TTC after Ectopic?

[BCass81]

Hi all:

I am new to this but was just curious if anyone has had any success getting pregnant after an ectopic pregnancy and if so how long did it take? My husband and I started TTC last February 2013. I got pregnant the end of April and then we found out it was an ectopic pregnancy the end of June which was devastating. I received the methotrexate shot and was told to let my body go through 2 normal cycles after the ectopic was out of my system before trying again. Well I did that and we started trying again in October. I just got my period this morning so this is month number 3 of trying with no success and I'm starting to lose hope that I will be able to get pregnant ever again even though my doctor told me back in July that I shouldn't have any issues. Has anyone else gone through this? I would be very interested in talking to anyone who can offer support and has been through an ectopic pregnancy. I am also open to answering questions and offer support for anyone who may currently be going through an ectopic as well.

 

[Curligurl]

I have never had an ectopic but I have had 3 miscarriages. The first time it took us 9 months to get pregnant. It ended in a MC. I had surgery to terminate the pregnancy. The doctor told us to wait 2 months which we did. We got pregnant again on month 4 (after the MC)....that was another MC...another surgery. We waited 2 months again...got pregnant on month 3....another MC! That time I let my body miscarry naturally which took about 2-3 weeks....we got testing done...started treatment...got pregnant on cycle #4....thankfully that one was a success!

What I'm trying to say is you WILL get pregnant again. I know you are anxious and devastated but don't lose hope. What I have learned from all of this is you cannot plan everything. The less rules and time limits you set for TTC the easier and more relaxing it will be. I went through so much with trying for my first that I was in a perpetual state of emotional chaos (excitement, anxiety, disappointment, frustration, hope). I am determined not to go back to that dark place again with TTC #2

Sorry such a long post...just wanted to let you know there is hope after loss

 

[Heatherlt]

Did they say what the cause of the ectopic was?

My only advice would be to take extra folic acid for a while since the methotrexate strips your body of all folic acid (which stops cell growth like pregnancy). If there is nothing specifically wrong with your tubes then I think your changes of conceiving again soon is good!

 

[BCass81]

Hi Heather:

They dont know what caused it. My doctor said its just a freak occurence that can unfortunately happen sometimes. There was nothing wrong with my tube and luckily it didn't rupture so it did not need to be removed.

 

[pandi77]

We had an ectopic pregnancy his year with surgery to remove my left tube this last June. They tried methotrexate (2 rounds) but it didn't work and my hcg kept rising. There was nothing wrong with my left tube where the ectopic occurred but my remaining tube was blocked and clubbed and they cleared it out and unfurled it while they did the rest of the surgery (thank goodness). I am glad my doctor did it then as I wouldn't have felt up to another procedure straight away.

We started ttc right away as my doctor said we had a golden window of fertility and she gave me prescription folate supplements. we got pregnant 3 cycles later with baby girl and considering the odds we are very grateful. Since you have both your tubes (and I'm assuming they have both been checked and are open) then you have an excellent chance of conceiving again within 6 months of ttc after an ectopic. My cycles were out of wack after the ectopic and I took vitex to straighten it out. I had been taking it before the ectopic and it really helped with my ovulation and it did the same after the surgery.

Do you chart your bbt and/or use opks? I would recommend both so you can be sure when and if you are ovulating. I had a couple of annovulatory cycles after my ectopic that I would have thought were regular cycles had I not been charting. I had breakthrough bleeding around the same time af was due but never actually ovulated. It took a couple of cycles to get everything working right again

Good luck and feel free to hit me up with any questions you may have.

 

[BCass81]

Hi Pandi77:

Thanks for the reply. As far as I know I dont have any damage in my tubes. The methotrexate worked on the first round and my Dr. just suggested an HSG test as a precaution but didn't say it was necessary. Unfortunately I had lost my insurance right after the ectopic and havent had that chance to do the test yet since I am in the process of acquiring new insurance. The test is pricey and has to be done at a hospital. What exactly did you mean when you say your cycles were out of whack, like heavy bleeding or coming every 26 days instead of 28? My cycles have been like that since the ectopic. Haven't done BBT but have tried ovulation tests and have been using apps to chart my fertile time.

 

[pandi77]

Hi Pandi77:

Thanks for the reply. As far as I know I dont have any damage in my tubes. The methotrexate worked on the first round and my Dr. just suggested an HSG test as a precaution but didn't say it was necessary. Unfortunately I had lost my insurance right after the ectopic and havent had that chance to do the test yet since I am in the process of acquiring new insurance. The test is pricey and has to be done at a hospital. What exactly did you mean when you say your cycles were out of whack, like heavy bleeding or coming every 26 days instead of 28? My cycles have been like that since the ectopic. Haven't done BBT but have tried ovulation tests and have been using apps to chart my fertile time.

No problem. Yes the hsg test was what my doctor did during my ectopic surgery and how they discovered my other tube was blocked. My first cycle after the surgery was very long and my body seemed to try to gear up to ovulate and I even got a pretty dark opk but never a thermal shift. I had what is called breakthrough bleeding around when af was due and so my first cycle was a bust. My luteal phase didn't change very much so it was definitely a follicular phase issue...like getting an egg ready to go was hard for a couple of cycles. My second cycle was shorter but was about the same. Looking back I cannot tell if I ovulated or not on that one because my thermal shift was pretty week. The next cycle was a definite ovulation cycle but no bfp-maybe an ovulation on the side with no tube? The cycle after that was my normal 30 days and we finally got our bfp!

 

[BCass81]

Hi Pandi77:

Did you have any issues with spotting after your ectopic? I just got my period on December 31st and started light spotting on December 25th. I also had a period December 6th through the 10th and then spotted for 2 days after. Its kind of annoying because the spotting has been giving me false hope its implantation bleeding but then of course its not that just turns out to be my body messing with me.

 

[Heatherlt]

I bled on some way for a solid month after my ectopic. Thankfully it was pretty light, but it was a huge pain in the butt. I think everyone goes through it slightly differently.

My ectopic was a fluke as well and I just recently for an HSG test done that revealed two perfectly open tubes. I had crazy long cycles and likely ovulation issues after my ectopic, but I don't think they're related.

I also agree with pretty much everything Pandi77 said lol

 

[Diamarie1986]

Hi I new to posting but have been reading a lot of the stories on this site for a little while .. Long story short I had an ectopic pregnancy just over two weeks ago and my doctor say after my first normal cycle we can try again... I'm an emotional reck right now , but I really want to continue .. Any luck with any ladies having the emotional will to try again and also getting a BTP??

 

[BCass81]

Hi DiaMarie1986:

Well I had mine June 2013 and my Dr. told me to wait 3 cycles before we tried again. We have kind of been trying since October(didn't really try in November or last month) and no luck yet :/ I just saw my Dr. again on Wednesday and he wants me to go for an HSG test to make sure my tubes aren't blocked. We figure we are going to really try this month and if it doesn't work then start going for testing.

 

[missink2014]

I had an ectopic pregnancy 3 years ago which was left undiagnosed for a couple of month as the hospital amd doctors thought I was suffering with PID thos waa not the case and ended up havung a 5 1/2hr operation to save my life from major internal bleeding. This resulted in having an ovary and fallopian tube removed. The ectopic had turned tumerous and attached itself to my bowles and inside of my abdo wall my ectopic case has been used on medical studies as apparently was so rare. They filmed and took lots of pics during my op.. that I found hard to deal with. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. I did fall pregnant a year later but found out at 15 weeks that baby had maajor problems and was told it was in our best interest to terminate but the issues baby had was nothong to do with the ectopic.. we stopped trying aftee this as emotionally I was a mess. Now we are ttc again and I did fall pregnant but unfortunately had a mc at the beginning of the month. but I know from experience that after an ectopic you can still fall pregnant. I was always highly fertile befor ectopic and apparently that has not changed even after surgery.

 

[reshma11]

hi

i also had my ectopic last year feb and my left tube had been removed. when i asked my doctor why it happened he said it just unfortunate. doctor said my left tube was looking normal there was no infection in my tube. so that was my bad luck i think.

after ectopic we took 3 month rest no BD. then in may 2013 we started TTC and till now date we just trying trying but no luck. i m planning to go india and thinking about IVF or IUI. as where i stay my doctor dont want to do any of this things she just wants to wait n watch till may 2015 . and i can not wait that longer.

hope u get ur bfp soon gl

 

[couell3584]

Hi everybody. I just had my first iui yesterday. I am 34 and need clomid to ovulate. I have used it 6 times and have had one miscarriage and one ectopic pregnancy. We were given mexthotrexate and now I have only one working tube. Im nervous because we were told today that we have 2 eggs that ovulated on my good side and 2 on my bad side. Does this mean that there is zero chance of the other two eggs working since they're on the bad side? I guess I know the answer to this but am praying for a miracle or some good words of advice.

 

[lovelylea]

Hi,

I had my ectopic 20th march 14 - 9wks pregnant, ruptured tube - had emergency surgery and had to have left tube removed..
1st pregnancy in 8yrs of ttc...

Did ovulation test yesterday and starting to show positive..
I have a dull ache on my left side and then some times on both sides..
Could the full ache on my left side be due to my tubal removal or do you thing I am ovulating from the left side?

Not had first af yet as only 4wks post op..

Lea xx

 

[pandi77]

Hey gals..there are a few questions on here recently that didn't get any responses so I will share what my experience was.

Bcass81 I did have spotting on and off for the first cycle. My RE said this was expected and normal. couell3584 I was also told that there's a chance (albeit a small one) that the egg from the side w/o the tube can still get picked up by the remaining fallopian tube and fertilized! I have surfed threads on here and have found this to be true from some women who were scanned and found to have ovulated from the ovary w/o a tube and still get pregnant. lovelylea I did get pain on the side of the surgery during O and AF for the first few cycles after the ectopic. I got pregnant right after that so it was hard to tell the difference between pregnancy pains and any remaining discomfort form the ectopic so I'm unsure how long it would have continued.

For the record I took vitex all cycle long and used progesterone cream from O until AF which really helped get my cycles on track. Throughout the whole ordeal (before and after the ectopic) I continued to chart which helped me to see what was going on with my body and I highly recommend everyone do this. God luck to you ladies and anyone else who reads this thread

 

[lovelylea]

Thank you so much for your update..

Wasn't sure if the ache was from ovulating from the left (no tube) or due to having surgery there xx