Shoulder pain

[Holdmysunhat]

Hi all. I’m 7 weeks pregnant and have had pain in my left shoulder all evening. It started when I got into the shower and I figured I must have climbed in an unusual way. Anyway, I’ve had a c section in the past so called 111 in case of an ectopic pregnancy. I’ve also had diarrhea today but no pain or bleeding at any point. I wasn’t too concerned when I called 111 but thought better safe than sorry.

To my surprise, I was asked to visit the local hospital as an outpatient. The doctor there was entirely unconcerned and commented that I shouldn’t have been sent. He took my blood pressure and asked some questions then I was sent home. I’m left feeling a bit weird about it all! I trust the doctor but now a bit concerned I was deemed serious enough to be sent to hospital in the night but not scanned. Does this sound like a potential ectopic to you? Is it worth getting an early scan privately? I’d rather not but will if needs must!

Thanks for reading. I’d love to hear if anyone has experienced similar.

It certainly could be a sign of an ectopic, and imo the doctor was foolish to rule it out absolutely. Keep an eye on yourself and if the pain continues alongside any other issues phone again.

Hopefully it’s what you thought but better to be aware of any problems . Good luck.

Thanks for replying. I’m feeling pretty scared now as from all I’m reading the shoulder pain tends to happen during/after rupture. I’m going to call the midwives in the morning. @MsPavlichenko thank you.

I agree with @MsPavlichenko the doctor should have done the due diligence of scanning you to rule it out. Maybe ring your EPAU about it?

The shoulder pain from an ectopic is usually associated with other obvious signs/symptoms and is in a very specific place on the shoulder. It would be hard to assess that fully over the phone but easier in person hence the referral. Hope that makes sense.

Thanks to every single one of you for replying. This is all very useful - especially @Greybeardy’s point about in person assessment being easier. My pain is very much still there but it’s more a dull ache all over my shoulder now so perhaps the doctor ruled that symptom out last night as it wasn’t specific.

I called my midwife unit this morning (and the EPAU last night) and neither were at all concerned and say it’s probably trapped wind from a stomach bug which can sometimes result in shoulder ache. I guess the shoulder pain alone isn’t enough to alarm anyone without abdominal pain/bleeding. From what I’ve googled shoulder pain is usually a rather late symptom that presents alongside other symptoms as greybeardy says. Tempted to book in for a private scan this weekend. Either way I will report back for anyone searching on this post in 6 years time.

How would you score the pain on a scale of 1-10? (10 being excruciating/unbearable)

Reason I ask is because it could very well be trapped wind, but I do think they should scan you to rule out ectopic. There's also slightly increased risk of blood clots in pregnancy. This is very unlikely and rare and Im assuming your blood test (D-dimer) would have checked for this, but as long as they're checking then you'll be fine.

From someone who has had a ruptured ectopic I would definitely get a early scan to rule it out.

My midwife kept telling me it was likely trapped wind but a couple of days later I was in severe pain where it had ruptured.

Saying that, I did also have dark brown bleeding when wiping for a few weeks which the midwife put down to implantation bleeding. So I did have other symptoms along with the shoulder pain.

I don't think they should be so quick to rule it out though.

Thanks @maria2bela1 I’d say I was only about 2/10 in terms of pain. Probably 4/10 when it first started. Nowhere near excruciating. Very interesting re blood clots. I had my bloods taken last week so hopefully that’s in hand.

Yikes @claire841 I’m really sorry to hear it. Did your pain start off quite mildly and increase in severity? I’m going to book a private scan for tomorrow.

D-dimer is not a helpful marker in pregnancy (it is usually raised because of pregnancy not because of any clot).

@Holdmysunhat yes I would say so! It was my first time pregnant so I didn't know what to expect symptoms wise so just thought maybe I suffered with bad trapped wind.

But I have never felt pain like it when it ruptured. It would come and go but I would be curled up in a ball of the floor in agony.
I don't know how to describe the shoulder pain because it wasn't like a sharp pain. I didn't even think about it being an ectopic pregnancy.

Definitely best to get a scan as it will put your mind at ease but I'm sure all is fine and a bonus is you'll get to see your little bean xx

Thanks again all. Mumsnetters of the future - I had a private scan and it’s in the uterus where it should be - phew.