Can pregnancy symptoms start a week after intercourse?

In most cases, it is not possible to start having symptoms so

early, since it takes the female body about two weeks to produce

the HCG (pregnancy) hormone that make you feel pregnancy symptoms.

However, every woman is different. Following are several opinions

and experiences on this issue from s.com contributors.

Please visit the discussion page if you would like to add to the

discussion on this topic.

Experiences from s.com contributors

• Many women begin noticing slight symptoms within a day or two

  of implantation, which usually occurs 7-10 days after conception

  (not necessarily the same as 7-10 days after sex!). The pregnancy

  hormone, HCG, is not present in the bloodstream until after

  implantation, and sometimes can be detected by an early home

  pregnancy test as soon as 10 days past ovulation if pregnancy has

  occurred. After implantation, some women begin to feel the typical

  signs of early pregnancy -- sore breasts, slight nausea, etc. A

  friend of mine swears she always knew she was pregnant before she

  missed her period because her sinuses started acting up for no

  reason with all three of her pregnancies several days before her

  period was due. It's really very different for every woman. Still,

  developing symptoms at one week past conception seems very

  unlikely.

• Implantation occurs around 7 to 14 days after conception at

  which point a woman's body starts to produce the pregnancy hormone

  HCG. Everyone has different levels of this hormone and it is only

  present in small quantities to start with. High sensitivity

  pregnancy tests can detect this hormone up to 6 days before your

  period is due so theoretically YES you can feel pregnancy symptoms

  a week after conception and a week before your period is due!

  Because every woman has different hormone levels and every woman's

  body reacts differently to those hormones it is impossible to judge

  an individual case.

• The best thing to do is to do a test on the day your period is

  due. If you can't wait for then buy a high sensitivity pregnancy

  test and use it first thing in the morning. Your first wee in the

  morning is more highly concentrated because you have had less

  fluids overnight and your bladder has been storing all the excreted

  hormones throughout the night. This makes it easier for a test to

  detect the hormones if you are not yet producing them in high

  quantities. If the result is negative and you do not have a period

  at the normal time then test again as it may just be that the

  hormone levels were too low to detect at the first test.

• It's definitely possible to feel pregnancy symptoms one week

  after conception. Very few women know right when they conceive as

  their basal body temperature will be elevated. Coming from

  experience, I had unusual signs. I figured I was getting my period

  because my breasts were so sore, but they were sore all around, my

  nipples were killing me. I had pain in my lower right side which

  was for about 1 week straight. One night I was showering and the

  pain was so severe that I had to go to emerge thinking it was

  appendicitis. There were 2 possible things ectopic pregnancy or

  appendicitis. The doctor asked me if I could be pregnant and I said

  I don't think so. My period was due in about 3 days. We did try a

  few times but I didn't think it at the time. I gave a urine sample

  and the results came back negative. It was not appendicitis either.

  3 1/2 weeks later the pain was still there so I booked an app with

  the doctors. They gave me an ultrasound to see if there was an

  ovarian cysts. The ultrasound tech asked if I was pregnant and I

  said nope. 1 week later the results came back and no ovarian cyst.

  At 5 weeks, I had heartburn, acid reflex, waking up early as I was

  very hungry. We took 2 tests and both were positive. I got a app

  booked 2 days later. Doctors found out I was 5 weeks along. I told

  them that I would be 5 weeks I knew 1 week after I conceived.

• It's not possible to feel symptoms just one week after sex. It

  takes the female body about 2 weeks to produce the hormones that

  make you feel those symptoms. My first pregnancy it took me 2

  MONTHS to even get any symptoms which were breast tenderness,

  missed period of course, and a little weight gain.

• It is not likely. Symptoms are not generally noticeable until

  around the 5th week of conception, although some women do say they

  feel symptoms within two weeks. The most reliable symptom is a

  missed period

• I have had two pregnancies where symptoms developed exactly a

  week after ovulation. The earliest symptom was slight nausea and

  then the next day I also had breast tenderness and tugging

  sensations deep in my uterus area. The first time I was ever

  pregnant, though, I didn't have any symptoms until the day after I

  missed my period. I'm guessing that I felt symptoms earlier with

  the next pregnancies because I was more attuned to the sensations

  of pregnancy (having done it before). I know people claim you can't

  feel things that early - but I know I did. Some people are probably

  just more sensitive to low levels of hormones than others.