Just wanted to share my recent experience to reassure anyone who is terrified of the prospect of a medical abortion (like I was).
I found out I was pregnant at 4 weeks exactly. Got in touch with MSI, had a telephone consultation 5 days later followed by a clinic consultation 8 days after that (quicker than waiting for an appointment for pills by post). Both nurses I spoke to from MSI were really nice and non-judgemental.
The worst bit was the waiting between the first and second appointments. MSI do two appointments before prescribing medication whereas BPAS only do one but MSI are the only funded provider in my NHS area.
At my clinic appointment, the nurse scanned me to confirm gestation (6 weeks exactly) and then gave me my medication to take home. I was advised to allow 90 mins for appointment but was there 25 mins total. I could have taken the first tablet, Mifepristone, there at the clinic, but I wanted to do it in my own time.
I didn’t have any side effects from the Mifepristone at all. Had a bit of nausea around 12 hours after taking it, but I think that was likely to be stress-related rather than tablet related.
Next day, I inserted the 4 Mifoprostol pessaries. I was advised to insert them vaginally to reduce side effects and this was great advice as I had no ill effects bar the cramping from the termination. The pain itself was manageable - it felt like a bad period but not the worst period. I took paracetamol-codeine tablets (only one rather than two) and this was fine. I also used a hot water bottle.
Still hadn’t started bleeding by 3.5 hours so inserted the next 2 tablets vaginally and this kickstarted things. Again, the cramps were no worse than a bad period and manageable. They weren’t constant, came in waves every 30 mins or so.
The bleeding itself was very manageable. I was expecting a horror show but I barely bled onto pads; I bled lots in the toilet, but again, nothing worse than a heavier than normal period. I passed the pregnancy within 2 hours of taking the second set of pessaries and had some small clots after this.
Cramping persisted on and off into the evening. Still bleeding a day later but nothing on pads and I would say consistent with a light to medium flow period. Still cramping every few hours but doesn’t last long.
I hope this helps someone - don’t believe all of the horror stories out there. I was terrified and it turns out for no good reason.
Sending good vibes to all of you in this difficult position.