am new to this ... cramps ??? what do they mean ???

[coconuts]

hello all !

i'm very new here (never been though this before) and would appreciate any advice on what to do next ...

on Saturday night i woke up during the night with the. WORST. cramps i've EVER had !!! way worse than any period cramps i've experienced ... more along the very bottom of my belly - in the pelvis area and they felt different to normal period cramps... i rocked myself for a while but it didn't help so i ended up getting a heat sack and taking some nurofen and after a few hours fell back asleep as the pain eased up ...

i thought that was weird as i haven't had bad cramps since going on the pill years ago (one of the main reasons i went on it) so i was wondering what is up with this ?!

yesterday they were on and off all morning but no where near as bad as during the night ... and then in the evening they started again but thankfully still not as painful as the previous night ...

it wasn't until my partners sister asked me yesterday ''you're not pregnant are you ???'' and i was like ..... nooo ! how could i be !!!

i didn't know cramps were an early pregnancy sign until i googled it this morning !!! now it's got me thinking ... what if ???

i'm on the pill and have been for some time ...i just finished my period last Thursday ... it was normal ... i usually spot 7 - 10 days before i get my AF and have been doing that for a while ... my doctor suggested to switch pills which i did but it hasn't changed it ... but my most recent period i actually didn't spot prior to it ...

so now i'm sitting here at work stressing just a little bit ... could it be ovulation ? although i've never experienced this before .. or something else ?

what would your next move be ?? i'm thinking i should tell my partner what i'm thinking/what i googled and then maybe a HPT ???

any helpful advice from you wonderful ladies would be most apprecaited

thanking you in advance ...

[Pholi]

It's certainly not impossible to fall pregnant while on the pill, and if you take it irregularly, or have any kind of gastro problems, it makes it more likely. However cramping probably isn't the most common symptom in early pregnancy, and if that's the only thing that's different, I wouldn't immediately think of pregnancy. On the other hand, it's obviously making you quite stressed, and I always think it's better to know than to worry!

If it were me I would do a pregnancy test without telling my DP, but that's just because he wouldn't have much he could do to help me feel better, he'd jsut tell me to go get a test! I would do the test, and then definitely tell him if it were positive, and maybe tell him even if it were negative.

If you test, and the test is negative, consider going to see your GP anyway, because there are lots of other possible causes for lower abdominal pain, such as thrush, UTI, etc, and severe cramps that are not part of your usual cycle should be investigated.

[coconuts]

thanks for your advice : ) muchly appreciated : )

i'm onto it when it comes to taking the pill - don't miss any, same time of day etc. but nothing is 100% i guess ... unless you don't do the deed at all ... but there's no fun in that :P

will do a HPT just to check and go from there ...

am wondering if it's not endometriosis or something so will visit the docs perhaps ...

thanks again )))