Ectopic pregnancy?

Claytonia

I was wondering if any you have had an ectopic pregnancy in the past? If so, what were the symptoms? I'm kind of freaking out because I have sharp cramps mostly on one side (the opposite side that ovulated last), and everything I read says that it could be a sign of an ectopic pregnancy. I'm afraid to call my doctor because I've called her a few times last week and this week (see my previous post) and I don't want to be one of those women that calls for every little thing. It's just my first pregnancy and I don't really know what's considered normal! 

 

Have any of you had sharp one-sided cramps early on and went on to have a healthy pregnancy?

pachisophic

I did at about six weeks along with spotting. The doctor gave me an ultrasound since the spotting was associated with localized pain on one side. The bleeding stopped after three days. The baby was right where it was supposed to be and we got to see a heartbeat. So far so good since! I told the doctor when I called that I was concerned that it was ectopic and that I wanted to get checked out since I REALLY didn't want to lose a tube if we caught it too late. Just fyi.

rayofsunshine99

This year I've been pregnant 3 times, 2 of them were ectopic.  The first one (ectopic) had no symtoms other than abnormally rising & falling hcg levels.

The second one (ectopic again) I had a sharp pain in my left side and spotting both at around 5 weeks, but my doc thought that it was a corpus leutum cyst and wasn't concerned since my HCG was going up so nicely/on schedule, so they waited another week to do an ultrasound, and by that time the baby had a heartbeat and was in my left tube.  I had to have my whole tube surgically removed that day.

This pregnancy (not ectopic) I also spotted for about 4 days, starting the day after my BFP and I had a sharp pain on my right side (the side I ovulated on) but it started much earlier - like right away.  Since I have a history of ectopic, they did an ultrasound as soon as my HCG was over 2,000 and they saw the gestational sac in my uterus.  The sac was empty at the time, but a repeat ultrasound a week later showed the yolk sac, fetal pole and heartbeat. 

Sorry for the long post but my point is that I had the same symptoms (sharp pain & spotting) for two pregnancies but only one was ectopic.  However, it can't hurt to mention it to your doc, they should be able to get you in for an ultrasound, or at the very least, do a couple of beta draws on you to see what your HCG is doing. 

Smelly Mac

I've had two ectopic pregnancies.  The first resulted in a damaged tube which had to be removed and the second actually ruptured my only tube causing internal bleeding. 

With the first ectopic I did not have any bleeding at all.  When I went for the blood work, the beta levels were very low.  I had to go for blood work every two days to check the beta levels which were not doubling as they were supposed to but were slowly rising. The sonograms and ultra sounds were not showing anything in the uterus or the tube.  Apparently it can not be seen when it's stuck inside the tube until it's a certain size, which at that point was too late for me. 

One night I had the worst pain where I believe my right ovary would be.  The pain was not a period like cramping.  It was horrible.  I could barely move for a minute or two before being able to drive myself to the hospital.

 I had just had an ultrasound done the day before and they didn't see anything but on this night they found something in my right tube.  The tube was damaged and had to be removed.  It was a small surgery.

With the second ectopic, I didn't even know I was pregnant.  I had a very light period which lasted a lot longer than normal, about 8 days and continued.  That concerned me enough to go to the doctor.  I found out that I was pregnant, approximately 4 weeks.  The doctor told me that I was in the early pregnancy stages and that the spotting was normal.  But since I had gone through this already I knew something was wrong.  He sent me for blood work every three days.  My Beta levels were not doubling.  They were actually fluctuating.  One day they would be 300 then 295 then 305, etc. 

Every time I got a pain in the pelvic area, I went to the hospital, hoping that they would find the ectopic before I lost my last tube.  But again, they can not see anything until it's too late.

I was having worse pains than I did with the first ectopic but didn't want to be a bother to my doctor or the hospital as they kept telling me that I could still have a healthy pregnancy.

One day while in my parked car, I got the sharpest, most excrutiating pain I have ever felt in my life.  I was crying like a baby.  I couldn't move.  I could barely talk to let anyone know somethig was wrong.  I stretched out the best I could in my car.  It took me a good 10 minutes to pull myself together to drive home.  I still didn't go to the hospital but went for blood work the next day. 

The doctor said I miscarried as my beta levels dropped.  He scheduled me for a DNC to clean me out in a couple of days.  When he went in, he found internal bleeding and a ruptured tube.  He had to cut me open to remove all the blood and the tube.  It took me 10 weeks to recover from this surgery.  I was told that I could have bled out and died.

So if your pains are just cramping, like I'm having now with a healthy pregnancy after IVF, you'll be OK.  If you're in so much pain that you can't stand it, I would go to the hospital or the doctor and let them know your concerns.  Your body knows when something is wrong better than any doctor does.  If you feel like something is wrong, insist on getting your blood taken every three days.  Your beta levels will double if you're having a healthy pregnancy.  If your doctor refuses, get a new doctor. 

I now have a female doctor who understands all my concerns and never denies me anything.  You should never have to go through what I went through.

I hope this helped you rather than scare you.  I wish you a happy and healthy baby

keg

I had an ectopic around 6 weeks.  I had been spotting pretty much the entire pregnancy so I had a sense something was up.  I started bleeding more (nothing crazy...just period-like bleeding) and had left flank pain.  It wasn't the worst pain in my life or anything, just rather constant pain.  I went for an u/s and they determined it was ectopic.  They were actually surprised I was having pain that early but luckily I did since I was able to be treated with a medication as opposed to surgery.  I realize you have issues with the OB office, but if you are seriously worried about an ectopic, I would call.  It's definitely better to be safe than sorry with them.  Good luck!

skoogirl

I haven't experienced an ectopic pregnancy, but a few weeks ago (at approx. 5 weeks) I was having pretty sharp pains on my left side near my ovary.  I worried like you are, but looked up on-line the risk factors and realized that many of them don't apply to me at this point.  Since the pain was sharp, but not overwhelming and came and go I decided to let it go until such a time that it got worse.  Luckily, it eventually went away and yesterday I saw a baby settled into my uterus, no problem.

Wish you the best. 

heather4hawks

I had an ectopic between 6 and 7 weeks. No bleeding, just persistant pain on my right side in the same spot.  It wasn't sharp or extremely painful, just same spot and didn't go away. Called the dr after it continued from one afternoon through the next morning. They brought me in for an emergency u/s and couldn't find it, with low betas also. 

One thing the dr did was a pelvic exam and when he gently touched my cervix I cried out it pain. He said that was a sure sign of ectopic. You could easily try that yourself if you are not sure about wanting to call in.

I wouldn't hesitate to contact your dr though as the sooner it is detected the better the outcome is for you (ie; medication instead of surgery).

Claytonia

Thanks everyone!! For those of you who have been through ectopic pregnancies, I'm so sorry   @Smelly Mac - I got goosebumps reading your story. I'm so sorry that you had to go through so much pain!

My cramps have subsides a bit and I periodically get them on either side or across the bottom of my belly. I'm also on progesterone, but I think the cramps could be from that. I am going to call my doc this week just to make sure that it's ok.

 Thanks again for your support, ladies!