Scared about ectopic pregnancy -- please help!! *Update*

[MamaTex]

I went in for my first appointment yesterday when I was 6+2 but the doctor who performed the transvaginal ultrasound didn't see anything. I looked myself and didn't see anything in my uterus. I expected to see something as a few days prior to my appointment, I had a second beta done and received an HCG of over 14,000! I know the development of babies vary, but with a number that high I expected to see something. My first beta, taken 6 days prior to the second one, was 2741, a nice jump!

I am worried because for some of last week and this week I have been lightheaded. I attributed it to pregnancy and the summer heat, but now I worry I could be bleeding internally but not know it. I have had sharp pains in my upper abdomen at random when I sneeze sometimes, but thought that was round ligament pain.

I have had no serious cramping, spotting, or bleeding. I don't know what to do. I don't want to rush to the ER for this to only be another blighted ovum diagnosis, but I don't want to put my life at risk either. Just so hard to know what could be possibly be going on. I got my blood drawn yesterday, which will have been 3 days since the second draw so that will tell me something. If the HCG goes up, I am terrified it means that it is an ectopic that was missed.

Can anyone shed light on their experience with an ectopic pregnancy? I have a mind to just say screw it and go into the urgent care or ER if I can't be seen fairly soon.

 

[dan-o]

Gosh how confusing, you poor thing hoping they just missed the baby due to position of the sac or something. 6+2 is still pretty small. You'd think if it were ectopic they'd have seen something to suggest it, or be concerned. Have you got a follow up appt?
I'd be getting another ultrasound if it were me, will be thinking of you, hope everything's ok xxx

 

[MamaTex]

Gosh how confusing, you poor thing hoping they just missed the baby due to position of the sac or something. 6+2 is still pretty small. You'd think if it were ectopic they'd have seen something to suggest it, or be concerned. Have you got a follow up appt?
I'd be getting another ultrasound if it were me, will be thinking of you, hope everything's ok xxx

I have a follow up appointment next Thursday but I wonder if that is too long if it is ectopic. I read that they can rapture starting around 6 to 8 weeks. I really don't want that happening. I haven't cramped, bled, or spotted or felt any major pains so all of this is just nerve racking. I already had a good cry yesterday but now I am focused on just fingering out what in the world is going on.

 

[DrMum]

Hi mamatex, I'm sorry you are going through this stress. I also went yesterday for a scan because I was worried about ectopic. I had pain and bleeding. On my scan they saw the gestational sac at the fundus pretty easily, but they spent ages checking both tubes for ectopic, also way down in my cervix.
If you aren't certain they checked thoroughly then definitely go and ask to be rescanned. With an hcg that high it's coming from somewhere right?! I would maybe swing by my OB and be reviewed.
I do hope you just had a rubbish scanner tech and that it's all in the right place cooking away nicely!!
Big hug...we are all here support you!

 

[MamaTex]

Hi mamatex, I'm sorry you are going through this stress. I also went yesterday for a scan because I was worried about ectopic. I had pain and bleeding. On my scan they saw the gestational sac at the fundus pretty easily, but they spent ages checking both tubes for ectopic, also way down in my cervix.
If you aren't certain they checked thoroughly then definitely go and ask to be rescanned. With an hcg that high it's coming from somewhere right?! I would maybe swing by my OB and be reviewed.
I do hope you just had a rubbish scanner tech and that it's all in the right place cooking away nicely!!
Big hug...we are all here support you!

Thank you. My concerns are magnified because it was the doctor that did the transvaginal ultrasound. I didn't bother to ask her if she saw my uterus was titled or not. I didn't think to ask her about ectopic pregnancy until I left my appointment.

I called this morning about my blood work and the receptionist told me it would be 1 to 3 business days before they get the results. I told the receptionist I was concerned about an ectopic pregnancy but she blew me off, telling me I would be called once the results got back. I am going to send a question through the patient portal they have, just so it is documented online that I did try and contact them about this

 

[Surprised26]

I went to the doctor with really bad sharp shooting pains in my left ovary early on, They couldn't find baby, but a search of the ovaries did find a cyst, which was causing the pain. Cysts are normal in early pregnancy as they sometimes act as an aid to release needed hormones. If your pain worsens, or if you have really good insurance and need the peace of mind, I'd go to the ER. Otherwise I'd try to stick it out until your appointment. In my case, fast forward to the present and baby is measuring correctly and in the right spot, so I was freaked out about nothing.

 

[MamaTex]

I went to the doctor with really bad sharp shooting pains in my left ovary early on, They couldn't find baby, but a search of the ovaries did find a cyst, which was causing the pain. Cysts are normal in early pregnancy as they sometimes act as an aid to release needed hormones. If your pain worsens, or if you have really good insurance and need the peace of mind, I'd go to the ER. Otherwise I'd try to stick it out until your appointment. In my case, fast forward to the present and baby is measuring correctly and in the right spot, so I was freaked out about nothing.

I am glad to hear things worked out for you. When did you go in when you had these sharp shooting pains and did they find anything like a gestational sac and/or a yolk sac? When I went in yesterday, I didn't even see a gestational sac. My symptoms are pretty much gone and earlier today I started feeling sharp pains in my abdomen area. I was lying on the bed and moving about since my daughter was crawling over the bed. I made sudden movements and had some pain, stretched and had some pain. I want to believe it is just round ligament pain, but it makes me fearful!!

 

[MamaTex]

Update: I received a call back from the medical assistant after sending a message through the Messaging Center. She told me the doctor had ruled the pregnancy had not tried to implant anywhere other than my uterus and that I might just be too early. She said she would call me back as soon as they had the lab results for my HCg. I feel a little better. I am still in the dumps about the thought of not having a viable pregnancy, but it would be great if I did not have an ectopic pregnancy that could kill me.

 

[Faith2011]

You poor thing. I had an ectopic pregnancy 2 years ago. We caught it at 6 weeks i had really bad cramps and light brown discharge. It dont hurt to go to er. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[DrMum]

Hey mamatex, just wanted to say hi and I'm thinking of you! Hope they get back to you Monday with good news!

 

[Hatethewait85]

I don't want to scare you unnecessarily but do want to tell you about my experience. I just had emergency surgery for a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. I had some very light spotting at what I thought was 5+5. Beta was 1921 at the time and they could find nothing in my uterus. I went back 3 days later and beta was up to 3600. Another us still showed nothing in my uterus. Doc days once hcg is above 2000 they should see something even if it's small so she ruled it ectopic. They could find no evidence of a pregnancy elsewhere but knew if it was in my uterus they would see it. The next day I went in for methotrexate to terminate. Hcg levels were 5000. I got a second injection a week later as levels continued to rise. 4 days after the second injection I was in the er with mild pain feeling paranoid but afraid something was wrong. They told me I'd have severe pain if my tube ruptured but did some tests and ordered another ultrasound. My tube had ruptured and they saw the baby with a hb now. 2 hours later I was in surgery. If you feel something may be wrong id get it checked out just to be sure. I almost stayed home because the pain wasn't bad but I'm so glad I went in! One thing I should say is if they only did an external us I would ask for internal one too. Hope all is well and your bean is just hiding!!!

 

[SteffieLee]

I'm sorry your going though this. I'd say give it time. Maybe bubs implanted a touch late and you may not be as far as you think. Glad your doc ruled out ectopic.

 

[mmclark]

My husband and I went to the ER last night because I was worried about an ectopic pregnancy. Everything was fine (thankfully), but I don't regret going to the ER one bit. The peace of mind was completely worth the risk. If I hadn't gone, I would still be completely panicked.

I hope you get some relief soon. I know the anxiety can be exhausting.

 

[MamaTex]

My husband and I went to the ER last night because I was worried about an ectopic pregnancy. Everything was fine (thankfully), but I don't regret going to the ER one bit. The peace of mind was completely worth the risk. If I hadn't gone, I would still be completely panicked.

I hope you get some relief soon. I know the anxiety can be exhausting.

It really is. I went out of the house yesterday and felt better. It didn't last long once I returned home, but it was something I needed. I went to the ER but they didn't even have me pee in a cup. I thought I could at least get some blood work for the tiniest bit of reassurance or a transvaginal ultrasound, but they did nothing but refer me back to my OB. Waste of time and money. The doctor in the ER told me that I seemed fine to him. While I didn't have any cramping, bleeding, or serious pain I had experienced light headedness and some abdominal pains that worried me. In the ER doctor's words, "If it is an ectopic pregnancy, it is too small to do any damage so you can wait a few days until your appointment next week."



Needless to say I left pretty upset and angry. I left a message for my doctor over the weekend. All I can now is wait I guess. I haven't had any serious pains or bleeding, so that is what I will take comfort in.

 

[shmunster]

Normally ectopics wont reach that high a HCG level from memory, mine didnt get over a few thousand before it started to rupture, and I;d had spotting for days and was booked in for a scan on the monday but on the sunday I had severe pain and went to the ER and they operated that day

Fingers crossed all is ok

 

[MamaTex]

Just wanted to provide an update:

I went into see the doctor on Tuesday to discuss lab results. I didn't get good news. The doctor feels I had a missed miscarriage because when they took my blood last Thursday, it was around 26,000. She said that since she had seen nothing on the ultrasound with that high of an HCG,she felt the pregnancy was not viable. She told me that she would decide whether to treat me with Cytotec and/or a D&C based on the second draw she did on me Tuesday. I asked her if I could have an ultrasound before I took the pills or got the D&C, and she said no, there was no reason to do this. I am waiting on the lab test results to decide what I want to do. If my numbers keep going up, I will insist on one more scan before I end the pregnancy. If she refuses, I will just go elsewhere for a second opinion and wait it out until my body takes care of things. If my numbers go down, then I might go ahead and do the D&C. I don't want t do Cytotec. The more I read about it, the more I dislike it. So to make a long story short, I'm just waiting to see when and if I am going to miscarry.

 

[dan-o]

Oh hun I'm so sorry, how awful to be in limbo like that

 

[MamaTex]

Oh hun I'm so sorry, how awful to be in limbo like that

I am a little more at peace with things not going my way, but I am disturbed that this doctor won't even give me a reassurance scan with my numbers going up. It takes only a few minutes, but she can't be bothered to do one I guess. I don't think my pregnancy is viable, but I would like to ensure there is no abnormal growth outside of my uterus. There is also a slim chance that baby is hiding. If my numbers continue to go up and there is no baby a week or so later, that tells me all I need to know but I can't end a pregnancy without knowing for sure that there is absolutely nothing growing inside anywhere.

 

[_jellybean_]

I'm so sorry I agree with you that you should get a scan before you have the surgery. It doesn't make sense to me that your doctor wouldn't want to do one and I would do the same as you--if your number goes up, ask for a scan, and if your doctor refuses, then find another doctor. I'm sorry you're going through this. Sending you hugs.

 

[shmunster]

I'm so sorry

I agree you should definitely have another final scan just incase and for peace of mind, have they mentioned a molar pregnancy at all, the are non viable but have quite high hcg levels