QuestionQUESTION: When I had my medical abortion I was 6 weeks and 1 day pregnant. I took the first pill 1-24-11 and took the second medication 24 hours later. I was prescribed antibiotics for one week (which I finished 1-30-11) and was told to start my birth control (Yaz) on 1-30-11. The following week 1-31-11 I went to my follow up appointment and the doctor told me that everything looked good and that I had expelled the pregnancy.
On 2-1-11 I had sex with my boyfriend and we used a condom. The problem is that the condom came off inside of me. I was terrified as I had only started my birth control several days ago so I did the next logical thing and went to purchase the morning after pill the following day.
Today, 2-19-11, it has almost been 4 weeks since my abortion. I started my period which is a lot heavier than usual. I also decided to take a pregnancy test for the first time since the abortion. It was positive. I know the hormones can remain in your body for quite some time and I should be fine since I started my period. What concerns me is that the second line on the test wasn't really faint as I thought it would be. It was showing a lot darker than I hoped it would and now I'm scared. Is there a possibility I may be pregnant? I feel ashamed and stupid. Also, since I had the mishap with the condom, I have not had sex again because it's not worth it to me at this point in time.
Please, I'm looking for advice since I have no one to turn to. Thank you so much for taking your time to read this.
ANSWER: Hello, Lisa,
Sorry I didn't answer sooner. I was feeling sick earlier, but I'm doing better.
Yaz has recently been shown to be dangerous, so I do not recommend it. And as you are probably aware, birth control doesn't work when you are taking antibiotics. There were probably some left in your body when you started the Yaz. You have also learned the hard way that condoms are not reliable. All of that is the bad news.
The good news is that it is more likely that you still have hormones from your pregnancy. You are also wise to refrain from sex. If you don't want to live with the fear of pregnancy, then you shouldn't have sex. Whatever situation you were in that made abortion look attractive was obviously not a good situation for having sex, either.
I can't guarantee you don't have a new pregnancy, but it hasn't been long enough for MOST women to be fertile that early after an abortion. It was just a couple of days over one week. There is a remote possibility you are still pregnant from before. Occasionally, the pills don't work that late in pregnancy. If you are counting your pregnancy from gestational age, you were past the point where the pills are likely to work. Don't necessarily believe what they told you about whether the pills had worked or not. People who are willing to hand out those poisonous pills don't care about you, and lack good medical judgment. These pills can kill a woman.
So although the odds are against this being a new pregnancy, only time will tell for sure. Hormones of pregnancy can vary widely. So test in a week and see if the line is still that strong. If you are pregnant again, please keep in mind that there are better answers than abortion, and you deserve better. Obviously, you had some situation you were facing that would make pregnancy undesirable. But there are organizations all over the United States that help women in your position. There will be one near you. To find it, please go to this web site:
http://www.optionline.org/
Since you were taking antibiotics, you should now get some pro-biotics. Very fresh yogurt is one source, or you can get pills from your doctor. Some fermented foods also will help restore your intestinal flora. A good example is Kombucha tea. Since yogurt is hard to guarantee as fresh, unless you know someone who makes it or you make it yourself, I would favor either the pills or the Kombucha. This will be necessary to help restore your health. Also please be aware that antibiotics only address bacteria. If you have any other kind of infection, they won't touch it. If you get daily Vitamin D3, this will help prevent all sorts of infections, and you should be taking it anyway, because you are now at much greater risk for breast cancer, especially if this was your first pregnancy. 5000IU is a good daily dose. You should have your blood checked to make sure you don't get too much.
Don't be surprised if your body does some very strange things from all these drugs you have taken and are taking. As long as you are not having sex, you don't need Yaz or any other birth control pill. But your body has been disrupted by these, so you may have some strange symptoms for awhile. If you start to bleed heavily, get some cayenne (red hot peppers) into your body, either as food or as a supplement. If that is insufficient, see the doctor. The organization near you can recommend a good one, and if you still have medical questions, this would be a good place to ask them. Just be patient. I will be here for you any time you need to talk. Please take care.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you so much for taking the time to answer! They estimated my pregnancy at 6 weeks and 1 day by performing a trans vaginal ultrasound. When I went for my follow up, I was given another ultrasound that showed my uterus to have been emptied.
I feel that I should be fine since I started my period today and I took the morning after pill right after we had sex but it's just natural to worry. I also took a photo of the pregnancy test so I can compare it when I take another one several days later. I definitely have no intrest in sex at this time. It's caused me to much stress and has made me do awful things to my body. I also wasn't happy to take the antibiotics because I feel that they are handed out to much in today's medicine but I have taken precaution and have taken pro-biotic pills form the health food store to avoid a secondary infection such as yeast.
I also wasn't aware that Yaz has recently shown to be dangerous. Thank you so much for informing me of this. I really do appreciate your time and concern!
AnswerHello, Lisa,
You're very welcome, and thank you for getting back to me and letting me know what is going on. Obviously, taking the morning after pill was more of the same. However, people who do abortions cannot be trusted. Abortion is dangerous, and as a general rule, there is no medical condition that requires one. This means that they exercised poor medical judgment to do the abortion in the first place. Also, ultrasounds are not always accurate. If a baby is in a position where he cannot be seen, or turned in such a way that the heartbeat cannot be heard, misinterpretation is common. I'm really sorry for the stress you are going through. It seems to me that you would have been much better off with some real help, and I am sorry you didn't find any. I hope and pray that your stress will be relieved, and that you are now taking good care of yourself. If you continue to experience stress or adverse emotions, please seek counseling. And still, it would be wise to take the Vitamin D3 for the rest of your life. It will also improve your health in general.
Please take care, and feel free to let me know how you are doing from time to time, or to ask any additional questions you might have.
