Hi,
My right tube was removed September 2016 after it ruptured. This past January I started getting a light intermittent stabbing pain on my right side around where the tube used to be. It comes and goes. I went to the doctor and had an ultrasound and everything is normal. I am just wondering if anyone else gets this.
Thank you
Dear kiki09,
I am so sorry to hear of your ectopic pregnancy and loss and your ongoing pain.
I personally experienced pain for around 7months after my ectopic pregnancy.
Following an ectopic pregnancy, it is not unusual to feel pain and discomfort in the abdomen for some time after your treatment. Awareness of such feelings can also be heightened as a result of the experience of losing a pregnancy and because of the frightening and distressing experience you had to go through. There are a number of reasons why you may be aware of the aches in your abdominal area:
It could be that your normal cycle is trying to resume and the pain you are experiencing may be due to your body preparing to ovulate, or your period might be about to arrive.
It could be that your awareness of your menstrual cycle and your ovulation have been heightened. Many women report that they are aware of ovulation pain after an ectopic, when they never experienced it before.
It might simply be down to heightened perception and awareness because of the experience you have been through.
If, after two or three months, you have continuing abdominal pain, this could be being caused by scarring known as adhesions (scar tissue that connects two or more body structures together) and may settle over time.
An adhesion is scar tissue that binds two parts of your tissue together that should ordinarily remain separate. It may appear inside the body as a thin sheet of tissue similar to plastic wrap or as thick fibrous bands. The tissue develops when the body’s repair mechanisms respond to any tissue disturbance, such as surgery, infection, trauma, or radiation. Although adhesions can occur anywhere, the most common locations are within the stomach, the pelvis, and the heart.
Abdominal adhesions are a common complication of surgery, occurring in up to 93% of people who undergo abdominal or pelvic surgery and even in 10.4% of people who have never had surgery. Most adhesions are painless and do not cause complications, but they can contribute to the development of chronic pelvic pain or even restrict the motion of the small intestines.
Adhesions typically begin to form within the first few days after surgery, but they may not produce symptoms for months or even years. Often they produce no symptoms at all. In some cases they produce no symptoms until someone is pregnant again and then they are felt as the body changes during the early stages of pregnancy so the woman, naturally, worries they are pains from another ectopic pregnancy.
Pain is unique to the individual and if it is persistent and is becoming worrying, we would suggest that you keep a pain diary. Record in your diary when your period starts, when the pain is experienced and how the pain would be scored on a scale of 0 to 10 (0 being no pain, 10 being pain requiring a trip to hospital). Keep a record of what helps the pain, for example, heat (hot water bottle), exercise, rest, pain relievers (make a note of what kind e.g. paracetamol). After about eight weeks, make an appointment to go see your doctor to discuss the diary records you have been keeping.
Keeping this diary enables you to go to your doctor with dates, times and evidence of how it is affecting you. This can be very helpful to medical practitioners when deciding upon how to manage the symptoms. I know you have already had a scan but do seek medical advice if the pain continues to cause worry,
Sending much love,
Karen x
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Further information is available at www.ectopic.org.uk
Email us at ept@ectopic.org.uk.
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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.
Hi Karen x,
Thank you so much for replying and the valuable information. I really appreciate it.
Thanks,
kiki09