May 25, 2010

It's Not Over, After All

Not yet, anyway. But it's not good, either.

Beta #5 was drawn yesterday to make sure that my levels were going down. Last Wednesday, beta #4 was 45. Yesterday it was 188. That's a doubling time of 58 hours - not great, but definitely within the 48-72 hour doubling window.

I freaked out when RE's nurse told me, and I asked if it was possible that we stopped the meds too early on what could still be a potentially viable pregnancy. She said no, RE still thinks it's a non-viable pregnancy and that it may be ectopic.

My last pregnancy implanted in my uterus right next to one of my tubes; at first, the obstetric radiologist thought it was in the part of the tube closest to the uterus. So I went for an ultrasound this afternoon to see if it was possible to get any sense of where the pregnancy might be.

The ultrasound didn't show anything; given my levels, it's probably too soon for anything to be visible. But the doctor reviewing the ultrasound kind of confirmed what I was concerned about - when he came in to tell me what he thought of the images, he said "It's too early to tell whether this is a viable pregnancy or not."

I said, "Well, at this point I hope it's not, because I was told to stop my meds 5 days ago." At which he started backpedaling and saying "Well, it's very likely this isn't viable, I'm sure they know what they're doing."

But now, if this isn't definitively determined to be ectopic, I will always wonder if I should have kept going with the meds.

Beta #6 will be on Friday, unless I bust a tube before then...

10 comments:

kayjay said...

Aw honey...are you serious? Your situation really brings new definition to "beta hell". I'm so sorry it isn't clearer whether you should celebrate or whether you should look towards another cycle. If there is some way that this can turn out well for you, that is what I wish for.

lastchanceivf said...

Oh man, I'm so sorry things aren't clearer, in either direction so you could just know what to do next. Argh. I hate that this is so tough for you.
Thinking of you.

Sue said...

My ectopic went in exactly this manner. At 7 weeks, my beta was still up and down and I had a doctor (at the RE's office) tell me that if I did methotrexate or a D&C that I might be aborting a possibly viable fetus. I had a fit. I had to call my RE on his cell (while he was out golfing) to tell me that it is definitely NOT VIABLE. In any event, I showed up for methotrexate, instead they decidedon a D&C, levels still went up, so they flushed my tubes and did a laparoscopy too...never found it, but after all that, the levels finally went down. I"m so so sorry you are going through this. I just wanted to share to tell you that sometimes doctors say stupid things. I am sure you are doing the right thing in stopping meds. When I did at 7 weeks, I bled like crazy but my numbers still climbed. I hope your situation turns out differently. If you do decide to do another transfer in future, just know that this is not really an indicator about your ability to get pregnant in future.

Nico said...

You guys just don't get a break, do you? I do think you were right in stopping the meds, with an increase of only 2 points in 2 days, that just doesn't seem right. I hope you can figure out where things are soon.

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry for what you are going through. I had two ectopics last year on back to back IVF cycles. The first was not caught until it ruptured around 7-8 weeks. The second I received 3 rounds of methotrexate for before ending up back in surgery to have my other tube removed because my betas just plateaued. They usually can't visualize anything on ultrasound until beta is around 1000.

Hopefully this is not ectopic but if it is I just wanted you to know that you should not be in any immediate risk of rupture. Again I am really, really sorry for the hell you are going through.

Cam

Silver said...

I am SO sorry that you are still going through all this - it just seems horrible. I can't believe how insensitive some medical professionals can be. I remember when I went for a scan to confirm that my first loss was complete and my GP sent me to a normal "booking" scan session - where there were loads of women patting their bumps and looking at scan photos. I sat in a corner of the waiting room and cried the entire time we were there.

mara said...

Oh my God. Dude, this sucks. I'm really sorry and hope you get some answers soon. WTF?

MrsSpock said...

Oh cripes. You really need a break. How awful!

Mo said...

Ugh UGH UGH! This completely blows. On every level. So hoping that if it's ectopic they catch it shortly and that you can get off of this crazy roller coaster asap.

mo

Penelope said...

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