To take methotrexate or not?

[Hopeful14]

Hello ladies,

Today i had a sono and it showed nothing in the uterus. I am thinking i am five weeks along. They looked and put pressure on the ovaries and the doc said i am not tender like a tubal pregnancy but will see what the blood work says. My levels were 64 then 155 (48 hrs later) then 538 (5 days later) and 644 (48hrs later). I am waiting for today's results.

I have read on other boards women who have had issues with slow rising levels and seen nothing then went on to have perfectly fine pregnancies. My GYN says its such limbo she doesnt even know what to tell me. I only had minor cramps on my left side like when I have my period. but everything else is starting up my teeth hurt the heartburn and my boobs (but that can be from the progesterone inserts).

This is my first pregnancy and it came out of nowhere. I def conceived around the weekend of my father's funeral so I was always saying this was a miracle and now i just dont want to give up but i also dont want to take the chance of blowing my tube and becoming infertile.

 

[LadyHutch]

speaking from experience with miscarriage and methotrexate, wait at least a week.

Chances of an ectopic blowing out your tube before 6 weeks is pretty slim. Also, 5 weeks is pretty early to see much. Finally, you will likely (not always but likely) have a degree of tubal pain before your tube blows.

methotrexate is NOT fun. I'd wait at leat til 6 weeks to be sure you aren't aborting a valid pregnancy.

But if you feel a significant twinge, don't be afraid to head straight to the ER.

 

[Hopeful14]

speaking from experience with miscarriage and methotrexate, wait at least a week.

Chances of an ectopic blowing out your tube before 6 weeks is pretty slim. Also, 5 weeks is pretty early to see much. Finally, you will likely (not always but likely) have a degree of tubal pain before your tube blows.

methotrexate is NOT fun. I'd wait at leat til 6 weeks to be sure you aren't aborting a valid pregnancy.

But if you feel a significant twinge, don't be afraid to head straight to the ER.

Thank you. I was going to wait until next week and see what happens. I have a minor twinge but i cant tell if its from gas or what because I have that off and on all the time. I wanted to wait too and I heard that 5 weeks is still early. also with my friend not seeing anything until 7 weeks and still bleeding with cramping she went on to be fine and deliver a baby girl. I just dont want to give up so easily. Then I was thinking what if its like that I didnt know I was pregnant show but that is such a reach.
This whole experience is making me not want to get pregnant ever again. That feeling of being attached and hoping and then this bad news its just way too much.

 

[Heatherlt]

I would also wait a week.

I did have an ectopic pregnancy and it was caught suuuuper early with hcg draws. When I went for an ultrasound they barely saw a little dot right next to my ovary in my tube. It took another week for me to start being uncomfortable and by the end of two weeks (I'm guessing around 6-7 weeks) my tube was starting to stretch and cause a lot of pain. You will know if something is wrong and if you feel discomfort or pain on one side please go in immediately. My tube was saved and I have no scar tissue from it because we caught it so early.

With all of that said, I'm really crossing my fingers that you have a sweet babe exactly where he/she is supposed to be!

 

[KiraLeigh]

I had to have methotrexate with my first pregnancy. I was around 6/7 weeks pregnant and had a massive bleed.....I assumed I miscarried naturally but 2 weeks later I still felt pregnant. I took a pregnancy test and sure enough it was still very much positive.

I was taken for blood tests which showed my number were all over the place, they would rise, then fall, then stay the same, fall and rise again. I was given a scan but nothing was found in the uterus so I was given the shot.

Fast forward 5 years and I am hear again. Going by the date of my lmp I am 6 weeks and 1 day today. 2 days ago (at 5 weeks 6 days) I had a scan due to right sided twinges. Nothing was found in the uterus so they suspect it's either too early to see anything due to late implantation or it's ectopic. They took my blood and have taken it again today. I have to ring tomorrow for the results. Well last night I started bleeding, it started dark red, turned brown, and is now red again.

If my levels come back tomorrow static or having only risen slightly I think I am going to opt for the methotrexate purely because I do not want to risk losing a tube to a rupture.

If my numbers are falling I have to assume my body is miscarrying and if they have doubled well god only knows what then lol. x

 

[Hopeful14]

My levels only went from 644 to like 675 or something. They suggested the shot. I wanted to wait a week but I don't think it will make a difference and didn't want to chance things over the holiday weekend. I am devastated to say the least. But maybe my body was not ready.

What are the side effects? What should I expect and how long did your guys bleed? I think from my lmao I am about five weeks too. My fear is that I don't want to see anything and if it's in the tube how does it flush out?

 

[KiraLeigh]

I didn't experience any side effects, though the injection itself hurt quite a bit.

Methotrexate works by stopping the cells from growing. If the pregnancy is ectopic the idea of the methotrexate is to stop the pregnancy from progressing so it can be absorbed by the body.

You may or may not bleed. I don't recall bleeding afterwards but I had already bled very heavily a couple of weeks prior. My next period was quite horrible though.

Will they not re scan you prior to having the shot, just to put your mind completely at ease?

I don't think I will bother with re scanning should my blood test results show none doubling levels.

Just remember once your HCG is confirmed to be back to 0 you should start taking folic acid daily as methotrexate depletes your body of it.

 

[Heatherlt]

I bled very lightly for about 30 days. It went on forever, but my hcg went to a bit over 1000 and I needed the methotrexate twice.

Definitely take lots of folic acid after hcg is 0 like Kira said. I was told not to ttc for 3 months after getting it because it would put my baby at a very high risk of birth defects because of the low folic acid.

 

[Hopeful14]

Thank you ladies for your responses. I definitely will resume these prenate pills after the shot. I am hoping that nothing really passes so much. They weren't sure if my body absorbed it or if it is tubal. He didn't want to do a laproscopy but didn't see anything in the uterus but saw no fluid by the uterus. I'm hoping it was absorbed and I don't bleed bec i don't want to see anything and I don't want to be in so much pain. I will probably try again next year. Thank you for your answers ladies. This ttc stuff is hard but since I got pregnant on my own I feel relieved bec i didn't think that would ever happen