Dear F10NA,
Whispered congratulations on your pregnancy,
After an ectopic pregnancy, finding we are pregnant again can be a mix of emotions and I can completely understand your feeling nervous. It is perfectly normal to feel scared after the ordeal you have endured. I also felt twinges and aches after my ectopic pregnancy, particularly when I next felt pregnant. My mind started racing and I was only really able to relax to some degree after my early scan. It is a nerve-wracking time and you have friends here who understand how you are feeling.
Shoulder tip pain is exactly where it says – not the neck or the back but the tip of your shoulder. If you look to the left over your shoulder and then cast your eyes down, the tip of your shoulder is where your shoulder ends and your arm starts. Shoulder tip pain is very distinctive. You know when you have it because it is a very weird pain you have probably never experienced before. The pain may have begun suddenly.
Shoulders cause pain when we are stressed because we hold ourselves more rigidly and muscles in the back and neck go in to spasm or you may have slept in an awkward position – this is most likely not shoulder tip pain related to an ectopic pregnancy.
Shoulder tip pain tends to develop with other symptoms such as feeling unwell, abdominal pain or vaginal bleeding, faintness, abdominal bloating and fullness, or pain when opening your bowels (poo).
It is caused by internal bleeding irritating the diaphragm (the muscle in your chest which helps you to breathe) when you breathe in and out. It may not correspond to the side of the ectopic either.
You also mention that you have some sickness, dizziness and diarrhoea too. These can also be signs of an ectopic pregnancy that are sometimes missed. It may also be that you just have a tummy bug, but I would certainly seek urgent medical advice with your symptoms to exclude ectopic pregnancy and out your mind at rest. If it is too early for scans, they can sometimes complete serial hCG blood tests which can give an indication into how the pregnancy is developing.
If you develop and pain or bleeding with your symptoms, please attend A&E as a matter of urgency.
Sending positive thoughts,
Karen x
The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust
Registered Charity Number: 1071811
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