Feel a bit lost, for those that don’t knwo me or who haven’t seen my thread on the main board, I’m Lucy and 31. I have a daughter who is four. My second pregnancy ended in PUL, I strongly suspect it was in my right tube and I was treated with two doses of methotrexate, it took seven weeks to resolve, and by the end of Jan 2011 I was discharged.
I started trying again in June and after two cycles was thrilled to find out I was pg at the very end of August - though suspicious as my tests got no darker, still I wasn’t bleeding and on a digi I got 2-3 weeks, which is more that I got last time so allowed myself to be hopeful. Anyway fast forward to eight days after bfp and I started to spot a little brown discharge, no pain and it got no worse. I had a scan already scheduled for Sat when I would have been %=£ and was fairly confident I’d see a sac - no, nothing, then a very faint urine test followed by bloods of 1020 (higher than my pul) and prog of 24.5 - 48 hours later my bloods wer 620 and I was told it was a “failing pregnancy”. I have to go back in week for a urine test which should be neg. I have gone from devastation on Saturday and a feeling of dread that this would be another ectopic, to almost disappointment that my levels did not raise high enough to identify anything in a scan. Now I feel quite rational and just needing information.
Questions:
Is this another pul? I assume since nothing was seen in my uterus this is the case, therefore what are my options?
Can my hcg go back up after such a decrease? - i’m terrified of more methotrexate
Why have I felt very little pain and no real blood or clots ? I am spotting brown “string” - sorry tmi - is this normal or should I expect more bleeding and pain in the next few days, or is this a sign that maybe it is not resolving itslef?
Sorry if those questions can’t really be answered, but any experiences or knowledge would be appreicated.
Thanks for reading.
xx
Hi there…
Firstly, i am so sorry that you have suffered another loss… life is so unfair…I don’t have any specific advice but i would have thought that after a PUL with 2 shots of methotrexate that they would have checked your HCG levels again just incase they increased again…I am sure the mods will be able to advise on this though…when i had an early miscarriage ( i didn’t know i was pregnant) i had brown spotting for a few days and then what i thought at the time was a really heavy, very painful period so it may be that the heavier bleeding will start in a couple of days…
I doubt i have been much real help to you but I really just wanted to send you big hugs…and hope you get some answers soon…
claire
xx
Really sorry to read this hun…
your hcg levels should be checked within 48 hrs of the last one to make sure they are falling…
if its a m/c the levels should continue to fall… quite quickly…
if its a PUL/ectopic… then the levels will either drop a little or may rise a little…
it could also be a tubal abortion… this is when the pregnancy has developed in the tube… but is no longer growing…
this is different from an ectopic… and usually does not require treatment…as it will end the same way a m/c would…
given your previous history… I think you should have another blood test 48 hours from the last… just to be certain your levels are continuing to drop.
especially as you have had a brown discharge… xx
Hello Lucy
I am so sorry you appear to be losing your pregnancy.
A PUL is just that - a pregnancy of unknown location. It doesn’t mean it is an ectopic, it doesn’t mean it isn’t. It simply means they were unable to see where your pregnancy was. Ectopic pregnancies self-resolve it is estimated about 50% of the time (this is what angelcake was referring to - any pregnancy in th tube is by definition ectopic), but miscarriages are much more common than ectopics, and the odds are that this is what you are going through now. Unfortunately though, we will never know.
After such a large decrease in your hCG levels, we would expect to see them to continue to fall. Don’t panic if your urine test continues to show positive. Miscarriages can resolve in days, or in some cases it can take 4-6 weeks for hCGs to fall and for a negative pregnancy test. Wth your history, I would feel more comfortable if they continued to monitor your levels until there was a clear pattern showing that they were falling. If your pregnancy test is still showing positive, then they may of course do so. I would push for this if I were you.
Everyone bleeds at different levels and amounts. As your hCGs were still in the hundreds, you may not bleed till they fall much lower. It is very individual. The rule of thumb is that as long as you don’t soak more than one pad an hour, you’re okay.
I hopenthat helps.
Kind regards
EPT Host 11