Has anyone had ivf due to multiple ectopics?

[goingmadwaiting]

I'm on my second ectopic I think waiting for a scan to confirm and suspect I will need methotrexate. Had surgery for tube removal last time

I'm also nearly 44 so have run out of time and emotions to go through this again

I am considering ivf but I know that can be brutal too and also can result in ectopic

I have one tube left that looks ok.

Has anyone had any experience of this?

I moved on to IVF after a ruptured ectopic and lost my left tube age 35. I also felt the clock ticking and because I'd also experienced recurrent miscarriages I felt IVF would help reduce chance of both happening again

I was told my remaining right tube looked "perfect" during the surgery for my first ectopic and also managed to get a HSG test which confirmed it was open and clear

On my second IVF transfer age 36 I transferred 2 embryos and ended up having a second ectopic in my right tube. It ruptured and I declined the offer of the surgeon for them to attempt to "save" it as I was fed up of feeling like I was playing Russian roulette with my life in the pursuit of a baby (I also suspected that a miscarriage I had the month before wasn't a miscarriage but was an ectopic which managed to resolve itself)

I learnt afterwards that IVF actually increases not decreases the risk of an ectopic and I was obviously pretty naive about that

I felt much "better" once the tube was gone and I also requested they go back in and make sure both stumps where removed as you can still have an ectopic in those and that would have just been my luck!

I did a further 2 transfers and am now pregnant with twins

Not going to lie IVF is hard - for me not so much physically as I only did short protocol and natural modified IVF and the whole process was over in less than 2 weeks. But it is brutal in terms of the stress of it not working, fitting it in with work and normal life, anxiety of follicle sizes, numbers of eggs, fertilisation rates, blastocyst qualities and then the transfer itself

Also since you are having methotrexate it means you can't try to get pregnant for 3 months at a time when you are already at an age when IVF success rates are woefully low for your age group (sorry if that sounds harsh but need to be realistic about IVF over 43) so I'd probably use the time to explore IVF options since you can't try naturally anyway and then you'd be ready to start as soon as the 3 months are up (obviously you wouldn't be entitled to IVF on the NHS so waiting times for private clinics are much much shorter)

Thanks @ivfbeenbusy

Congrats on the pregnancy. Twins..so exciting!

And sorry to hear of your previous ectopics

I've just got back from the hospital and it's another ectopic in the stump of the right tube that goes into the womb. It could have gone anywhere and it went there! Fortunately the levels are so low that the dr thinks it might resolve itself and is going to give it a week to see if levels drop before suggesting methotrexate

I didn't realise ivf Increased the risk of ectopics

I don't really know what to do now. I think my chances of having another successful pregnancy by any means are pretty low to be honest but the dr was really nice and said if I did want to try again that they would monitor and look after me. To be honest the care I have received from the EPU has been amazing

The dr said he has seen people come back with 4 ectopics before 😩

Thats really rubbish that it's there - it made it so far only to get itself stuck in that position

I only found out IVF increases chances after I'd had my second ectopic and my IVF doctor dropped it in the conversation! Apparently it's only a minor increase in risk compared to trying naturally but unfortunately I was the unlucky one

I generally had good care from EPU once I was admitted (getting diagnosed was a faff though even though ruptured twice and nearly died twice as I think a lot of hospitals think people exaggerate their symptoms to get reassurance scans)