...continues last post
Then in the night I woke up in pain, my strong prescription painkillers that I take for painful periods weren't working, I was throwing up and lying on the floor in agony. Moans of pain woke my husband up and I asked him to take me to A&E. Begged them for Morphine - what a relief.
Told them I thought it was ectopic pregnancy and got referred to emergency gynaecology unit. Blood tests showed my HCG levels were at same level as Sunday - this is a flag for ectopic as if I had miscarried from my womb, levels should plummet quickly.
Internal ultrasound showed the empty sac had gone, nothing in womb, and they couldn't see anything elsewhere either but that is typical as tubes are very fine and other things (bowels, air pockets) get in the way.
Note that they said it's common in ectopic pregnancy for a 'false sac' to show up in the womb, as in my case this can be mistaken for an early 4-5 week pregnancy, both could appear to be sacs with nothing in them (too early to see anything at that stage).
Internal exam showed my womb was still closed, indicating my body still thought I was pregnant (even though I was passing a lot of blood, apparently cervix always slightly open so blood can come out even if womb closed, I didn't know that).
Possible ectopic still on the cards. Spoke to 2 consultants. My options were:
(1) wait and see, but monitor HCG. The egg could pass naturally with no need for intervention, it may have already passed, but risk that the egg could rupture a Fallopian tube /ovary etc depending on where the pregnancy of unknown location was.
(2) laparoscopy- keyhole surgery to look at my tubes, ovaries and surrounding area to see if they can find anything. Quite a significant operation, 2 weeks recovery time and risk that they could damage a tube or other organ.
(3) medical management - a drug called Methotrexate - Google it. Dissolves the pregnancy so that it passes. Safest intervention, 90% success rate, monitor HCG levels alongside this to check it's working. Long list of side effects. Depletes folate in your body so you can't try for a baby for 3 months and you should continue taking folic acid supplements to replace.
I was all for natural management and dead against the drugs. There are stories on misdiagnosedmiscarriage.com of women who are told there's nothing in their womb / an empty sac who refuse treatment and 2 weeks later a heartbeat is found in the womb so you have to weigh up what you want to do. Eventually my DH and I decided we couldn't risk rupturing a tune or ovary. Diagnosis of pregnancy in unknown location seemed conclusive so I've had the injection.
Will report back on side effects. I also want to understand whether there's a risk that there could be tissue from the dissolved egg remaining and blocking my tubes, I'm going to do some research as I may need to have them puffed again to be sure they're clear.
A very long post but I'm hoping it may help you and others who may have or be going through an ectopic/ unknown location pregnancy.
Xx