Has anyone experienced and ectopic preganancy?

[PinkElephant]

Have recently experienced an ectopic pregnancy and have so many questions to ask.

Message withdrawn

i have, PinkElephant. so sorry to hear that you lost your wee pregnancy, it is devastating i know. what can i do to help?

if you're looking for more people then i think if you look at the topics list and then miscarriage/bereavement there have sadly been some recent ectopic pregnancies.

(and can i also suggest that you have a look at www.ectopicpregnancytrust.org as they saved my life at the time?)

shout out and if i can help i will,
h x

So sorry to hear you are going through this. I had an ectopic pregnancy in October. As the previous poster said the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust is great and I have found them to be a lifeline

Aitchtwo.. I've had a good look at the ectopic trust info which has been really helpful. Did you have medical or surgical intervention? Because they found mine very early I had methotrexate injection and am now having the the HCG tests to check this is reducing in response. Still waiting for bleeding to start. Did you experience this?

Lubyloo - I think I must have just crossed with you. What happened for you? I hope you don't mind me asking. I just want to talk to soemone who's experienced this. The hospital have been great and answered all my questions but there's nothing like talking to someone who has been through it.

hi pinkelephant - sorry to hear of your loss. i too had an ep - back in 2003 - and it was a tough time. i'm glad you found the ept message boards - they were my lifeline too.

mine was treated surgically as my tube had ruptured so i'm afraid i can't help in terms of metho information, but i wish you a speedy recovery. we're here if you need support. x

I had an ectopic several years ago. Lost my left fallopian tube.

If you're worried about conceiving again, don't be, it was a strugle but I'm now the proud owner of a 16month old!

me too (left tube) pressie pants

but i have conceived twice since then after ovulating on the left side

so there is plenty of hope, even with just one tube

struggle even (tut)

It does make you worry a bit more though until you have a scan and see everything is where it ought to be.

They are good and will probably send you for an early scan if you conceive after having an ectopic just to make sure.

I had an early diagnosed eptopic pregnancy, as mad as it may sound they found it when I had a blood test for base levels prior to starting IVF treatment, and my base levels (as I was pregnant) were higher than they should have been, they monitored it closely and the levels werent rising as they should, scanned me and found it was eptopic, I was about 5 weeks. I had it removed surgically. I then went on to have a succesful IVF which resulted on my dd and then had a natural conception 18 months later with another dd. So it doesnt necessarily mean that conception would be more difficulty, I had been trying to conceive 5 years previous to the eptopic with no success.

i've had metho, PinkElephant. It's hard to get specific info on it, as i recall, because a lot of people have different experiences on it.

i'll tell you mine, if it'll help. Started with some bleeding, couldn't see anythign on a scan, did serial Hcgs and the levels were found to be low and not doubling - gutted doesn't cover it.

they gave me the injection, sent me home and told me there might be some 'separation pain' as the baby came off the tube and that i should expect some bleeding.

well... there was more than some pain in my case... it was really bad. i'm not saying that to scare you, just so that you know. i did panic that i was going to see the baby somehow, but really the blood is mostly the lining of the womb so the chances are infinitesimal to zero of that happening.

i knew from the scan that the lining of my womb was 'nice and thick' (although it was bugger all use to me or the baby, she says bitterly) so the clots were quite substantial. if you are worried about that then you can put it to one side i hope, it's not at all likely.

people don't talk about this stage as a miscarriage, but i've spoken to friends who have lost babies through miscarriage and it sounds very similar. the lining of your womb has to go somewhere, so it comes out as a period-like bleeding. however, because i had such a thick lining there were clots, and because my cervix was tight shut (because my body was still pregnant, iykwim?) the clots irritated the cervix and forced it to open up to let them out. this was very, very painful. Take paracetamol or anythign else you can get your hands on, try hot baths and a hot water bottle on your back.

don't try to be brave, PinkElephant, you moan and shout and cry and grieve your head off if that's what you want to do. it's what i did, that's for sure.

And can i tell you something? No one understands unless they've been through it. that's why the EPT website is so life-saving. an ep is similar to a miscarriage but not the same. neverhteless, miscarriages are sadly more common, so a lot of people will talk to you about them. inside you might find yourself screaming 'it's not the same, my tube might not be okay, this might happen again... etc etc' but i'd try to let people help you with whatever they have to offer. pain is pain, and help is help, in whatever form it comes.

how is your partner doing? mine didn't have a clue what to do, the poor lamb... he was so frightened for me. and by me, because like i said i didn't hold back from the grief...

god, this has become a bit of an essay. sorry. ask me anything you like and i'll try to help. once again, i'm so sorry that you've lost your wee baby.

must use preview more often... the sentence about putting worries to one side refers to the fact that a lot of people worry that the baby might come out and they might see it. i've seen loads of people worry about it on the EPT site and Izzie, the nurse there and something of a saint, always tells them it's not likely to have happened.

Hi PinkElephant,

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. You asked what my experience was like.

I was also treated with methotrexate. My HCG was 474 on the day it was treated and three weeks later it had gone down to 6 and they discharged me.

I had pain on the second day after my shot. It was all concentrated on my right hand side and went right through to my back and down my leg. I also started bleeding and it was quite heavy with some clots. It was painful but not unbearable.

The following day the pain had gone but I continued to bleed for about a week.I have got my second period at the moment since my EP. Both my periods since then have been much heavier and I have also been having pain on my right hand side where my EP was.However the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust assures me that this is normal. I am now on countdown to start trying again from February 1st.

I don't know if this has helped answer any of your questions. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help. It is such a hard time but it WILL get easier.

PanicPressiePants, BrandyTutter & Jenkel - thank you for giving me hope. Right now I am feeling a mix of emotions, one minute pleased that I can conceive and the other terrified about getting pregnant again. I can't even imagine having a baby anymore.

AitchTwoOhOhSeven & LubyLoo - thank you so much for your stories, I don't feel quite so alone now. I'm at the stage where I only had the methotrexate 3 days ago and apart from feeling like I've got flu type symptoms and a bit of cramping, I feel ok (ish). I'm in throws of having my bloods done and my beta HCG is still at 700 so I'm hoping it will come down soon. I just want to get them down to zero, be discharged, get the huge period out of the way and then I will probably curl up in a ball and sob but right now I feel numb. I'm just really hoping I won't need another injection and then have delay TTC by a further 3months!! DH has been fab and he is very sad too but says he's just relieved I'm ok. Are you scared of trying again?

i was petrified, of course. but in the end i got pregnant and it was fine. your chances are good, you know. no-one can guarantee anything and you're bound to be scared but at some point in the future, once you have grieved and raged over the loss of this pregnancy, your desire to have a baby will outgun the fear of having another ep. It all takes time, though... i know that three months seems like a long time but you need it, you really do. you're going through a Big Horrible Thing, and you need to take it slowly...

for the record my highest hcg was 848 and i think it took about 5 weeks to drop down to below 5.

My Beta HCG has gone up to 950 from tuesday. I really hope it starts to drop soon. According to the nurses this can rise in the first week following methotrexate and then decrease in week two. My arms are like a pin cushion already - I don't think i will have any accessible veins left for bloods by 5wks.

i used to call it The Vampire Clinic... i remember that feeling well...
my figures went up briefly and then fell, sorry i forgot to mention that before. it's quite normal.

hi there,
had an ectopic december last year and am now 7 months preggo.....
Can't help with metho advice as had surgery and right tube removed...
And yes I was totlay shitting it about getting pregnant. It was weird, scared I might never get pregnant and then also terrified about gettting pregnant as it would be another ectopic. St Marys in London were great though and had me in as soon as I had a positive test and monitered me- although it was scary it was also reasssuring, I knew that I had the best chance of not loosing my left tube by being monitered so closely. It's a horrible time right now and I really feel for you, there is the horrible grief and loss and then all the doubts and worries about your health/subsequent pregnancies...... I know it's a cliche but hang on in there, it does get better..