It’s common advice to take a pregnancy test after your menstruation has stopped. Pregnancy tests examine the hormone hCG, which starts to build up after you conceive, to see if you are expecting. It may take three to four weeks following the first day of your last menstruation for enough hCG to be present in your body to be identified on a test.

You can read our blog post on early signs of pregnancy to understand it better and learn about its causes and symptoms.

Your menstrual cycle begins each month as your body prepares for a potential pregnancy. As a result, your uterine lining—where a fertilized egg would attach to begin a pregnancy—has thickened in part. If you are not pregnant, the extra lining in your uterus is shed during your period. When you are pregnant, that lining is still present and keeps your normal flow from occurring. The first sign of pregnancy is typically a missed period because of this.

Particularly premenstrual symptoms may have similarities to other illnesses’ symptoms in the early stages of pregnancy. As a result, the best way to find out if the symptoms you’re experiencing are related to pregnancy is to try to unwind and calmly wait until it’s time to take a pregnancy test.