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Sympathy Pregnancy

post #1 of 5
Thread Starter 
The first time my wife was pregnant, I had a bit of a problem with sympathy pregnancy. I gained a bunch of weight and had mild versions of some of her symptoms. Now, we just found out a couple of weeks ago, we're pregnant again.

Last week, I had to leave work because I was feeling feverish, shivering at my desk and all. I ended up taking off the next day as well. I had a mild fever (about 100 degrees) I called the doctor. They told me it sounded like I had the flu, even though I had no usual flu symptoms other than the fever and a sort of full-body ache. Then I started feeling queasy. And now I'm getting night sweats!

I'm starting to wonder if what I have is some kind of sympathy pregnancy thing. But I don't know if it's possible to get a fever from something that's basically psychosomatic. This is the weirdest sickness I've ever had. Mild fever, chills, aches, night sweats, feeling bloated, queasiness. It sounds more like pregnancy than the flu, but these symptoms were strong enough to keep me out of work for a couple of days.

Has anyone here ever had sympathy pregnancy? Does anyone know if it can be this bad?
post #2 of 5
Actually, some studies have shown that sympathy pregnancy is actually a real physiological phenomenon....

Compare it to women and their cycles. I don't know if you know this being a man (not to generalize) but women who live in close quarters (roommates, sisters, college dorm, even co-workers) will get their periods at generally the same time each month because their hormones become "in tune"---I am not rocket scientist so you may need to research further for the hows and whys etc, but it is true, and scientifically proven....

The same thing with pregnancy. Men and women have the exact same hormones and chemicals, although in much different variations---for example, men have estrogen and women have testosterone, however, of course men have much more testosterone and women have much more estrogen etc----in these studies I have read, they tested the hormones of women and their partners and they noticed the same hormones that fluctuate in pregnancy in women, fluctuate in men as well at the same rate (in respect to their particular amount)....

So to make a long story short, yes, sympathy pregnancy is an actual, real thing---maybe the intensity of it has to do with psychological factors, but physiologically (sp?) speaking, you are not going nutty...

Hope that helps!
post #3 of 5
Thread Starter 
Yes, most women I've known who live with other women eventually fall into the same period schedule.

I'm just weirded out by having these symptoms. It's hard to find much online about sympathy pregnancy symptoms, other than guys who feel a little nauseous or gain weight.
post #4 of 5
Just wanted to chime in & say My DH had the similiar thing happen - He gained a bit more than me @23# :LOL Had backaches, insomnia, nausea. He's still trying to lose the baby weight!
post #5 of 5
Thread Starter 
Yeah, during her first pregnancy I gained 30+ pounds. I never did lose it all. Amazingly, she got herself down to a good deal less than before the pregnancy. Now that she's pregnant again, I'm going to try hard not to gain weight.
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