False pregnancy: symptoms, causes and treatment

Some women experience an unusual paradox - they experience pregnancy symptoms even though they are not actually pregnant. What is a phantom pregnancy, can this disease occur due to fear of pregnancy? What are the symptoms of a phantom pregnancy? Is it possible that the pregnancy test and beta hCG result will be positive in a phantom pregnancy, despite the absence of pregnancy? 

In today's article, we present the issue of phantom pregnancy in women.

What is a phantom pregnancy in women??

When asking: what is a phantom pregnancy, you should be aware that it is often also called pseudopregnancy. However, these concepts are separate disease entities in the field of psychiatry.

False pregnancy in a woman is a psychiatric disorder characterized by a strong belief that she is pregnant despite the lack of fertilization (only mental symptoms). In turn, during pseudopregnancy, in addition to mental symptoms, the patient also begins to experience somatic symptoms of pregnancy.

To help readers understand what a phantom pregnancy is for the purpose of this article phantom pregnancy and alleged we will treat them as identical concepts, describing a woman's false and very strong belief that she is pregnant when she is not really pregnant (accompanied by psychosomatic symptoms).

Causes of false pregnancy: whether this disease can develop in a woman out of fear before pregnancy?

Although phantom pregnancy is a relatively rare psychiatric disorder, it can occur in women of any age. Symptoms of a phantom pregnancy may occur, among others, due to fear of pregnancy or a strong desire to give birth to a child. False pregnancy in women sometimes occurs in the course of schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and the use of certain psychotic drugs.

• Strong desire to have a baby: 

• Fear of getting pregnant: in turn, false pregnancy due to fear of getting pregnant most often occurs in sexually active women who do not plan to get pregnant at a given moment in their lives, e.g. due to young age, career plans, or lack of a permanent partner.
• Symptoms of perimenopause: False pregnancy due to fear may also occur in perimenopausal women who, due to physiological fluctuations in hormone levels, may experience some of the symptoms of pregnancy, but are very afraid of motherhood, e.g. because of their advanced age and orderly personal and professional lives.

As you can see, the causes of phantom pregnancy in women are very diverse, so accurate diagnosis and treatment require the involvement of many specialists.

symptoms characteristic for false pregnancy in womeny

Many sexually active women have once had some of the symptoms of a phantom pregnancy. It is normal for women of childbearing age to wonder from time to time whether they are pregnant. However, when the pregnancy test is negative or the gynecological examination does not confirm fertilization, women who do not have a phantom pregnancy come to terms with this information (sometimes with regret, sometimes with relief).

Therefore, when we consider what a phantom pregnancy in a woman is, it comes to the fore the power of the human psyche and persuasion. Even though there is no fertilized egg in the uterus, the belief that she is pregnant reaches the point where the woman begins to feel almost all the characteristic symptoms. symptoms of phantom pregnancy.

Do symptoms of phantom pregnancy may include:

• morning sickness (sometimes even vomiting) and smell hypersensitivity;
• food cravings;
• tiredness and sleepiness during the day;
• mood swings.

Additionally, some women experience symptoms of a phantom pregnancy form of somatic ailments:

• stopping menstruation;
• breast tenderness and swelling (in some cases, lactation may develop);
• uterine congestion and pain, abdominal enlargement.

A woman with a phantom pregnancy, despite taking a pregnancy test and visiting a gynecologist, still does not accept that she is not pregnant. In some cases, women with a false pregnancy may avoid taking a pregnancy test and visiting a doctor, arguing that they know best whether they are pregnant and do not need confirmation.

False pregnancy and beta hCG result: or pregnancy test can it be a false positive?

In some cases of false pregnancy, a home urine pregnancy test may come back positive even though there is no embryo in the woman's uterus. False pregnancy and beta hCG result - home pregnancy tests are based on detection increased levels of the beta hCG hormone, which appears in the urine approximately 7-10 days after fertilization. How is it possible that the beta hCG result in some phantom pregnancies indicates the presence of a real pregnancy?

An elevated beta hCG result in a phantom pregnancy is a very rare phenomenon, but it may occur in a more severe course of the disease. The strength of a woman's psyche and the stress she experiences can affect hormonal disordersamong others:

• to stop menstruation;
• stimulation of lactation;
• increased beta hCG result in phantom pregnancy both in urine and blood.

What to do if pregnancy test in false pregnancy came out positive?

The woman should go to a gynecologist who will be able to objectively confirm the pregnancy by performing a vaginal ultrasound. False pregnancy and Beta hCG result - even if the pregnancy test is positive, in a phantom pregnancy the gynecologist will not detect the presence of an embryo in the uterus (or outside the uterus - in the case of an ectopic pregnancy).

It is worth keeping in mind that an elevated beta hCG result and symptoms of false pregnancy may occur in the already mentioned ectopic pregnancy (it poses a direct threat to the woman's life) and in the course of some cancers, e.g. ovarian cancer. In case of doubt, the doctor will refer the patient to additional tests.

How to heal false pregnancy in a woman: who to turn to for help?

Although phantom pregnancy is rare, it is a serious mental disorder. It requires comprehensive treatment combining aspects of gynecology, psychology and psychiatry.

In most cases, the symptoms of a phantom pregnancy disappear after implementation of pharmacotherapy, when used simultaneously psychotherapy. The treatment process is usually long and requires the cooperation of several specialists.

In the treatment of a phantom pregnancy in a woman, the support of family and friends is also of great importance. Thanks to the help of her loved ones, the patient recovers faster and is able, after some time, to return to functioning in society.