I found reading through these threads very helpful in the days leading up to my abortion. I found it really hard not knowing what to expect and not knowing how my body would react, so I thought I would share my experience and hopefully help others about to go through the same thing.
I was 5 weeks and 2 days when I took the first pill (mifepristone). I took it at 12pm - was able to continue on with my day as normal after taking it. I did experience some nausea and fatigue but I'd been struggling with both of those pretty much everyday throughout the pregnancy so I don't think it was the mifepristone that caused it.
The following day at around 12:45 I took 2 paracetamol then 15 mins later at 1pm I inserted the 4 misoprostol tablets vaginally. I actually found this quite uncomfortable as the pills are hexagon shaped so wasn't the smoothest getting them in.
Around 20 mins later I started to experience some very mild cramps (like I would normally experience in the days leading up to the start of my period).
At around 3pm (so 2 hours after taking the misoprostol) the cramps started to worsen and became like a really bad period. At this stage I has also started to feel really sick. Throughout the next hour the pain kept increasing and I was sick a total of 3 times, as well as diarrhoea once. I was extremely hot/sweaty and got quite lightheaded.
After the sickness has passed I managed to insert the final 2 misoprostol tables vaginally. The pain was still pretty severe at this stage. It was coming in waves - it would be fine, then build up getting worse, then get better again, then worse and so on. Each time the pain was at its worst my body started to shake (kind of like and intense shiver), which sounds kind of scary but it actually felt like it was helping to ease the pain and get me through it. This went on for around another hour but it was starting to become a bit more bearable.
At around 5:30pm (so 4 and a half hours after taking the first misorpostols) the pain had drastically died down and I was now just experiencing period like cramps. I'd gone to the toilet and was surprised to see that I hadn't started bleeding yet. Everything that I had read has said that the pain and the blood come at the same time so I started t worry as I thought it hadn't worked. I considered calling the MSI helpline for some advice but the information booklet I received said to only call if you have no bleeding after 48hrs, so I decided to wait it out and hope for the best.
Finally at around 7pm I started bleeding. I sat on the toilet for around half an hour and just kind of let it drain out. I could feel a few clots passing (dont think they were that big), it wasn't uncomfortable or painful, just a bit of a weird sensation. Looking back at it I'm actually kind of glad the bleeding didn't start when I was expecting it to - I genuinely dont think I could have handled the pain, the shaking, the sickness, the diarrhoea AND the blood all at the same time!
Across the next few hours and through the night I went to the toilet a few times and just sat for a while - I found it better to just sit there and let the blood drain. At this stage my cramps were very minor, same as they were right at the beginning.
It's now the next day and I feel so much better! Feel like my normal self. Ive taken it fairly easy today, just had a movie day on the sofa but definitely feel like I could have been up and about. Bleeding is a bit lighter and cramps are also very light.
Looking back at the whole experience I'd say the pain was on the same level I was expecting (around 8/10) but the fact I kept being sick at the same time did make it worse. The bleeding has actually been better than I expected, it was definitely heavy but no where near as bad as I thought (that's probably thanks to some of the horror stories I'd read!)
I feel so relieved that it's over as I'd built it up in my head and couldn't stop worrying about it. Don't get me wrong it's a horrible experience but it is really short lived! You'll have a tough few hours but once you get through those you'll come out the other side with a massive weight lifted off your shoulders!
To anyone about to go through this - YOU CAN DO IT!! Sending love x