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Is Pregnancy Possible After Having Sex In The Safe Period?

Posted on Thu, 23 Jan 2014

Question: Hi, I was taking norethisterone to help skip a period. This was over three weeks ago. Within this week I had sex. On the last day of having sex I stopped taking norethisterone. Three days later I had my period, which I know is supposed to happen after taking norethisterone. Within the two weeks of coming off of norethisterone, I had symptoms including nausea, migraines and terrible cramping. However these symptoms have now gone, with the exception of the migranes. I decided that I would like to know when I'm ovulating, so that I can know not to have sex during my fertile moments to avoid pregnancy. However it has now been three weeks and five days since having sex and five days since I had sex and three weeks and three days since my last period when I came off of norethisterone, I decided to go and buy an ovulation kit and started taking it five days ago. For these five days the tests are showing as positive, which I assume to be a strange amount of time to be testing positive for ovualtion? However am not sure if this is because norethisterone has changed my ovuation date (since i thought you ovulate 14 days before your period and it's now four days until my period is due), especially I find it strange that im ovulating for so long and so close to my period. I am wondering if this is just another side effect of norethisterone, or if i could be pregnant, since I read online also, that ovulation tests can be an early predictor for pregnancy. I understand that I cannot rely on an ovulaton test to tell me if im pregnant and so I took a pregnancy test today, which is three weeks and five days since I last had sex and it came back negative. I read that after three weeks after having sex, the pregnancy test should show an accurate result, so does this mean that I'm not pregnant or do i need to wait another four days until my period is due and then take it? as this will have then been just over four weeks since having sex and four weeks since my last period.

Answered by Dr. Shanti Vennam (33 minutes later)

Brief Answer: Pregnancy less likely; better tested with serum. Detailed Answer: Hi, Thanks for writing to us. I have a few points to say after going through your description : -you had intercourse during the safe period, since you were planning to postpone a cycle -you had a normal period after the intercourse -use of hormones for postponement of cycles usually creates some irregularity for a couple of cycles and therefore, ovulation status may be unpredictable -ovulation tests should be taken only after attaining normal periods following hormone therapy -ovulation kits measure the LH surge prior to ovulation and this does not necessarily mean that ovulation will occur -certain clinical conditions where there is excess of LH may result in false positive tests -you are right in mentioning that ovulation usually occurs 14 days before the next period. So, with this information, I feel that you may not have ovulated in this cycle and your past act of sexual intercourse was safe and pregnancy is less likely. Yet, to avoid confusion, you can get the serum beta-hCG titres tested along with a trans-vaginal sonogram; urine pregnancy tests may not always give proper result as they are not so sensitive. Please see a gynecologist for a proper appraisal of the situation. Hope your query has been clarified. Please feel free to contact for further information. I will be happy to help. regards, XXXX

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E

Follow up: Dr. Shanti Vennam (30 minutes later)

Can i ask what the 'safe time' means? I started to have sex on monday the 2nd of november for one week unprotected. I would have been due to have my period on thursday the 5th of december, but postponed my period for six days. I last had sex on sunday the 8th of december, so had seven days of unprotected sex. If i last had sex on sunday the 8th of december and stopped taking norethisterone that same day, would i not have a period anyway since i last had sex three days before my period and perhaps it was too close to the period to stop it? Or was it still in the 'safe time'?

Answered by Dr. Shanti Vennam (21 minutes later)

Brief Answer: Safe period is when the conception is nil. Detailed Answer: Hi, Thanks for writing back. 'Safe period' is the time of the menstrual cycle when the chances of conception are nil or almost absent. In a 28-day cycle, safe period is up to the 10th day of the cycle and from the 16th day of the cycle onward. Sperms may survive up to 5-7 days in the female genital tract while the ovum lives for 12-24 hours after ovulation. The period when the ovum is alive is the absolute fertile period of a cycle. Since the week before the next period is safe, you were in the safe period when you had intercourse on both the occasions. This could in no way affect the course of the withdrawal bleeding that you experienced. Hope your doubt has been clarified. Please get back if you need any more information. I will be ready to help. regards, Shanti.V.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad