Having some concerning symptoms and looking for…. Opinions I guess??

So I’ve been on a hormonal birth control pill for about 10 years now.

I’ve been pretty consistent with taking them before bed every night, but occasionally I will get home from work late and forget to take one. I usually realize this and take a backup the next morning and one at bedtime the same day.

My husband and I have been married for a couple years and we were starting to talk about trying for a baby next year. Welllllll fast forward to mid January I had a slight birth control slip-up. The usual thing; missed a pill one night, realized the next day, resumed taking pills like normal. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but now I’m having a barrage of new PMS symptoms: crazy bloating, a bit more weight fluctuation than normal, resting heart rate 5-10 bpm higher than normal for me and runs that were feeling great and easy are suddenly crazy difficult (I’m a runner and super physically active so I notice this stuff right away), headache, nausea, lower back tightness, brain fog, and BIZARRE dreams. My sleep quality has been awful for a little over a month.

Now I’m under a lot of stress with general work and life stuff, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility that my body is throwing shiny new PMS symptoms at me just for the hell of it. It really could be nothing. Buuuuuut the timing is pretty uncanny considering what my symptoms are and when the birth control slip-up occurred.

I took a test a few days ago just to ease my anxiety and it was negative, but I still can’t shake this feeling that something is up. My regular withdrawal bleed is supposed to happen in a couple days, but I know that can’t rule pregnancy out completely.

Any thoughts? General advice? I plan to take another test whether my withdrawal bleed happens or not.

Posted Feb 20, 2026, 4:28 PM UTC

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