When planning a child, couples, as a rule, pass a number of tests and carefully monitor their health. But this does not mean that after conception, the fetus will not have pathologies. Pregnancy may be an ectopic. It usually ends with an abortion, as it poses a serious danger to the expectant mother and the fetus. But how to distinguish pregnancy from 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. In any case, on their own.
What it is
What is an ectopic pregnancy? With normal conception, the fetal egg, obtained from a fertilized egg, gets to the uterus and attaches to its wall. There is a further development of the future baby.
If the fetal egg has attached itself outside the uterine cavity, this condition will be called an ectopic pregnancy. She may be:
- pipe;
- abdominal;
- in the rudimentary horn of the uterus.
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 pregnancy from ectopic pregnancy.
Diagnostic problems
Unfortunately, achieving the desired result, especially not long after conception, is difficult. The thing is that pregnancy in the first month does not manifest itself too brightly. It can be confused with upcoming menstruation.
The signs and symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy in the early stages almost completely coincide with the manifestation of PMS or normal pregnancy. Therefore, if the girl found some symptoms in herself, it is worth hurry to the doctor. Only an experienced specialist will tell you 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, initially a normal pregnancy almost completely coincides with an ectopic. Therefore, the symptoms of both conditions will be approximately the same.
If a woman becomes pregnant, her basal temperature after ovulation will remain elevated. In order to quickly understand whether conception has taken place, it is necessary to start maintaining the schedule of BT in advance. With its help, at an elevated temperature of 37.0-37.5 degrees Celsius after ovulation (it occurs approximately in the middle of the cycle), we can talk about the pregnancy.
Delay
The signs and symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy in the early stages should be known to every girl. After all, the sooner it becomes clear where the fetal egg was attached, the higher the likelihood of a safe interruption of an interesting position if pathologies are detected.
Delayed menstruation may indicate pregnancy. If the critical days did not arrive on time (provided that the woman has a regular menstrual cycle), it is worthwhile to assume a successful conception.
Delayed menstruation for up to 7 days is considered normal, but waiting so long is not recommended. From the first day of critical days that are absent at the scheduled time, it is advisable to think about more accurate diagnostic methods.
Test
In the modern world, some types of diagnostics can be carried out at home. For example, determine when a woman is ovulating. 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.
With an ectopic pregnancy at 5 weeks (and even earlier, at about 4 weeks), a pregnancy test should show a positive result. Perhaps the appearance of the so-called ghost. This is how a weak second strip is characterized on a pregnancy test.
Important: sometimes such a diagnostic method is ineffective. With an ectopic pregnancy, hCG in the blood is not produced as intensively as it should. 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, it is easier to recognize such a pathology than it seems: it does not appear at all as PMS or normal pregnancy.
With ectopic attachment of the fetal egg, critical days can begin at the appointed 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 body gives the woman. Then to cope with the task will be much easier.
During pregnancy, light 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 distinguish pregnancy from ectopic pregnancy? If a woman did the test, it turned out to be positive or with a "ghost", but no further diagnosis was performed, the situation may worsen. Approximately at the 8-12th week, the girl may open bleeding.
A fertilized egg can attach in the fallopian tube, then it may rupture. In this case, damage to the internal organs will occur, as a result - bleeding will open, 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 even die.
Blood analysis
If a girl is worried about her pregnancy, she can take a blood test for pregnancy hormone. It's about hCG. It is produced after successful fertilization of the egg. Gradually, its amount is increasing. It is to him that the pregnancy test responds. Only a blood test is a more accurate diagnostic method.
The level of hCG during ectopic pregnancy in the early stages will be much lower than during 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, often these two conditions in the early stages to distinguish from each other is problematic. As a rule, an ectopic pregnancy appears as normal.
For example, in the form of toxicosis. It intensifies in the mornings and evenings, may be accompanied by vomiting. For days, nausea recedes, but its appearance is the norm.
Also, pregnant women begin to suffer from feelings of malaise and increased fatigue. These signs appear during any pregnancy. They can be noticed even before the delay of menstruation.
Visit to the doctor
If a girl suspects pregnancy, she will have to consult a gynecologist. This narrow specialist will conduct an examination on the armchair, and then report whether there is a pregnancy. And if so, which one.
To clarify the diagnosis and monitor the patient’s health, the gynecologist will prescribe a number of tests and studies. For example, blood on hCG and pelvic ultrasound.
Important: in the early stages, the gynecologist may be mistaken. The type of pregnancy may not be diagnosed. Moreover, if you come to a specialist too early, some are able to confuse pregnancy with a cyst or tumor.
Ultrasound room
I want to know for sure whether everything is normal with pregnancy? Then it's time to go to the hospital and make an appointment with the uzist. Every expectant mother faces this.
An ultrasound scan of an ectopic pregnancy at an early stage is the most accurate and reliable method of confirming the position of the fetal egg. If it is not found in the uterus, the doctor will look at where the egg was attached.
True, as in the past case, if you arrive too early, an ultrasound of the fetal egg will look like a tumor or cyst. It is recommended to contact this specialist after a delay in menstruation.
About interruption and treatment
It used to be that a girl should be required to remove the tube 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 internal organs during pregnancy pathology.
In general, the treatment of the condition studied directly depends on where the fetal egg was attached. Often, you can simply remove it without damaging the internal reproductive organs.
If you tighten the diagnosis, you may encounter 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 dissolves.