Hi ladies, I've just had an ectopic pregnancy, but I had the surgery to remove my tube & pregnancy. Just wondering if anyone has been down this track & managed to naturally concieve again fairly easily?
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Hi ladies, I've just had an ectopic pregnancy, but I had the surgery to remove my tube & pregnancy. Just wondering if anyone has been down this track & managed to naturally concieve again fairly easily?
Hi MadsMum,
I had an ectopic pregnancy in April last year, and I too had the tube removed. The Drs told me that it would prob take 12-18mths before I was likely to fall pregnant again. I conceived naturally in September (yes that's right 6mths later), and my beautiful baby boy arrived nearly 3 weeks ago on June 8th.
It took me a long time to move on from losing my baby last year, and I still think of my angel every day. Please give yourself as much time as you need to grieve - and do it in any way that you feel neccessary. We weren't 'trying' for another baby, and I believe that's probably why I fell pregnant so quickly. I am proof that it is possible to conceive naturally (and quickly) after an ectopic, I hope that my experience gives you some peace of mind on your journey to parenthood. C xo
Clarebear thank you for your good news story. Congrats on your new bundle!
Hi Clare, congratulations on your new baby, & thanks for sharing your story.
Congratulations Clare on your new arrival:) It's wonderful to hear success stories.:clap:
I've only just joined this site, after reading such inspiring and supportive posts.
I knew my pregnancy wasn't going to plan a week after I missed my period. started spotting. never did with my first. Within a week I was in A & E with severe pain. But, sent home as hormone levels were only at 600 and had slightly dropped in past 48 hours. It was suspected that it was just a normal miscarriage and it would pass naturally.
But we ended up back in hopsital a week later with something found in an ultrasound - either in the ovary or fallopian tube- but sent home again!!! As hormone levels were only at 1000 and had slightly dropped in past 48 hours.:wall:
And here we are today, been in hospital for the past 3 days, had the injection, and the fetus had grown to over 2.5 cm in the tube! :(
if it wasn't for our proactiveness and my intutition, god knows what would've happened.
But now going through the horrible time at home dealing with aches and pains due to the methotrexate.
I wouldn't be still so optimistic without the incredible support of my husband, family and friends. And the smiles and cuddles from my little boy lifts my spirits every day.
Sorry for the outpour, but it's been a build up of so much emotion and I'm hoping that we're coming to the end of it and we can try and move on soon. If there is anyone else needing to chat feel free to msg me.
Cheers and good luck to everyone:)
Ange
I am sorry for your loss and want you to know that it does get better! It is a process waiting for it all to end and start to feel normal again and there are so many stages to the feelings you might have but you are lucky to have support. I have also found the ectopic pregnancy trust site to be helpful as there are a lot of people who know exactly what you are going through. Take your time and be easy on yourself!
Ange,
I know that it doesn't matter what anyone says, it still hurts, and it will for quite some time. Just know that it does get easier, each and every day, bit by bit. It helped me immensely reading messages of support from ppl on here. Keep your chin up and look forward, you will never forget, but the pain will get better eventually :hug:
Thanks so much Teme and Clare:hug:,
it's going to be a bit of a journey yet, but it's one day at a time. your support means a lot and I know i have to take it easy on myself, but isn't it funny how so many of us struggle with this.
(i must say that i have not missed daytime tv- bring on the DVDs!!!)
Thanks for the suggested website too- I'll be onto that ASAP!!!!
Take care and thank you again...
Hello all,
I have stumbled onto this site looking for woman who may have children with birth defects as a result of taking methotrexate. I have read (most) of this thread and I am truly sorry for those of you who have lost a child through miscarriage. Unlike the majority of you here I was given methotrexate for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. I read my client information sheet forward and backwards. I knew that it was "bad" during pregnancy, but subsequent to the birth of my child I have come to learn a lot more and am frustrated with my Dr.
Also to help with the folate debate going on... MTX does remove the folate from the body, in the use of an abortion that is the goal. It will prevent the baby from forming by lack of folate, and lack of growth (as I understand it). However it does not always work. The most "effective" use is between 6-11 weeks, with unknown effects later in pregnancy. There is a WASH-OUT period from as little as one complete cycle to 3-6 months depending on which study you look at.
My last dose was 15mg about 3 months prior to the conception of my (now 11 month) son. I was treated as a regular pregnancy, no one told me to take extra folate. No one gave me an extra ultra sound to ensure the proper growth of my child. I had no idea of the danger I had put my son in, after 10 years of "non-specific" infertility. I would have walked across glass in my bare feet, if the DR. had told me to do it.
My son was born with a toe malformation, he is missing the "pinky" toe of his right foot. He is also fallen off the chart as far as both weight and height. In addition he has yellow skin. My Dr. didn't even take a second thought about the MTX because when I mentioned it he said that I took it 3 months prior so it's not a factor. My relentless search has caused me to see that it indeed is a factor and have an appointment on Monday with a different DR.
So I am imploring, any woman who has taken Methotrexate, for whatever reason, and feels as though their child has an abnormality no matter how minute, please respond to this thread. The more information I can get the faster I can send my DR. down the right path or at least have it ruled out.
Thank you.
MummytoKoen so sorry to hear about your son. From what the doctors at the hospital told me about methotrexalayte, I think you are right to assume it contributed towards your sons abnormalities. It sounds like a pretty heavy duty drug, how upsetting that the doctor did not warn you about this. :(
mummytokoen - finally someone who agrees with me I beleive my little girls fatal NTD was due to me conceiving 5 mths after my methotextrate injection, Katy suffered from anencephaly :comfort:
Dear Rachel,
I am so very sorry for your loss of Katy, thank you for sharing her little life with me. Did your DR. completely disregard the methotrexate as well? I'm beginning to think that there are a lot of us out there who have not made it to the "list" so to speak and the manufactures of this horrible drug will never face up to what they knowingly are doing to our children. I don't know how or what, but I think if enough of us mothers find each other then we should do something. They need to be held accountable, but more than that they need to properly explain how long the drug will affect our eggs, and it should never be used for terminating a pregnancy. Yes it is effective, but the women given it for tubal pregnancies are generally trying for children and should not be placed in the situation of having to wait a considerable amount of time before trying again. Our breaking hearts should not be placed in that situation.
I can see by your post that you are expecting very soon, congratulations! I hope you have a wonderful pregnancy and a quick and (mostly) painless delivery. Please feel free to contact me directly for anything. Mommy2Koen@yahoo.com
-Susan
Wow, I never knew that there was an injection for ectopic pregnancies, and secondly it does sound scary with some scary side effects......thank you for sharing info on this, it is good to know. I am so sorry for everyones loss.
I had an ectopic in 1998 when I was 16 (Lucky my DH was my boyfriend at the time, and my family were really supportive too, something I will be able to share with my daughter on what NOT to do, and how accidents do happen!).
My tube ruptured and I was about 24 hours away from bleeding out totally and losing my life when they discovered what was happening (i had been bleeding for 2 weeks....). The pain associated with the ectopic was on a par with labour.
I had a lap and they managed to repair my tube, and I had a blood transfusion too.
I have fallen pregnant on the first cycle of ttc with both my bubbas, and have had no complications at all (which is so wonderful, because they did tell me at the time that I would have a 30% chance of it happening again due to the scar tissue etc from the repair, so I am so grateful to God for this.
Good luck sweetie, I am praying for a quick recovery and that you will be blessed when the timing is right honey and your body is ready. xoxox
Susan I did question the injection after we had Katy, same hosp, the OB said oh you shouldn't have got pg so quickly were you on folic acid nothing was ever said to us except wait 3mths to TTC, the OB who administered the injection was no longer working in that hosp (public) I didn't even know what the drug was for until I was being given it, she gave me 3 options in regards to what I could do with ectopic, my levels were already dropping, we chose the injection off she sent us with some nurse to pharmacy, then that nurse took me to palative care and I was like WOAH!!! whats going on, the nurses there then explained the drug was used for chemo etc, and they were the only ones able to administer it scared the beejeebies out of me for sure... but still no-one warned me of the effects
even after Katy's birth besides the you should have waited 1 yr before TTC... they still didn't say it had anything to do with the methotextrate, just one of the things blah blah
thanks for the congrats on boo it should be a quick birth having c-sect 27th Oct :)
Dear Rachel,
Wow is all I can say. I found that there is a methotexate haters group on facebook. I just joined it and added a thread asking the same thing I asked here. If there area any woman out there who feel that MTX has caused a birth defect in their children. If you are on FB i encourage you to write on the thread to encourage more woman to do the same. I saw that you area in AU that is so cool. One day I hope to go there, my husband went on business a couple of years back and loved it. Thanks for writing.
Hi Mommy2Koen
I have being reading up on Methotrexate as I was sure I had an ectopic pregnancy (no one believed me for 2weeks) I was wanting to know the treatment as I suspected it as early as 4-5weeks gestation.
I give you much praise and am hoping what you are doing (gathering info from other women who have taken methotrexate)is going to help other women and the health services give better information to women undergoing treatment using methotrexate or have the option not to have it.
My EP was diagnosed 2weeks after I first suspected I had one in which time having the Methotrexate was then not an option due to the size my tube was and risk of it rupturing anyway. When discussing the options with the Dr he said the methotrexate was not an option for me and I said that was ok as I didn't want it anyway (purely from reading this thread and another on another forum). He said its the first line of treatment for EP if possible over a tubal removal. He asked me why I didn't want it and I said it depletes your folate and contributes to birth defects and he completely disagreed with me. He insisted it was safe to take although did say you have to wait 3/4months to ttc again. He said he had never heard of it causing problems in future pregnancies. This Dr was a leading IVF dr in Westmead and I could not believe he had not heard about the need for folic acid after taking methotrexate. It just made me wonder how many women recieve this treatment and have no idea about precautions to take for future pregnancies when leading obstetricians and Gynos don't seem to know or give accurate information. It really is very concerning. GL I hope you get all the support you need.
I have been keeping an eye on this thread as I am currently being treated with methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis. This means I'm on it long-term, and also means I have a much greater risk of it causing problems in future pregnancies...
I find it interesting that the OB/gyns don't think it's that big an issue. My rheumy made me swear blind that returning to IVF in the near future wasn't on the agenda, and despite both my husband and myself having a zero chance of natural conception ever occurring, insisted I was on the pill before I could start taking it. I also must take 5mg of folate every day, and must continue this for 3-6 months after stopping MTX before I can even think about going back to IVF.
The knowledge of just how nasty this drug is (it scares the living daylights out of me, but I really don't have any other options) does exist out there - but not in the branch of medicine that helps those of you who have had ectopic pregnancies.
BW
All I can say is thank goodness I didnt go down that path. But I must say I had a few doctors come & see me in my hospital room pushing for methotrexalayte but my DH went home & did research online about it & wasnt keen. I wanted it over & done with & I wanted the 'easy way out', no surgery. Thinking back now I was given barely any info from the doctors & nurses about meth. However I was unable to have it anyway as my blood tests didnt come back 100%. How scary that women are being given this drug without a full explanation.
Hi all,
I'm new to this forum and have just been given a dose of MTX. This is my 2nd ectopic pregnancy.
The first one was in September 2008. I was at 10 weeks and the fetus had grown to 5.3cm in the left tube. I had pain on my left side that was worse when i went to the toilet. I have a high pain threshold and just assumed it was constipation or something. I started spotting so i went to the emergency room ( it was a Saturday and my OB was closed). They did an ultrasound and a blood test and misdiagnosed it as a miscarriage caused by a cyst on my ovaries.
On Monday afternoon i went to see my OB who re did the ultrasound and booked me into theater within 2 hours. They removed my left tube and through lap surgery. I was devastated and i didn't understand why he left the ovary without a tube. He advised me that the body works in mysterious ways and that sometimes when the left side ovulates the right tube can catch it as it's not that far away and it's not fully attached to the right ovary. it has little feelers that catch any eggs being released regardless of the side it's released from.
12 months later i lost 17kg and had gotten over my depression about the ectopic and decided to try again. I charted my period and i knew i had conceived first go. Even before i had my first missed period i has sore breasts. Then 4 days before my period was due i started bleeding. I figured it was a miscarriage and left it at that.
5 days after the bleeding had stopped i still had cramping. On a whim i took a pregnancy test and it came back positive. I went to the hospital and they didn't believe i had been pregnant because it was so early. I said i probably miscarried but with a positive test and my previous history i wanted to make sure i didn't have any cells or a partial growing. They took some blood and sent me for an internal u/s.
The internal u/s showed the 'ring of fire' around my left ovary ( the one without the tube) which i was told means that's the one that released the egg. They couldn't find anything in my right ovary, tube or uterus. The doctor told me then that my HGC level was only 25 and that i had miscarried but it had left my system and the cramping should stop in another day or 2.
On Monday i had another blood test to confirm it had left my system and a follow up appointment was booked in with my OB for Wednesday morning at 8am. On Tuesday morning i woke up with bad cramping and another heavy bleeding. I called my OB's rooms and told them that i had an appointment on Wednesday but i had started bleeding and should i be worried. They called me back and said my OB was in surgery all day but the on call OB wants to see me ASAP.
The on call OB told me my levels on Monday were still @ 25 and he thinks the bleeding this morning was just my body getting rid of the last of it. He offered to do a curette to get rid of it or wait 16 hours and talk to my OB about it and see if it settles overnight. I chose to wait and see how it goes.
It didn't settle and when i spoke to my OB on Wednesday morning he suggested i have the curette. Within 40 mins i was in the hospital ( Gotta love private hospitals for lack of waiting!) The did another blood test before the surgery and the curette was done without complications.
Thursday night i got a call from my OB himself (which was worrying as his receptionist usually calls) who said that the lab came back on the curette and no cells were found. My blood test done before surgery still showed a level of 25. On friday morning i did another blood test and went to see my OB friday afternoon. again my levels were at 25 and he advised me to have a dose of MTX.
I asked him what the side effects were and he said that since it was a once off dose it would kill off the cells and would leave my system within 3 months. After that time i could TTC again but i would have to stay away from direct sunlight and sun lamps for a while and i may have cramping, bleeding and nausia for a week or too. The only other thing he said was to stop taking my pregnancy vitamins ( blackmores gold) for the next 3 weeks.
He then had his nurse give me the drug and i had to get a blood test on Monday (today) + wed and Fri to confirm it had worked.
My OB said it was defiantly in my remaining tube (right) but it's so small it would cause more damage to the tube if he went in lapro again and he couldn't confirm he would be able to find it in their anyway considering how small it is. He said it wouldn't cause any damage to the tube if it was killed off with the MTX but if left untreated it would make my body think i'm pregnant and stop it from releasing any further eggs making it impossible to keep TTC anyway.
I'm confused, nauseated and ever so tired. Can anyone shed some light on this for me?
As my levels were so low i'm wondering if it was overkill to give me that drug considering what i've read of here. Would it have gone away in a few weeks time since it didn't appear to be growing or would it just sit there and block my tube like my OB said? I trust him a lot but i'm still scared that i've done the wrong thing.
Kahula I am so sorry to read about the trouble you have had in your ttc journey and the losses you have had.
As for the Dr prescribing Methotrexate I don't know if its overkill or more prevention in case it doesn't go away and develop further causing you to have more damage in your remaining tube. If I was in your position (I have lost one tube from ectopic and am terribly concerned of a repeat due to damage to my remaining tube) I would want the Methotrexate in the hope it helps save it if there was another ectopic that can not be located. Weather there is or not another ectopic that could cause further damage to your remaining tube I do think the benefit of having the drug to hopefully prevent damage would outway the risks of having the drug. That is me however and I am sure others will feel differently. Please know I am thinking of you at this difficult time.
while I dont like the drug I understand the benefits in cases liek yours what I hate is people not being given the full facts etc...one start taking 5mg folic acid NOW.... do not TTC within the year from someone who did its just not worth the heartache if something goes wrong...:comfort: