Guest Author - Stephanie Cummings

Last week a friend called me to ask a very personal question. Her period was missing and she had taken a home pregnancy test with a negative result. She wanted to know how long she should wait before calling the doctor.

Most women, at some point in their life, have experienced an irregularity in their menstrual cycle. Depending on your circumstances, this can bring hope and joy or despair and stress. IN any case a missing period can be something that you should pay attention to.

There are many things that can cause you to miss a period, not the least of which—although the most common—is pregnancy. However, in some cases gynecological issues such as PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome), endometriosis, or a hormone deficiency can cause menstrual irregularities. It is even possible for something as simple as excessive stress or bad eating habits to wreak havoc on your cycle.

That being said, it is a given that when a woman misses a scheduled period her mind will immediately question the possibility of a pregnancy.

The first thing you should do is count days to make sure that you haven’t inadvertently miscalculated when to expect your period. A normal menstrual cycle is twenty-eight days long. The first day of bleeding is considered cycle day one. Your next period should begin approximately twenty-eight days later, though some women have cycles lasting as long as forty days. You should know how long your normal cycles are. If it is not unusual for you to experience a thirty-five day cycle, then freaking out on day twenty-eight would be premature.

Once you have determined that your period is in fact “late”, your next step should be to determine if you had sexual relations around your fertile period (approximately fourteen days before your expected period.) If you have had intercourse you should probably do a home pregnancy test. These tests are inexpensive (certainly less than a trip to the doctor’s office) and easily purchased over the counter at any drug, grocery, or discount store. They are usually around 95% accurate and easy to use (just follow the directions on the packet enclosed in the box.) Home pregnancy tests can be taken as early as the first day of your missed period, though some are formulated to be so sensitive that they can detect the pregnancy hormone hCG up to five days earlier. IN most cases this test will determine if you are pregnant or not.

Obviously, if your home pregnancy test shows a positive result, you are more than likely pregnant, explaining your missed period, and you should call your doctor to confirm.

If, however, your home pregnancy test shows a negative result you may still be concerned about a missed period. It is possible to have a false negative result when you are in fact pregnant. User mistakes, not following the directions, miscalculating your cycles and testing too early, an abnormal pregnancy and if the test is used past it’s expiration date can all result in a false negative. Though it is unlikely to get a false positive, false negatives occur in up to 5% of all home pregnancy tests.

It is recommended that if you have a negative home pregnancy test you should retest in three days if your period is still absent. If you still get a negative result you should wait another three days and test again.

After this, a call to the doctor is not unwarranted. Most doctors will not get too excited about a period that is less than fourteen days late. After two weeks of no menstrual activity and at least three negative home pregnancy tests I recommend a call to your regular health care professional of gynecologist.

Your doctor will probably want to see you and possible run some test, including a beta serum test (this test looks for hCG in the blood stream rather than in the urine, more sensitive and more accurate.)

Of course, if a missed period is accompanied by other strange symptoms, especially pelvic or abdominal pain, you should call your doctor earlier than two weeks.

Use your best judgment and know what is and isn’t normal for your body. While missing your period is usually the first sign of pregnancy, it can also be something more serious.


As for my friend, she really is pregnant. Congratulations!