I wanted to post my very recent experience of an ectopic woman pregnancy. Before learning that I had one, I had read a post on mumsnet and it saved my life.
Unfortunately I experienced a MC at 10 weeks in January. I opted for a natural MC because I did not want to have a D&C due to the risk of scarring. By March I had a negative test and ovulated two weeks after.
I have a 30 day cycle and had negative tests on 28-30. I started to bleed on day 31. It was initially fresh red blood so assumed it was my period. Within 12 hours it started to turn brown and was very light but still enough to make me think it was my period. I just thought it was all part of the recovery after the MC.
I did an ovulation test on day 10 and it was positive. I thought this was strange because I usually ovulate on day 16. I did another two days later and, again, it was positive. It was then that I started to think something wasn’t right. I found a thread where someone had the same symptoms and ultimately had an ectopic pregnancy. Two days later I started to develop a sharp intermittent niggle on my left side. It was mid abdo where I now know my left tube was.
The next day I contacted my epu and had a scan. Nothing showed on the scan at all. On Friday 21/4 and 23/4 I had beta hcg tests over 48 hours which showed my hcg rose from 580 to 1100 so they said it was unlikely to be an ectopic but just very early. So they suggested I come back for a scan 7-10 days later. I was told that if I had any abdo pain to go straight to a&e.
the left side niggle vanished completely and, for the rest of the time, I was having typical early pregnancy symptoms- sickness, extreme tiredness. With hindsight I was also suffering from slight memory issues. During the week I did two CB digital tests and they were stuck on 2-3 weeks (having taken them 10 days and apart).
On Saturday 29th April my husband and I went to swinton park in Yorkshire for our first wedding anniversary. We DTD and, within ten minutes, my uterus was contracting heavily. Within an hour my stomach had tripled in size and I could hardly walk. I could not pass urine and it felt like someone was putting their hand through my bottom and ripping out my bladder and uterus. The pain was the worst I’ve ever felt. I’d also started to bleed. I tried to go to sleep but woke at 3am in crippling pain. I could hardly stand and my vision was blurred. at this point we were 50 minutes from harrogate hospital so my husband decided to drive me rather than wait for an ambulance.
when I arrived at a&e I was seen quickly and told them I knew I was having an ectopic pregnancy. I was seen by a doctor who bleeped the gynae doctor. The on call doctor was in theatre but eventually saw me. By this time I was bleeding heavily and could not tolerate a speculum. the SHO then came to see me and, to my horror, said I was having a miscarriage. I told her she was wrong and, having had a MC, knew that this was completely different. She said that because my hcg had risen the week before, there was a ‘1-2%’ chance of an ectopic. She said they were going to admit me because of the extreme pain but not scan me until Tuesday because of the bank holiday. my husband and I were terrified that I was going to be left to bleed to death over the bank holiday. We challenged the SHO on her conclusion but she insisted that the previous hcg test made an ectopic extremely unlikely (even though the threshold for an intra uterine pregnancy is 1500). My husband and I were so worried, I was going to discharge myself and go to Leeds or Manchester because I didn’t feel I was being taken seriously.
Fortunately the very switched on junior doctor took it upon herself to insist I had an urgent scan. Two hours later, the scan showed I had extensive internal bleeding and I was rushed into theatre, which confirmed that I’d had an ectopic pregnancy and my left tube was on the cusp of rupture. My left tube was removed.
it was an incredibly painful and traumatic experience made far worse by the failure of the a&e doctor, nurses and the gynae SHO to appreciate that I was presenting with a leaking ectopic. Had it not been for the junior doctor, the outcome could have been very different.
I wanted to set out my experience in case anyone else finds themselves with these symptoms;
a period like bleed around time AF is due
brown bleeding/spotting
positive test around one week after AF would normally fall
one sided niggle
CB digital that will not rise beyond 2-3 weeks
very very bloated stomach
extreme pain when trying to pass urine
feeling that someone is trying to rip out your insides
pressure in bottom when standing
nausea and feeling very faint
not able to sit down but only able to lie on one side
i suffered all of these but my obs were normal in a&e (normal blood pressure and pulse). For this reason I was left for hours whilst my entire abdo was filling with blood causing serious threat to my life.
if anyone experiences the same, please seek urgent medical attention and do not let ill informed medics gas light you.