day.

Headaches

• Upcoming Period: Differences in estrogen levels that transpire earlier in periods can initiate a headache. Headache that occurs prior to periods decreases as the period starts.

• Pregnancy: Pregnancy hormones begin to spike shortly after successful implantation, and this hormonal change can result in unexpected headaches. Early on in maternity, headaches can linger longer and be very unpleasant.

Bloating

• Upcoming Period: Bloating is innate prior to menses. Hormonal shifts bring around water retention, which can provide a bloating emotion. There will be a small change in your weight as well. It leads to an increase and then falls back to standard when your period begins.

• Pregnancy: Bloating during gestation will be more well-known. You feel incredibly bloated, particularly after eating a meal because of the highly changing hormones.

Experiencing Gas

• Upcoming Period: Instability in hormone levels before periods slow down your gastrointestinal lots. It can make women gassy just before the period forms.

• Pregnancy:  The overflow of pregnancy hormones can also produce gas problems. Numerous women experience abdominal gas, except for a skipped period, early in their gestation.

Mood Swings

• Upcoming Period: Mood swings are very typical during PMS, and might decrease when you get your period.

• Pregnancy: Mood swings might be stronger during early pregnancy and persist for a longer time. 

Acne and Pimples 

• Upcoming Period: Estrogen and progesterone levels fall just before the beginning of menstruation. The sebaceous glands are encouraged to secrete more sebum by this drop in hormone levels. A surplus of this greasy discharge clogs the pores and causes acne.

• Pregnancy: Even if you don’t generally get pimples or acne during periods, you might notice them in early pregnancy.

Breast Changes

• Upcoming Period: The hormonal changes that occur before menstruation might make the breasts more sensitive. There will be some pain as well as swelling and tenderness in the breasts.

• Pregnancy: The breasts become tender as well as sensitive during early pregnancy. Additionally, this pain endures longer.

Spotting

• Upcoming Period: Up to the beginning of the period, there won't be any bleeding or spotting. The bleeding will become heavier once the menstruation begins and may continue for a week.

• Pregnancy: If you are hoping for your period, but instead, only notice light bleeding for some of the days, you might be pregnant.

Nausea and Vomiting

• Upcoming Period: Even though some females encounter nausea before periods, vomiting is not generally linked even with severe PMS.

• Pregnancy: Nausea and vomiting are more expected in early pregnancy signs. Most ladies feel nauseous and want to vomit before obtaining a positive test outcome. 

Conclusion

Not every woman is susceptible to PMS. Similarly, not all women experience the early signs of pregnancy. Each individual has a unique range of PMS and early pregnancy symptoms. While some women are severely impacted, others may only show minor or no symptoms.

Moreover, contact Antenate to speak with our gynecologist and fertility expert, Dr. Shesha Sinha, for more details on pregnancy and menstrual period-related information as well as to receive fast medical care.