# methotrexate....what to expect???



## moonbeam38

hello ladies - sorry & :hugs: to any of you going through a rough time

im just wondering if anyone has experienced ectopic/suspected ectopic & methotrexate???

i had my injection yesterday at 6w5d as i had a pregnancy of 'unknown location'
this is my 3rd loss in 11mnths :cry:

what i want to know is....

how will it make me feel..emotionally/physically??
what actually happens??
should i return to work??
any side effects i should be aware of??

the hospital have given me a leaflet but id like to hear off anyone who has actually been through this & how do you get through it??? 

much love 

xxx


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## cazi77

HIya I had methotrexate in May last year for pregnancy of unknown location. I had the injection on the Saturday and went back to work on the Monday. By the tuesday I was bleeding quite heavy so ended up being off a week. The bleeding only lasted 1 week and my Hcg was back to 0 within 2 weeks but my levels were low to start with150's. I had no other side effects. The hardest part for me was the 3 months after the methotrexate when I couldn't ttc I coped by planning things to look forward too. So sorry you are going through this xx


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## Victste99

Sorry to hear everything that you are going through. Hugs xx


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## moonbeam38

thanks & sorry for your loss xx
my levels were around 3000 so im expecting it to take a while to drop :(

it just seems such a long drawn out process with no closure for a while....
xx


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## PreshFest

I had no side effects from the shots at all. I was in the hospital all night just waiting around until they finally gave me the shot at 2am. I took that next day off work, but was back after that. I still had pain in my tube, but that's totally normal. I actually still get pain all the time, so don't be surprised if that happens to you.

I got pregnant 4 months after the shot (2nd month trying) and it was not ectopic! I still had pain in my tube the entire pregnancy, but sadly just had a D&C on Friday at 12 wks :( Totally unrelated to the shots, though. 

Just make sure you take your folic acid supplements once your levels reach 0!


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## GaiaSN

I got Methotrexate for an ectopic last June. Got the injection on a Wednesday, nothing until the following Monday when rather heavy bleeding set in. The following two days were excruciating because of some heavy cramping (had good pain killers, though), then it eventually tapered off the next Monday. So all in all a week of bleeding, two days of cramps early on starting, all starting four days after the injection. 

I am so sorry you have to experience this. A warm hug and best of luck to you! Hang on in there.


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## babyboo085

Hello,

I had methotrexate in March 2010 following a laporoscopy for ectopic pregnany as my hcg levels weren't reducing enough.

The afternoon I had the shot I had no side effects (I was already bleeding following the surgery) but the next day I had severe nausea but it only lasted the one day. 

Not a lot of info from me I'm afraid but I thought it may be of some use.

I hope you are doing ok x :hugs:


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## moonbeam38

thanks for all the info & sorry you have been through the same ladies:hugs:
...im on day 4 now & levels have dropped slightly which is good....
they said its probably due to me passing a decidual cast(???) earlier today.

not been able to grieve properly yet which worries me a bit :shrug:
xx


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## patiently

Moonbeam i am so sorry for your loss. I have suffered two mc last year and am about to have the shot today as i definatley have an ectopic pregnancy in my left tube. I noticed that you said your hcg was at 3000 how long roughly did it take for you hcg to drop to 0. I am finding this extremely hard to come to terms with as in my other two pregnancies my hcg only rose to 290's max and this pregnancy has reached 3000 so seems like a good pregnancy in the wrong place and two unhealthy pregnancies in the right. Just my luck. How long was you told to wait before ttc? How have you been feeling since?


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## lovewithin

moonbeam38 said:


> hello ladies - sorry & :hugs: to any of you going through a rough time
> 
> im just wondering if anyone has experienced ectopic/suspected ectopic & methotrexate???
> 
> i had my injection yesterday at 6w5d as i had a pregnancy of 'unknown location'
> this is my 3rd loss in 11mnths :cry:
> 
> what i want to know is....
> 
> how will it make me feel..emotionally/physically??
> what actually happens??
> should i return to work??
> any side effects i should be aware of??
> 
> the hospital have given me a leaflet but id like to hear off anyone who has actually been through this & how do you get through it???
> 
> much love
> 
> xxx

Hey dear, i am so sorry for your loss. :hugs: i can't help you on how it feels as i had a normal pregnancy which ended with d&c.. but i am a scientist and i can tell you what methotrexate is and how it works. the side effects of it vary among people and of course depend on the dose you are given. 

methotrexate is a chemotherapy drug, used to fight cancer normally, as it arrest the cell growth. it is an analog of folic acid - meaning the molecule looks almost the same like the folic acid which is essential for the fetal growth, but it can not substitute its function. therefore, methotrexate is there to arrest the baby's growth which is necessary in order to save your tube... which would burst otherwise, and this can cause internal bleeding and is a life-threatening condition. 
there is nothing that can be done at the moment to save both the tube (and you) and the baby :sad:

the dosage used to arrest the pregnancy and the ones used for cancer treatment are very different - the dose is way less in your case and it is supplied only once, so you shouldn't expect the side effect that cancer patients have after prolonged chemotherapy. still, you may get nausea or vomiting and feel generally exhausted afterwards.

in case you want to ttc again, make sure you start taking the folic acid supplements once you are done with the mc procedure... methotrexate will leave your bloodstream completely by then, but it is always better to give those embryos a kick start afterwards with some extra folic acid there.

hope this was helpful :hugs::hugs:


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