Medical abortion experience at 6/7 weeks

[Sunshine288]

Just wanted to share my experience here as these forums helped reassure me so much when I was terrified beforehand. Sorry it’s long!!

I found out I was pregnant at just over 4 weeks. I’ve been with by boyfriend 7 years and always thought if I got pregnant I would keep it, however I knew instantly this wasn’t right (for various reasons), and after lots of tears made the decision that I would end the pregnancy. I made an appt that evening which was a phone consultation - which was almost 2 weeks away. The wait for the appt was horrible, lots of tears and I was constantly overthinking and really struggled with sleep - I would wake up in the middle of the night and just have a cry about everything. I just felt so helpless that I knew what I wanted but had to wait to actually start the process.

Monday - The lady I spoke to on the phone was so so lovely, talked me through everything and not judgmental at all. After the appt, my pills came in the post two days later (Wednesday) and I took the first one in the evening. At this point it was exactly 2 weeks since I had found out I was pregnant and I was 6 weeks 4 days. The next evening (Thursday) I took some codeine at 6pm then took the second pills at 6.30pm putting 4 up my vagina. I was actually quite worried I hadn’t put them up far enough and about 2 hours later when I went to the toilet I think one or two fell out.

I started to get a bit worried as after 3 hours I was having some cramping but no blood. I had a bit of a cry when the cramping started, not because it was painful just because I knew the process had started. At 10pm I took a top up of codeine and took the other two tablets between my cheek and gums. At this point the pain started getting really intense and I had started bleeding which was a relief! I couldn’t get comfortable and went from feeling really hot to really cold. I was on and off the toilet and did feel like I was going to pass out at some points. I ended up lying on my bathroom floor for a while.

The pain came in waves, getting really intense every so often. A hot water bottle really helps! It was quite bad for about an hour, then I was (sorry tmi) sick quite a lot and immediately felt loads better. I had passed some clots at this point (nothing huge) and there was some blood but no where near as much as I was expecting. It mainly came out when I was on the toilet.

After I was sick I felt so much better. I still had strong cramps but not as bad as before and passed more clots, one about the size of a raspberry and felt a bit thicker, which I am assuming was the pregnancy. I was also bleeding fairly heavily. I stayed up until 2am so I could take my next lot of codeine and got to sleep around 3am. In hindsight it would have probably been better to take the tablets in the morning/early afternoon so that the worst would have been over in time to get a good night sleep.

Friday - It is now the next day and I did go to work (I work from home), but took it easy and had my hot water bottle with me! I definitely would have taken the day off if I’d have had to go in the office. The bleeding and cramps were still like a heavy period. Emotionally I feel ok, just drained and a bit sad. The overwhelming emotion I feel is relief, which sounds awful but I know I’ve made the right decision for me right now. I guess now it’s just a waiting game to take a test in 3 weeks but after reading others experiences, I’m pretty sure this has been successful.

I would really recommend having someone with you if possible. My boyfriend was with me the whole time and I couldn’t have done it without him. Also make sure you have lots of water to hand - I felt so thirsty and had a very dry mouth/throat so was drinking lots of water. It was also nice having some of my favourite snacks to hand once I’d got through the worst of the pain.

I started the process at 6.30pm and by about midnight I was over the worst, although I did stay up for a few hours as I wanted to keep an eye on my bleeding. If there’s anyone who’s worried about the pain, it is bad and intense at times, but definitely nothing unbearable! I am such a wuss - I cried the day after my Covid jab because someone touched my arm lol. If I can do it, anyone can. Sending lots of love to anyone going through this xxx

[Sunshine288]

Hi @Sudokuzebra thank you for your reply. Yes I have a very chilled weekend planned so lots of relaxing!

I used BPAS too so also have access to the free counselling. Thank you so much for linking to ARCH - I haven’t heard of them before. I’ll definitely keep their details handy and see how I feel over the next couple of weeks xx

[RemyM]

I can’t thank you enough for this thorough and detailed experience of what you went through as I am exactly at the same stage as you found out I was 4 weeks and I will be almost 6 weeks by the time I eventually get the tablets sent to me in the post. I’ve very nervous about the whole process with bleeding etc and pain but you have given me some reassurance so for that I have to much gratitude towards you. Thank you.

[Sunshine288]

Hi @RemyM, sorry to hear you’re going through this experience. I was really nervous too but it’s honestly not as bad as I had built it up in my head. Obviously not a nice experience but definitely bearable. Hope everything goes well for you xx