Implantation bleeding - ectopic vs normal

Pregnant After Ectopic Pregnancy
1

Hello everyone,

I’m back, but hopefully with better news than my ectopic story at the end of last year. I was cleared to TTC again at the start of December after methotrexate treatment. As of a couple of days ago, I have the feeling we may have conceived again :crossed_fingers: Hopefully!

Of course i can’t help but feel a little worried since I know the risk of it happening again is higher since I’ve had an ectopic before. Today, I think I had some implantation spotting.

I was wondering if anyone knows if there is a difference in the look of implantation bleeding when it is ectopic vs when it’s a normal implantation? Currently it is the light pink colour, which looks very similar to the last time from what I remember. The timing of this seems very similar to the last time too, so I’m worried that maybe the implantation should be a few days later so it can travel down the tube…

I am about 11 DPO so I think it’s normal…

Hoping that someone who has been through a pregnancy after ectopic might be able to advise… Going to get a pregnancy test tomorrow and see (might be a false alarm).

Also, sorry if there is terrible grammar in my post. It’s 1am and I’m very tired :joy:

Thank you!

2

Dear BettyAnne,

It is difficult to tell the difference between implantation bleeding and bleeding from ectopic pregnancy. With ectopic pregnancy, some women bleed heavily (which would be different from implantation bleeding), but some ladies only spot and some don’t bleed at all.

I would advise to take a pregnancy test using your first morning wee. If it is positive and you are bleeding or spotting, please seek medical advice. If it is negative, I would suggest testing twice weekly, however if your bleeding does get heavier or you experience any unusual or severe abdominal pain, shoulder tip pain or feel dizzy and unwell, please seek urgent medical advice.

Sending much love and positive thoughts,

Karen x

The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust

Registered Charity Number: 1071811

Ectopic pregnancy patient information suite: Highly Commended in the 2019 BMA Patient Information Awards

During the coronavirus outbreak, The EPT team is still working hard to provide crucial information and support to women and families experiencing ectopic pregnancy as quickly and efficiently as we can.

If we have been able to help you, are you able to help us with a small donation or by volunteering or fundraising?

Further information is available at ectopic.org.uk

Email us: ept@ectopic.org.uk

We provide a call-back helpline service: 020 7733 2653

Take a look at our newsletters and subscribe to our mailing list here: https://mailchi.mp/986bdd6091ee/ectopic-matters

Detailed medical information can be found on our website. Please remember online medical information is NO SUBSTITUTE for expert medical advice from your own health care team

3

Thank you Karen :heart: I took a test earlier around lunchtime but I was expecting that to be negative since it is early and it was not my morning wee. I have one more and will try tomorrow. Will see what happens!

So far, I feel similar to when I conceived the ectopic before, but also different. So hopefully this is a viable one this time :crossed_fingers:

4

Sadly I think it was a chemical pregnancy this time. The spotting was there each morning, went brown in colour, but just a moment ago when I went to the bathroom it wasn’t just spotting. I had an inclination that this might be the case after my boobs stopped aching again and the negative pregnancy test this morning was also another indicator that this wasn’t the time.

Disappointed, but we will keep trying.

It is a little sadder because if it was viable, we would have been able to tell people around the time our ectopic pregnancy would have been due. It kind of felt like it was meant to be, but obviously not.

I’m due a trip to the Dr for a different blood test so I might check HCG too just to be sure it isn’t a other ectopic hiding in the background.

Thank you to whoever reads this. It helps to vent it out.

5

Dear BettyAnne,

I am so sorry to hear this,

It is a good idea to have your hCG checked. Please be kind to yourself and I send you gentle hugs,

Karen x

The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust

Registered Charity Number: 1071811

Ectopic pregnancy patient information suite: Highly Commended in the 2019 BMA Patient Information Awards

During the coronavirus outbreak, The EPT team is still working hard to provide crucial information and support to women and families experiencing ectopic pregnancy as quickly and efficiently as we can.

If we have been able to help you, are you able to help us with a small donation or by volunteering or fundraising?

Further information is available at ectopic.org.uk

Email us: ept@ectopic.org.uk

We provide a call-back helpline service: 020 7733 2653

Take a look at our newsletters and subscribe to our mailing list here: https://mailchi.mp/986bdd6091ee/ectopic-matters

Detailed medical information can be found on our website. Please remember online medical information is NO SUBSTITUTE for expert medical advice from your own health care team

6

Sorry to hear about your chemical but I agree it’s a good idea to get your hCG checked again anyway.

I feel like implantation bleeding is really controversial as a lot of people say it doesn’t exist, and it’s something that would be hard to prove anyway, so I don’t think anyone really knows what would be the difference in ectopic vs normal. I do know a lot of people (including me) had bleeding which was thought to be implantation but turned out to be an ectopic pregnancy which seem to cause a lot more bleeding. By contrast, a lot of women bleed in early pregnancy with uterine pregnancies, both ones which continue and ones which end in loss, but there are a variety of causes. The majority of women don’t though, so I’d be cautious about any bleeding especially with a history of ectopic. Best of luck for your TTC

7

Thank you ladies :heart:

My appointment is booked for Wednesday and even though the bleeding is still going (it has been like a medium/light period so no cause for alarm there), I’m not feeling the ectopic symptoms like last time. I kind of feel like there is a tingle in my left shoulder, but I also could just be overly paranoid because I am worried. If any signs show up I’ll get onto the Dr ASAP.

Thank you for the thoughts on implantation bleeding, Miranda. Since the last 2 conceives didn’t work out and I had what I believed to be implantation bleeding with both, it could just be that I haven’t had a normal journey yet to know if it happens for me or not.

I’m just hoping that it doesn’t point to this being ectopic this time :crossed_fingers: I’ll post an update here after I get the results back from the Dr (hopefully I will remember).

Thank you again :heart: It helps to voice all of this out.

8

If it helps I think the shoulder tip pain is usually caused by internal bleeding from rupture so hopefully shouldn’t be that this early. It is so hard though, I have weird pains all the time and have to take pregnancy tests to ease my paranoia. Are your home pregnancy tests still negative? I have my fingers crossed for you!

9

The last time I had an ectopic I had more of a shoulder ache around 4 weeks, but even though I had some internal bleeding a couple of weeks later I didn’t have the shoulder pain again. I think it progressed slowly so I was lucky in that sense and I was asymptomatic for most of the process.

I took another first response test this morning to put my mind at ease and it was negative again. My levels were only around 40 when I got a positive the last time, so I’m hoping this means it is a chemical pregnancy and not ectopic, and this random shoulder ache is just because I’m almost 35 and not at my fittest (lockdown has done a number on my fitness). I do feel less worried now after seeing the negative test. I should get the results from tomorrow’s blood test by Friday, hopefully.

10

Oh weird! Maybe the shoulder pain is more complex. I got some too but I had a pre-existing shoulder injury and I think it was aggravated by anxiety/tenseness…but then even the doctors couldn’t agree on what “shoulder tip” meant, most said the edge of your shoulder near arm which is what I would have assumed, but at least one told me specifically it was shoulder blade?!

I’m glad you feel better after another negative test! I’m sure the blood results will put your mind at ease as well. Hard to wait for a couple of days for them though! My blood test results were usually same day, I might not have coped otherwise!

11

My aches were right at the tip of my shoulder, so if I took my finger and rested it where my shoulder ends, it was there. I didn’t hear of it being in the shoulder blade before… I guess everyone is very different.

I just got the result and it was negative, so I’m in the clear this time! Obviously I’m disappointed it was a chemical pregnancy, but I’m relieved it was not another ectopic. Fingers crossed for the next one to be successful!

When I was getting my levels checked at the hospital I got the results the same day. It was because my GP needed to send my bloods to the hospital that there was a delay (done in the afternoon, so sent up that evening, tested next day, then posted back to GP). I don’t mind the wait when the result was what I was looking for.