Ectopic pregnancy scare

[2ndtimema]

Hey all, looking for some advice and words of encouragement really

My last menstrual cycle started on 21st of May and my next period was due on 15th June. I’m usually VERY regular and have never missed a period. When AF didn’t arrive I did a couple of pregnancy tests. There were some very faint positives and over the last couple of weeks I have continued to test.

There has been no line progression whatsoever. Tuesday night I was in A&E with some shoulder tip pain and cramping but they did a urine dip pregnancy test and it came back negative. From that point on they were really dismissive and condescending. Even went as far as to tell me I probably hadn’t had a positive pregnancy test. Although at this point I’d done 15+ tests and had faint positives on all of them.

With the encouragement of my sister (who has seen the tests) I contacted my gp who reluctantly senr me for bloods. But very confidently said the hospital pregnancy test was negative so there’s absolutely no chance of an ectopic.

Just wondering if anyone has had any similar experiences. This experience is making me doubt my own mind and I’m not really sure what to do from here.

So sorry to hear about how dismissive the professionals have been to you! From my own experience please make sure you listen to your body and not the doctors. I went for a routine ultrasound due to adenomyosis. Later that evening (24/4/26) I received a phone call from my doctors telling me they thought i was having an ectopic. I rushed to get my bloods done to then be left all weekend with no answers.(You can imagine the stress and worry) I then got a notification on the monday through my NHS app telling me my blood test was negative. I had also done a pregnancy test over the weekend while awaiting results where i am convinced I saw a very faint line. Once the bloods came back the doctors became very dismissive when I asked for answers on what caused them to say this to me. Around early may I had a general checkup and voiced concern as my period was late and it never is normally and especially due to the previous comments of an eptopic I had cause for concern. The doctor told me to wait until I went 3 full cycles with no period before being concerned as my bloods came back negative not long before…Crazy right. Fast forward a month 24/5/26 and I did 2 more tests as my period was 3 weeks late at this point which had the thickest lines I’d ever seen on a test. I contacted my doctors who sent me for an emergency prenatal scan to find out I was 8 weeks pregnant.(now 13)
I know the situations are different but all I can advise is please listen to your own body and how you feel and be your own advocate!!! From my experience of them being so dismissive with no answers when I was actually pregnant with little follow up from the eptopic scare if you do not feel right please make sure you are seen. May be worth requesting a transvaginal ultrasound as they are abit clearer when it may be early on. Wishing you all the best xx

@MyQuickLilacSharkThank you for taking the time to respond and congratulations on your pregnancy.
It’s reassuring to know I’m not the only one who has had this kind of experience. I will definitely be chasing things up x

Hey. Sorry to hear that this has happened. Ectopics can sometimes sort themselves so with hr shoulder tip pain it may have been that you did have some internal bleeding. It’s annoying that the hospital treated you like that. I had a chemical last year where they tested at the hospital and there was no hint of a line. They also asked whether I was sure I’d been positive and I’d taken pictures of the test and showed them. Hopefully if the test is negative whatever has happened has resolved itself.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It’s reassuring to know I’m not the only one. I didn’t even think to show them pictures of the tests.

If it has resolved on its own would the tests still be showing up positive? I imagine it could take a while for the hormones to leave your system.

No it might have taken a couple of weeks hence why you were getting faint positives. Are you feeling ok now or have you still got any pain?

I still have some pain in my shoulder and cramping predominantly on one side but nothing that isn’t manageable

If you’ve still got that shoulder tip pain that suggests you’ve got some abdominal bleeding still. I’d go back and ask for a second opinion and a scan. If you’re unsure call nhs 111 first. I’d definitely go and get it checked out if the pain hasn’t subsided.

Thank you for your advice. I did initially call 111 and they sent me to A&E but because the hospital urine test was negative they’re adamant I’m not pregnant. I’ve just done a digital and it says 1-2 weeks when I should be around 6 weeks now so was expecting 3+. That kind of confirms what I already suspected. I guess I’m going to have to put my big girl pants on and push for answers 🥴

Take a picture of the test or the test itself and go back to a&e and explain that this pain isn’t going away and you’re worried. Get yourself there as soon as you can x

Hey, just checking in. Did you get seen?

Hi, so the GP refused to see me and a&e staff said they couldn’t do anything until i got my blood test results back. My results are back with the gp but the reception staff point blank refused to give me any kind of answer as to what they indicated or to book me a follow up appointment with the gp. They said I’d have to wait 5-10 days like everyone else and hung up 🥴
I decided to go private and a scan confirmed its ectopic but she said at a first glance it appears to be resolving itself. I’ll need a follow up to confirm. I feel oddly relieved just to have an answer.
thank you for checking in

What on earth. That is absolutely insane. I know GP receptionists aren’t allowed to divulge information as they don’t have the same understanding but surely they’d appreciate that if those results are in it’s pretty important that someone contacts you asap. That’s infuriating that you’ve had to go private too but I think I’d have done the same thing just to know. I’m glad it appears to be sorting itself out, hopefully that’s the case. Mine did, it just took a really long time for my HCG to lower enough to be discharged!

@Diamond89crazy isn’t it. As sad as it is I feel very fortunate that things haven’t ended horribly as I’d started imaging the worst case scenario. I hope you don’t mind me asking, but is there anything I should be aware of now? Like should I expect bleeding? Did your cycle return to normal?

Yeah as soon as you’re concerned it’s ectopic you expect the worst so I think feeling relieved is completely understandable. As mine resolved itself I don’t think I had particularly heavy bleeding. A slightly heavier longer period but nothing too painful. It just took weeks to happen because my HCG took ages to go down (which was ridiculous because it was never high at all in the first place!) my cycle returned as normal straight away

@Diamond89ahhh ok. Thank you for sharing your experience, it’s been really helpful to not feel like I’m the only one. I’m sure the reality will hit me in the coming weeks

Yeah, look after yourself. I found that I was that busy going to appointments and waiting for things to sort out that I didn’t really have time to process it until after x