Just had an methotrexate shot.. what should I expect?

Question

found out I was pregnant on the 26th of January. I had some bleeding and some cramping early on but was told it was normal. My doctor continued to have my hcg levels checked. At first they were low and eventually began to double but then plateaued. On Tuesday, my hcg levels were 2100 and they did a vaginal ultrasound. There was nothing in my utereus at all. They told me it was a ectopic pregnancy seeing as today my levels only went up to 2300. We discussed the options and I chose the shot over surgery. My husband is deployed so I have longer time to heal. What should I be expecting as far as pain and side effects? I just started bleeding today, 2 days after the shot. Is this normal?

jill06 · Answer

yes--fairly normal. It might even take a couple of days to really start bleeding. With my methotrexate injection, it took a few days and then there was some pain. More gassiness and bloating than anything else, but a little crampiness. It seemed like it took about a week after I started bleeding to feel better and more like myself, but my HCG numbers were not as high as yours to start with. From the reading I did online, the slight delay between the shot and bleeding is normal as well as the gassiness and bloating. I too chose the injection over surgery with the hopes of helping later conception. Good luck to you and remember it's better to call and annoy the Dr's office with any questions or concerns you have than it is to sit and wonder and worry by yourself! :)

soldierswife77 · Answer

Thank you for this info. I am a military wife and trying to contact the advise nurse on base is near impossible. So I rely on kind people like you. :) After such a roller coaster, I'm glad to finally be off it. It sounds horrible but the wait is worse than the actual news. My good friend had a ectopic a over a year ago and gave birth to a little girl about 3 months ago. So that gives me hope. Thanks again... anyone with any other infor would be great too :)

jill06 · Answer

and I'm sitting at 24+ weeks as well. We got PG right after the two complete cycles of waiting(seemed like eternity) were over.

Vicki1244 · Answer

Where did they inject the shot

AmberrMarrie821 · Answer

I just got my shot on Friday 6/11/13 and my HCG began at 3000 and that lasted a week before they decided to go with the shot (I personally wanted to wait til my results came back but they said it wasnt safe). After receiving the shot my doctor called me to inform me that she made a mistake and that I was now going to be killing a healthy baby, so because of this I just went in this morning to check my levels and they went from 3000 to 16000 since then so I need to get another shot becuase if the first one doesnt terminate my what could have been healthy pregnancy there is a 65% chance my baby will be born with birth defects so since I am early it easier to terminate... So sad. It was a healthy pregnancy and they messed up so ladies make sure your doctors are 100000000% sure before doing anything.

miss_afraid · Answer

im scared tommorow im getting a mtx shot dont know what to expect im do scared my hcg level on friday was 270 can i tupture with this low of hcg level please someone help

Brandy702 · Answer

well Thursday i went to the E.R. they sent me home after 10 hrs telling me nothing was wrong! i kept telling them NO SOMETHING IS WRONG.

my ob/ contacted me in the morning telling me to go to the E.R. (a different one) tell them i am there for an emergency tubal surgery, so i did and they did an ultrasound and finally found the lil bugger!!

i just don't understand why it took 30 ultrasounds for them to finally see it sitting in my tube!!!

so he performed his surgery and told me later that it began to rupture as he opened me!!! i have von willabrands (a blood disorder-thin blood) Doc said if i had been at home when it did and combining my blood that i woulda bled out before i ever got to the E.R.!!

so he go's on to say that this tubal (my right tube) was due to my endometriosis and that my left tube is toast due to it as well, that he tried to save my right tube (normally they remove it) by just romoving the embryo and leaving it be for my body to heal naturally. that he did the best he could but there is a possibility that next time i conceive will be with the help of invetro!

so does anyone know how much a single session of invetro goes for???

i just cannot believe it went this far with how many different doctors i had seen!!!

Brandy702 · Answer

i had my methotrexate shot last week for a possible tubal and i just started bleeding today and have pains and cramping in my right ovary/abdomen.....i talked to my doc and this was before the bleeding today and he said that it could just be a pulled muscle or my body finally breaking the baby down and absorbing it! 

this pain has become stonger with time, i have had it for about a week now (since i received the shot) and now i started to bleed!!!

hope this helped a few of you and i hope someone can help with my question....

ANYONE else take a week to start to bleed and had cramps just on one side after having the methtrexate shot (i had two doses-one in each cheek)

soldierswife77 · Answer

In general, how long did you're bleeding last and did it start a few days after the initial shot? I'm not in horrible pain, just gassy pressure and the bleeding. Please let me know...Thanks girls :)

mslkpage · Answer

Yes girl, don't give up hope. My ectopic was in July '05, and now I'm 8 weeks pg. And a friend of mine got pg 3 months after her ectopic.

jill06 · Answer

I was spotting off and on prior to being diagnosed with a suspected ectopic pregnancy. In fact, my midwife (I changed to an OB for the injection) had chalked my spotting up to miscarriage and really disappointed me by not being overly concerned or proactive when my HCG levels continued to climb and then decrease over the period of a week and a half. I had stopped bleeding prior to the shot, but then started up a few days later. I never bled that heavily-- Just enough to be an inconvenience, but probably lighter than an actual period. My numbers stayed really low though (only something like 160 after the injection when they increase before dropping), so my situation might be different than that of someone whose levels were higher. Don't know if this is very helpful, but it was my experience...

mslkpage · Answer

My bleeding was right away, but my doctor did a D&C prior to giving me the injection.

Just had an methotrexate shot.. what should I expect?

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