How to distinguish pregnancy from ectopic pregnancy? Signs and symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy in the early stages

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

When planning a baby, couples usually take a series of tests and carefully monitor their he alth. But this does not mean that after conception, the fetus will not have pathologies. The pregnancy may be ectopic. It usually ends in abortion, as it poses a serious danger to the expectant mother and the fetus itself. But how can you tell a pregnancy from an ectopic pregnancy? We will have to deal with this issue further. Unfortunately, everything is not as simple as it seems at first glance. And often in the first weeks after conception it is impossible to diagnose such a pathology. At least on my own.

What is this

What is an ectopic pregnancy? During normal conception, the fertilized egg, obtained from a fertilized egg, reaches the uterus and attaches to its wall. There is a further development of the unborn baby.

If the fertilized egg is attached outside the uterine cavity, suchthe condition would be called an ectopic pregnancy. She can be:

• trumpet;
• abdominal;
• in the vestigial uterine horn.

By the name of each of them it is clear where the fertilized egg is attached. In any case, every girl should know how to distinguish between pregnancy and ectopic pregnancy.

Diagnosis problems

Unfortunately, it is difficult to achieve the desired result, especially shortly after conception. The thing is that pregnancy in the first month does not appear too brightly. It can be confused with the upcoming period.

Signs and symptoms of an early ectopic pregnancy are almost identical to those of PMS or normal pregnancy. Therefore, if a girl has found some symptoms in herself, it is worth hurrying to the doctor. Only an experienced specialist will tell if there is a pregnancy pathology or not.

Temperature

How to distinguish pregnancy from ectopic pregnancy? The sooner this happens, the better. As already mentioned, an initially normal pregnancy almost completely coincides with an ectopic one. Therefore, the symptoms of both conditions will be approximately the same.

If a woman becomes pregnant, her basal temperature will remain elevated after ovulation. To quickly understand whether conception has taken place, it is necessary to start maintaining a BT schedule in advance. With its help, at a temperature elevated to 37.0-37.5 degrees Celsius after ovulation (it occurs approximately in the middle of the cycle), we can talk aboutpregnancy.

Delay

Signs and symptoms of ectopic pregnancy in the early stages should be known to every girl. After all, the sooner it becomes clear where the fetal egg is attached, the higher the likelihood of a safe interruption of an interesting position in the event of pathologies.

Pregnancy may indicate a delay in menstruation. If the critical days did not come on time (provided that the woman has a regular menstrual cycle), it is worth assuming a successful conception.

It is normal to delay your period for up to 7 days, but it is not recommended to wait that long. From the first day of missing critical days in due time, it is advisable to think about more accurate diagnostic methods.

Test

In today's world, some types of diagnostics can be done at home. For example, to determine when a woman ovulates. It is also possible to determine pregnancy at home. To do this, you need to purchase a special test at the pharmacy. It can be different - strip strip, tablet, electronic or inkjet.

For an ectopic pregnancy at 5 weeks (and even earlier, at about 4 weeks), a pregnancy test will have to show a positive result. Perhaps the appearance of the so-called ghost. This is how they characterize a weak second strip on a pregnancy test.

Important: sometimes this diagnostic method is ineffective. With an ectopic pregnancy, hCG is not produced in the blood in the same wayintensely, as usual. And so the test may not show a positive result.

Menstruation

It is worth paying attention to the fact that the exact manifestation of an ectopic pregnancy depends on the body of each girl. For some, recognizing such a pathology is easier than it seems: it does not manifest itself at all as PMS or a normal pregnancy.

With ectopic attachment of the fetal egg, critical days may begin at the right time, but the discharge will be too scarce. Not as plentiful as before.

Pain

How to distinguish pregnancy from ectopic pregnancy? First of all, you will have to carefully listen to the signals that the woman gives the body. Then it will be much easier to cope with the task.

During pregnancy, slight pulling pains may appear in the lower abdomen. The ectopic position of the fetal egg entails the appearance of pain in those organs where it is attached. Moreover, the discomfort will be quite strong.

Bleeding

I wonder how to tell a pregnancy from an ectopic pregnancy? If a woman took a test, it turned out to be positive or with a "ghost", but no further diagnosis was carried out, the situation may worsen. Approximately at the 8-12th week, the girl may start bleeding.

A fertilized egg can attach itself to the fallopian tube, which can then rupture. In this case, damage to internal organs will occur, as a result, thebleeding accompanied by severe pain.

Under such circumstances, the girl should hurry up with a visit to the doctor, it is advisable to call an ambulance. Otherwise, you can either greatly harm the body, or die altogether.

Blood test

If a girl is worried about her pregnancy, she can take a blood test for the pregnancy hormone. It's about HCG. It is produced after the successful fertilization of the egg. Gradually, its number increases. That's what a pregnancy test does. Only a blood test is a more accurate diagnostic method.

HCG levels in an early ectopic pregnancy will be much lower than in a normal pregnancy. So, according to a blood test, you can understand whether a fertilized egg has attached itself in the right place.

Toxicosis and malaise

How to distinguish pregnancy from ectopic pregnancy? As already mentioned, it is often difficult to distinguish these two conditions in the early stages from each other. As a rule, an ectopic pregnancy manifests itself as a normal one.

For example, in the form of toxicosis. It increases in the morning and evening, may be accompanied by vomiting. Days of nausea subsides, but its appearance is the norm.

Also, pregnant women begin to suffer from feelings of malaise and increased fatigue. These signs appear with any pregnancy. You can notice them even before your missed period.

Doctor Visit

If a girl suspectspregnancy, she will have to see a gynecologist. This narrow specialist will conduct an examination on the chair, and then tell you if there is a pregnancy. And if so, which one.

To clarify the diagnosis and monitor the patient's he alth status, the gynecologist will prescribe a series of tests and studies. For example, blood for hCG and pelvic ultrasound.

Important: in the early stages, the gynecologist may make a mistake. The type of pregnancy may not be diagnosed. Moreover, if you come to a specialist too early, some may confuse pregnancy with a cyst or tumor.

Ultrasound room

I want to know for sure if everything is fine with the pregnancy? Then it's time to go to the hospital and make an appointment with the uzist. Every mother-to-be faces this.

Ultrasound of an ectopic pregnancy at an early stage is the most accurate and reliable method for confirming the position of the ovum. If it is not found in the uterus, the doctor will look to see where the egg is attached.

True, as in the previous case, if you come too early, the fetal egg will look like a tumor or cyst on ultrasound. It is recommended to contact this specialist after a missed period.

About interruption and treatment

It used to be that a girl should definitely have a tube removed during an ectopic pregnancy. Now laparoscopy is carried out through several punctures in the body, in the right places. This eliminates the need to remove the internal organs in the pathology of pregnancy.

General treatmentof the studied state directly depends on where the fetal egg is attached. It can often be simply removed without damaging the internal reproductive organs.

If you delay the diagnosis, you may be faced with the removal of the fallopian tubes and even the uterus.

How is an ectopic pregnancy removed? In some cases, chemotherapy is possible. The development of the fetus is stopped, and then they wait until the fetal egg resolves.