QuestionHello,
I'd greatly appreciate an opinion on this. I had a medical abortion 4 weeks ago, and everything went smoothly (inserted the misoprostol, had cramps, passed large clots, etc. 2 weeks later I went back for a follow-up and everything looked fine, except that was a very small bit of retained product (under 1cm) so they gave me misoprostol again. I had some minor cramps, passed a bit of blood and that was that.
Exactly 1 month after the abortion I had (what I think was) my period as my doctor said that's when I should expect it. So far so good. The first night of my period I passed quite a few clots, although not too much blood. The cramps were excruciating (liked having the abortion again). They lasted exactly 4 hours then stopped suddenly, as did the clots. The next day, no clots and no period pain. Again the next night the exact same thing happened, except the pain was SO excruciating I went to the emergency. They did a complete internal/external ultrasound, exam, blood work, etc. and said that everything was actually fine and that the first period after a termination can be very painful. They said there was a tiny bit of retained product, not something that would warrant a D&C and that this pain will pass. They said my pregnancy hormone was not yet at zero, but at 88 which is not abnormal 4 weeks after an abortion. They said there were some uterine fibroids but nothing at all to be concerned about and that these were very common. Basically, I was given a clean diagnosis.
The following day, everything seemed to go back to normal. I have no pain, no more clots, and just a little bit of normal period blood. But here is my question:
I have pain in my lower abdomen that I feel right before I either need to go to the bathroom, or have to pass gas. I can feel it also when I first sit down (a lower abdominal mild pain) which disappears after my body gets used to the sitting position. It's not "very painful" and definitely not debilitating. I've felt this kind of weird pain before - perhaps 5 times in my life, I think it lasted a day and then went away. When I press my lower abdomen, it feels kinda tender and a little sore. No pain in the rectum area or in the actual "passing" of a stool, just in the lower abdomen when you push to pass a stool or to pass gas.
Looking on the internet there seem to be a lot of women who experience this, but no real diagnosis. I have no idea if this is just a result of the intense pain I felt those two nights? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much,
Julia
AnswerWhat you are experiencing can be normal. The uterus contracts to help expel the rest of the retained blood and return to normal as the hormone level drops. Also some women start to note more frequent bowel movements which is normal. You can try take Ibuprofen 400- 800 mg for the discomfort. If it goes away, it is definitely from the uterus. You can bleed up to 6-8 weeks after a medical abortion because the hormone level drops slowly.
