5 weeks. Horrible one sided pain followed by bleeding.

[OneKookyRedFox]

Following my post the other week about finding out I was pregnant for the first time at 40 years old things have all gone a bit scary 😢.

I’m in that horrid limbo of awaiting a first early 6 week scan in EPU due to an episode of horrendous pain followed by bleeding. I was wondering if anyone had any stories to share or information if anything that’s happening with me resonates for potentially reassurance or clarity.

I will be 6 weeks on Monday. Last Monday I came home from work feeling very tired and got into bed. Then followed a 90 minute episode of severe left sided pelvic pain that was radiating down my thigh to my knee. It hurt so much I was nearly in tears. I must add I was VERY constipated and bloated at this time but didn’t manage to go to the loo til the next morning.

A short while later I noticed some pink spotting on wiping, followed by a few tiny red drops on wiping, followed by a load of dark old looking blood on a pad. since then I have had very light dark brown bleeding. The gp who examined me the day after said the os was closed and could see brown blood but no excoriation on the surface of the cervix.

what complicates things is I had my left ovary removed 20 years ago due to a huge cyst and torsion so it kinda rules ectopic pregnancy out?

They want to “watch and wait” given the pain is all gone and it’s just brown spotting and scan on Tuesday.

I’m absolutely terrified for Tuesday and what it’s going to bring 😢

I really hope it’s all a case of I was so horrendously constipated that it caused some sort of bowel spasm/colic but the go didn’t seem that convinced by it. I’m absolutely riddled with anxiety over this now despite always being a person who said if they ever were pregnant they would just embrace life and get on with it 😢

I'm very surprised that your gp didn't send you to A&E just to be sure. Please read my post. Nobody should let that level of pain go uninvestigated.

I had a missed miscarriage a long time ago where the only symptoms were light brown blood and a loss of pregnancy feeling at 10 weeks. I knew something was up immediately. Most websites said it was fine, bar BUPA. Basically said "brown blood spotting and a sudden loss of pregnancy symptoms can indicate a missed miscarriage".

Long story short, the doctors told me brown blood was probably fine and sent me home. However, when i finally got seen nothing was visible on abdominal ultrasound so they had to do an internal one and the sac was there but no heartbeat etc. Doc admitted he was wrong and i was absolutely right.

When they took the probe out of me, the light brown blood i had been experiencing was on the cover sheaf and the doctor was very concerned suddenly. Kept asking if I had been in a lot of pain etc because that shade of blood was more common with ectopic. It was very pale brown. Almost milky.

I don't understand how only having one ovary would make you less likely to be having ectopic. Please get checked out ASAP.

Sorry that you are experiencing this. I would absolutely be concerned about an ectopic pregnancy with those symptoms.

When your left ovary was removed did they also remove your tube on that side? If you ovulated from your right ovary then it is possible that your left tube picked up the egg.

Did your GP not order serial HcG tests? It seems strange that they did an internal examination. Are you still experiencing pain? Have you checked if there is an EPU unit in your area that you can self refer to?

No way would I wait until Tuesday, please get seen again as soon as you possibly can. When I had my ectopic I had a short but incredibly intense episode of pain similar to the one you've described. Like a previous poster said, having had the ovary removed doesn't necessarily rule out an ectopic as the tube can move around and potentially pick up an egg from the other side.
Of course I very much hope all turns out fine, but please get checked asap. Sending you love and a big handhold ❤️

I really hope you're ok. As PP have said, I'd be going to A&E to be honest to rule out anything more serious. Your A&E should see you x

I had the same at 37. But all was fine. Because you are so early, its hard to detect things I was told. Not long till Tues...unless yr in pain just rest up. No lifting, carrying shopping etc.
.
Epu know what they are doing. Are their twins in yr family, I was told blood loss may have been a twin or just old blood.

Agree with all the others - please do take care and don't let yourself be dismissed. I'm especially worried that you write what complicates things is I had my left ovary removed 20 years ago due to a huge cyst and torsion so it kinda rules ectopic pregnancy out?

No, it doesn't. Ectopic pregnancies can happen anywhere, not just the fallopian tubes. They can attach to pretty much any piece of tissue at all. Also, your other fallopian tube could perfectly well have moved around to the other side - weirdly, they do do this.

Please look after yourself.

Thankyou all. I had another episode of this pain again this morning which resolved itself in about 90 minutes.

attended EPU where there was nothing to be seen on scan apart from a small bit of fluid in my pelvis but they told me my hcg bloods were low. I’m to have some more bloods on Monday morning which should help point in the direction of what’s going on. They were all very lovely and I had another episode excellent service. Keeping everything crossed for some answers either way

Hope it all works out well for you. Wishing you and your baby all the best.

Fingers crossed. Glad you were well looked after.

Glad you’ve been seen and were pleased with the care you’ve had. Hopefully they’ve told you what symptoms you should be looking out for. Please head straight to A&E if you experience more pain, diarrhoea, loss of consciousness or shoulder tip pain. I hope everything works out for you

By my calculations I’m 5 weeks and 3 days since LMP so would it be typical not to see anything on the scans anyway? They tried with an abdominal scan and then followed it up with a vaginal scan. I’m so worried. I’m pretty positive on dates as I have tracked my periods with Flo for years.

They told me typically ectopic pain starts and then gets worse and worse and doesn’t tend to occur in isolated incidents a few days apart? That said, I know what I felt definitely didn’t feel like uterine cramping, and although I’ve had this brown bleeding there has never been any frank or bright red blood or anything closely resembling a period. Certainly after examination today done by the doctor the speculum came out covered in brown discharge and there’s gritty brown discharge on my liner tonight.

I don’t know if it’s psychosomatic or anything either but my boobs definitely feel less sore today. I’m really scared. Not just of this pregnancy going wrong (although I actually never thought I would get pregnant given my history and age) but the fact that if it’s ectopic and I’ll then lose any hope at all is really scary.

This limbo is just so s**t. I guess all I can do is wait til Monday and see what these bloods show…..

Forgot to add….after the initial gp appointment last Monday I went and bought another pregnancy test. I know it couldn’t tell me an awful lot and even after a loss it would still come up positive but it came up SO much stronger than the two I did on the day I found out I was initially pregnant

You are very early so yes it can be hard to locate anything even with an internal scan. Try and relax and dont do too much, no lifting etx

I had an ectopic which went undiagnosed for almost 12 weeks - I had no idea I was even pregnant as I'd been having "periods" and only mild abdo pain on and off. I thought it was IBS. I was 42, on the pill (taken correctly) and husband had a few months before gone through a vasectomy.
Collapsed at home suddenly one evening, husband took me to A&E. They wanted to send me home but I pushed for an internal scan. In emergency surgery about 3 hours later as bleeding internally. Fallopian tube removed.
It is good you are being closely monitored, but please do go back to A&E if you have any concerns at all.
I hope all turns out OK for you x

@OneKookyRedFox how are you?

I took myself into EPAU earlier than the Tuesday as I had another episode of pain on Saturday.

I’m going in today to meet the consultant to decide wether to have surgery or methotrexate - it’s an ectopic 😢

my hcg bloods have remained at 670 exactly.

Really scared 😢

im so sorry OP, that’s awful 😞 thinking of you x

Im so sorry. Sending you tons of hugs. Try not to be scared, they will look after you

So sorry you are going through this. Wishing you well x

@OneKookyRedFox As someone who has also been through an ectopic, I know how hard this is for you. You will be OK I promise, but take as much time as you need to recover (both physically and emotionally) 💐 x

I had to go through the surgical option (I was 42 so similar age). If you have any questions just ask x

So sorry to hear that it’s ectopic. I’ve had two ectopic pregnancies. One treated surgically when I ruptured and one treated with methotrexate. I’m happy to answer any questions you might have. I’d also recommend looking at the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust website. They also have a helpline. I found their support invaluable.

My
bloods had come down from 670 to 549 today over the last 48 hours so we have decided to proceed with methotrexate and I’ve had the jab today. Fingers crossed it works.

what an awful journey for anyone to go through. Thankyou all for your kind comments