Late period but false pregnancy tests?

[AlwaysPasta]

I've had PCOS since my early 20s (about 10 years ago). I have cysts and irregular periods but low/normal testosterone levels. For the last year, I have been without my Mirena coil and tracking my periods on an app. Last month, my husband and I have started to try and conceive. My normal cycle is around 37 days (+/- a couple of days) and I'm now at day 46 with no period. So, according to my average cycle length, I'm 10 days late. I had a tiny bit of brown spotting about 10 days after I was ovulating which I've read could be implantation bleeding? I've done a few pregnancy tests and they're negative, but I've never had such a long cycle before. Is it normal for false negative pregnancy tests? I'm feeling a bit confused and would love some help/advice! Are there any home-test urine pregnancy tests that are better for PCOS? I've read online that the 'early detection' tests can lead to false negatives in PCOS but I don't know how true that is

[Afive]

Hi! With PCOS your cycles are crazy usually. How were your periods before the Mirena coil? If you had regular periods (even if longer but always the same), then probably worth mention it to a GP. But if not, I would just wait. Usually after pill/coil the cycles are stable for a bit (and that matches with what you said - 37 days), but then they go all over the place... Its the deregulation that PCOS is known for (it is a metabolic disease!). How many cycles has is been since you stopped? Pregnancy tests are accurate for people with PCOS. If you have HCG hormone they are positive, otherwise negative. The only thing is that if you test too early, there might not be enough hormone for the test to be positive (and if you are indeed pregnant it will give a false negative). Test a week later to make sure. If it's still negative and your period hasn't come, test in another 2 days. If it's still negative you probably are not pregnant, and your period will eventually come (I had times with cycles of 3 months... When period came it was almost 3 weeks, not fun!).

PCOS makes it really hard to know when you ovulate (which makes knowing when you are "late" very tricky)... The only usually inaccurate tests in PCOS are the ovulation tests (that track LH hormone). For PCOS you need to do one every single day of the cycle (starting 5 days after your period starts), at the same time of the day and compare them (with pictures in the same angle with the same light if possible). Normal people have one peak of LH, people with PCOS can have multiple (3 is common), and it's very hard to know if any of those actually triggered ovulation. I do not advise this since you've just started trying and it is lots of stress. Stress can make your periods delay, and getting anxious about it does increase your stress. You want to be as relaxed as possible, still tracking things but being chill about it.

If you are trying to get pregnant, there are things that you should think about, like taking folic acid and vitamin D supplements (this for everyone, not just PCOS). Since it's winter now (and you have PCOS), the vitD dose should be higher, something like 150ug. If your BMI is higher than 25, you want to try and bring it down as much as possible (not by starving yourself, but be mindful of food quantities/portions and/or increase exercise levels). I strongly recommend inositol as well because of the PCOS, but that depends on your cycles... If you do have long but regular cycles usually, then you might want to just try a bit longer. On that note, you also should be having sex every other day (not every day because that will lower sperm quality). Try to get in tune with your body, pay attention to the changes in mucous etc. but again, do not stress much about it (i know, counterintuitive, but stress really doesn't help!). If it has been a year since you started trying and nothing happens, go to GP and ask them to check. If you are under 35, the doctor needs to test, you might just have to push a bit for it depending on how happy they are to help. Both you and your partner should be given a fertility test (women: 3 blood tests at 3 times of the month to check if your hormones are going up and down as they should, men: sperm count and general blood test).

Hope everything works for you!