i feel my pulse all over my body recently and ive been really worried over it. could this have anything to do with anxiety, or sit ups or... pregnancy?

Hi, I just found out yesterday that I am 4wks pregnant :) yes we are so excited. This is our 6th try, 3 mc 2 bfn. We are hoping all will go well here so please say a prayer for us. In the last 4 days I have been feeling my pulse all over my body, back of my head, lower back, tummy, arms and thigh area. Is this normal? It is most intense when I am lying down but I also feel it when sitting.

N177,

OK, if you've gotten two periods -- or even one period -- since you were sexually active, I can tell you for sure that you are NOT pregnant. The body cannot be pregnant and have periods at the same time.

Many many girls and women do exactly what you are doing: Noticing everything in your body that you never ever noticed before. It happens to lots of us once we start worrying about something.

So I'm guessing that you had unprotected sex? Do you know if your partner had ever had sex before?

I am not a nurse or a doctor, so I can't tell you anything for sure. But I can tell you that it's absolutely possible that yes, you're feeling symptoms of anxiety. Anxiety can make our heart race so fast that some people get out of breath and fear that they're having a heart attack.

Let's talk about the discharge. If your partner possibly had an STD (sexually transmitted disease) and you had unprotected sex, you might have gotten that STD. Or, you might simply have gotten a vaginal infection or a urinary tract infection, both of which are easily treatable.

Let's talk about making a doctor's appointment just to get this checked out. I am guessing that your only doctor is your family doctor, am I right? And you don't want to go there?

Would you be interested in going to Planned Parenthood? They have doctors at reduced rates who are very used to seeing and talking with young women. You can talk with them about birth control, if you are interested, and you can get an exam and, if needed, medicine. It's completely confidential and you can make your appointment on your own.

If you go to this page and put in your zip code, it will give you information about Planned Parenthood Health Centers near you:

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/

Do you think that would help?

Hi, n177,

Thanks so much for your question. And welcome to EmpowHer!

I need to ask you a couple of questions. When you say you feel your pulse all over your body, does that mean you feel like your heart is racing? That it is beating so hard you feel it in your arms and legs, for instance?

Or is it just that when you put your fingers on pulse points in your body (like the inside of your wrists, or the side of your neck) that you can feel it there, beating?

Or is it different than that? Can you try to describe it more?

Does it go on all the time, all day long? Or just sometimes?

When this happens, are you anxious? Are you in a worrisome situation? Is there something on your mind? Could this be panic attacks for any reason?

Situps -- as well as any kind of exertion -- will cause your heart to beat faster for a while. But it soon recovers and slows back down to its normal pace.

Are you pregnant? If so, how far along are you?

And may I ask how old you are?