Can anyone offer advice please?

History: Thought I had miscarriage 2nd January as after bleeding since xmas eve and having bad stomach cramps, I had ‘something’ in my underwear. I keep having scans and last week they found ‘something’ by my ovary and they were not sure of significance so as I am still bleeding, have abdo pain; feel light headed and more importantly my HCG levels are not decreasing much they booked further rescan and HCG. I should point out here that this was my 5th scan and no sac has ever been found in my uterus.

Scan today showed nothing in uterus (expected) but the ‘something’ by ovary is still there albeit smaller, and my HCG levels are not decreasing, they are not increasing either. As this has been ongoing for 3.5 weeks they have now offered me the following:
1) Continue to watch and wait, have rescan and HCG again in a week’s
time and see what happens. (Ideally waiting for nature and my body to
complete the process but not guarenteed)
2) Medical management by way of Methotrexate injection
3) Laparoscopy (although they did not advise this)


What I’d like to know is,

Has anyone been offered Methotrexate and taken it? What was it like? Symptoms? Problems since? Would you recommend it to me or not?

Has anyone been offered Methotrexate and decline it? Why? Did nature take its course?


If anyone reading this has had an ectopic before and can share your story I’d be grateful as I’m worried about everything.

my mum has is for other reasons every week, i think it kind of gets worse over time. lots of women on here i have heard them say they were surprised as they felt fine.

what i would consider though is that if you do take it you cant conceive (i think it is for a 100 days) for awhile.

If they are still not sure whats going on then would the surgery not offer a better in way of explanation? saying that if they are not advising this its maybe better not to have it.

Im sorry for your loss and having to make this decision. good luck

Thank you. I was told that with 1 injection we cant conceive for 3-4 months but if we require a second injection then this would take it to 6 months. So it's tough decision especially when we really want a baby however, trying to be positive we are both only 26 therefore we hopefully have plenty of time.

We were told the operation could cause damage and would be a last resort if they could help it.

I'm so sorry.
I had an ectopic in June at 10 weeks and 5 days. I was given a shot of methotrexate and was told to hold off on TTC for 3 months.
After the shot the pain decreased and I almost instantly lost the pregnancy symptoms. I bled on and off for about a month, then had nothing for a month, then started to get regular periods.
I honestly can't recall there being any huge side-effects; I guess I was too busy being sad. I would definitely recommend taking some time off work if you can. I was an emotional wreck afterwards.
Perhaps the only 'side effect' is that afterwards I was painfully aware of every cramp and slight pain going on down there. Periods and ovulation are definitely more intense and noticeable.
I was given the choice between methotrexate and surgery, and I'm glad I chose methotrexate. From what I've read, your chances of conceiving again after methotrexate are significantly higher and there's less of a risk of it being another ectopic.
I think you're 'lucky' (I know, how can that be true?) that the baby wasn't in a tube, as this could cause more trouble in the future. Mine was also outside the tube, which was why I didn't have problems until almost 11 weeks into it.
Good luck. I hope you have a good support system during this, and don't forget to take care of yourself.
p.s. I had my ectopic in June, and I just got my today. So, there is hope of conceiving after an ectopic.

Hi,
I had surgery for an ectopic last march and here in the UK we're told there is pretty much no difference between chance of suffering another ectopic whether we have surgery or metotrexate because the mtx causes scarring in the affected tube. We're also told that the chance of conceiving is not much different because as long as there are ovaries and one healthy tube there's a very high chance of conceiving again. Also, conservative estimates show that about 15% of the time the opposite tube picks up the egg so if you have no left tube and ovulate from your right side you can still end up pregnant.
Would you mind me asking where you were told that?

Hi. Just want to reiterate what misspink said (). I also had my tube removed last year and I have two ovaries and one tube. I've never been told that the chances are any different, and they advised surgery for me as they said if the methotrextae didn't work, I'd have to have surgery anyway.

I can kind of see why they might not want to do surgery on you if it is actually near your ovary, as I suppose they could risk damage to the ovary, leaving you with only one? I don't have experience of methotrexate so sorry can't be much help on that.

Have a look on ectopic pregnancy trust website if you can, there are lots of women who've been through the same and also some proffessionals I believe who can answer your questions x x

Hey ladies. First of all, I hope I haven't offended anyone with my comment. I was just going by what the ER doctor had told me and from I'd read on some websites. That being said, when I just re-did some 'research' on the Internet I couldn't find evidence to support what I said. I guess after my ectopic I was looking for any glimmer of hope, so I understood what I wanted to be true. I'm going to look into it bit more, though, as I feel quite stupid for 'making up' these stats.
So, I eat my words. Perhaps the doctor just wanted me to choose methotrexate because it was cheaper and easier for the hospital. I wouldn't be surprised.
Anyways, I hope everything has worked out for you Magot. Take care.

I've had 3 ectopics and with my first one they gave me a shot of methotrexate. I didn't have any symptoms from it (either that or I didn't notice because I was already in so much pain anyway from the ectopic) and they had to end up doing a surgery afterall because they thought my tube had ruptured. Thankfully it hadn't. With that being said, I haven't heard anything about it making it harder to concieve (after the wait time is over). That is a hard decision you have to make and I'm very sorry you have to go through that. I've been there three times. I can tell you that sometimes the longer you wait the more damage it could do to your tube. With my last one by the time I made a decision to go with the surgery my tube was so damaged it had to be removed. Let us know if there are any updates and take are of yourself!

I was given methtrexate for a possible ectopic pregnancy. My doctor made the decision solely based on hcg levels, and they told me I had to get the methotrexate shot immediately because my life was at stake. I got the shot, then my GP (different doctor) did an ultrasound and it was in the uterus. But it was too late.

Three months later I got pregnant again, and this time everything is going well.. and I have twins! I don't know what to think about what happened with the possible ectopic and methotrexate, but if you have hcg issues AND your ultrasound backs up the ectopic theory, I would do the methotrexate. I had no side effects, and I was given the ok to try again three months later, and that is exactly when I got pregnant again.

I am so sorry for this- I know how painful this is. I went in to get the metho shot and they accidentally sent me to the maternity ward. I was hysterical and they sent me home with a stupid booklet about how to deal with miscarriage. Bring someone with you- I wish I had. The whole thing was over about 6 days later. Be good to yourself and let yourself grieve.
XX

Omg Lucy that is so awful I can't believe they did that to you, you poor thing. They should have scanned you to see if there was anything in the uterus not just given you the mtx. I was told by my epau that slow rising levels aren't always an indication of ectopic, on occasions, clearly yours was one, nothing is wrong at all. I'd definitely go ahead with the legal action if you can cope with it.
Congrats on your bfp and twins!