Ectopic pregnancy and methotrexate

[teme]

Hmmm Interesting. It is weird because you have moments of feeling kinda normal and then wham ya feel like crap!

[natasha1234]

Do not apologize! You have every right to feel the way you do. You are right it is an emotional rollercoaster. They say that people who have had ectopics and treated with methotrexate are usually ok to conceive. So you are waiting to get info about your right tube? How about your left? I know it is hard to be patient but I am sending you positive thoughts!

Hi Teme, thanks for your postings I must say I feel a bit better today I hope that I stay this way for a while but as you know its up and down with your emotions.

I am not sure about my left tube? I am hoping that it is not damaged in anyway! I have an appointment in April where Dye will be put in me and it will tell if my tubes are blocked or not!!! I cant wait as the waiting is so depressing at least when I know whats going on I can have a plan B but right now its Limbo Limbo.. I will keep you all informed thanks again.

[Toy]

Hi all,
I am glad I found this website. It is really good hearing others experiences.

I went to the doctors with what I thought was appendicitis. He did a urine test and told me that I was pregnant but it was possibly etopic. I was to go straight to the hospital where they ruled out everything except for etopic. That was on the Sat and I had to wait till Mon to get a scan done as I was only 5 weeks. Once the scan was done I was sent straight to emergency with definent etopic. They gave me morphine to help with the pain then later the methotrexate single dose as my HCG level was around 5200. I was let go home but early Tues morning I ended up back in there with severe pain. They checked my HCG levels again which was around 3000 & gave me a collection on tablets to take and once again sent me home.

I was good most of Wed until the afternoon when the pains came back and once again the tablets were not working. Very early Thursday morning I again went back to emergency with severe pains and they did another scan to check if I ruptured (I finally started to bleed). They took more blood and my HCG level was 2000. This time they sent me home with a lot stronger pain killers and I have managed to last the weekend out without going back to hospital.

Unfortunently I run out of the tablets and the pain has come back. I have a appointment this afternoon so I am trying to last until then. Did anyone else have severe pain without rupturing? And how long does it last for?

[Counting Days]

hi hope you are ok but severe pain does not sound good
mine resolved after MTX treatment

[Isadora]

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?

[ClareBear28]

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

[teme]

Clarebear thank you for your good news story. Congrats on your new bundle!

[Isadora]

Hi Clare, congratulations on your new baby, & thanks for sharing your story.

[ange :)]

Congratulations Clare on your new arrival It's wonderful to hear success stories.

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.

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

[teme]

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!

[ClareBear28]

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

[ange :)]

Thanks so much Teme and Clare,

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...

[Mommy2Koen]

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.

[Isadora]

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.

[Rach75]

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

[Mommy2Koen]

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

[Sweet Bliss]

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

[Rach75]

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