Medical abortion

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Type1gal

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Hi amazing diabetes community !

I have searched high and low for any information/ stories from fellow diabetics regarding medical abortion, but cannot find a single thing, so am feeling very alone in all of this nightmare.

I have always been extremely careful and always used contraception so was shocked to find I had missed my period a few days ago. After feeling pretty ropey the previous week and having some unusual ( for me ) PMS symptoms, I found out I was pregnant, with several tests stating I am 2-3 weeks pregnant. Due to my financial position and my poorly controlled blood glucose levels ( I don’t think baby would be safe given my situation ) and after discussing with my boyfriend, I decided it was right I get a medical abortion; which I’m booked in for next week.

However, there is no information on wether this affects type 1 diabetics or not. I have read some horror stories on how intense the process can be; that it can induce vomiting/ a great deal of blood loss and am really looking for some guidelines or information on how I can prepare properly as a type 1 diabetic.

Any Advice/ personal stories of this situation would be SO much appreciated, as I am going into this blindly as my first ( and hopefully only ever ) abortion and am petrified as any one would be, along with the idea of having to care for my diabetes too.

Thank you so much for any guidance or help
Best wishes
xxx
 
I can't offer any advice as it is beyond my experience but just wanted to wish you luck. Hope the procedure goes smoothly and your diabetes is unaffected by it. Also wanted to send you virtual (((HUGS))) as it must be a bit of a scary prospect. Hope someone else can offer practical support from their own experience.
 
Me neither but just to say hopefully they will look after you well. Just make sure they know your situation re your Type 1 and maybe discuss with your diabetic nurse before hand.
Don't forget you are very early in the pregnancy and people do naturally miscarry before they are even aware they are pregnant and are fine.
When you are better prepared in the future then hopefully all will go well then.
 
Leadinglights said:
Me neither but just to say hopefully they will look after you well. Just make sure they know your situation re your Type 1 and maybe discuss with your diabetic nurse before hand.
Don't forget you are very early in the pregnancy and people do naturally miscarry before they are even aware they are pregnant and are fine.
When you are better prepared in the future then hopefully all will go well then.
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Thanks so much for your reply ! Exactly my thoughts; I am going to contact my diabetes care team tomorrow to ask if I can speak with a diabetic nurse in advance of the appointment. The issue is the abortion will be carried out at home with a tablet they provide, so I will be without a health care professional when it actually happens, hence my concern. Worrying how little information there is online regarding this, but hopefully it’s because this kind of abortion affects type 1 diabetics in the same way it affects people without
 
rebrascora said:
I can't offer any advice as it is beyond my experience but just wanted to wish you luck. Hope the procedure goes smoothly and your diabetes is unaffected by it. Also wanted to send you virtual (((HUGS))) as it must be a bit of a scary prospect. Hope someone else can offer practical support from their own experience.
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Thank you so much
 
Probably a silly question @Type1gal but I misunderstood when you said ‘medical’ abortion (thought you meant a termination for medical reasons) but what do you mean by medical? If it’s just the tablets then I think you’ll be fine with the diabetes but the stress obviously might have an effect.
 
Hi Inka,

A medical abortion means it’s done by taking 2 different tablet types ( usually at home ) as opposed to surgical abortion which is carried out at hospital by a surgery of sorts. Medical abortion is more for earlier pregnancies and surgical for more advanced . Didn’t know any of this until I was talked through it today !
 
Inka said:
Probably a silly question @Type1gal but I misunderstood when you said ‘medical’ abortion (thought you meant a termination for medical reasons) but what do you mean by medical? If it’s just the tablets then I think you’ll be fine with the diabetes but the stress obviously might have an effect.
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Yes you’re totally right ! Would want to avoid surgical at all costs, mostly to do with being put under anaesthetic
 
I’ve just had a Google and it mentions vomiting. I think that would be the only special Type 1 concern, and that the others would be the same for every woman, Type 1 or not. I note it says to have someone with you. I hope all goes ok and you’re not too ill with it x
 
The tablets may cause vomiting but you may find that you’re fine so try not to worry too much. Any diabetes side effects will be short lived so no worse than if you have a bug and you’re likely to recover quickly. Unlike with a bug your body won’t be having an immune response and pushing your BG up putting you at risk of ketones so that shouldn’t be an issue. Your hormones may take a little while to settle so you find it less predictable as to what your BG will do (I don’t know if you usually get dips and peaks through your natural cycle) so just be aware that you may be more or less sensitive to insulin until you get back to your natural cycle.

Good luck with it. The process isn’t particularly pleasant but much less invasive than the surgical option.
 
Thank you so much for your response ! Really really helpful . I tend to be insulin resistant around ovulation and insulin sensitive in the run up to my period, so this is defiantly something I’ll keep a close eye on. Thanks again for your help xxx
 
Hi there @Type1gal . Your situation isn't one I have had to address myself, but just wanted to wish you well, and to remind you that NHS 111 is there, should you have any concerns (if your clinic/doctor doesn't give you a contact number).

Good luck next week. It can't have been an easy decision to make.
 
It was a long time since I was in a similar situation, I’ve had 2 chances to get pregnant and both times we got pregnant.
First time we had a baby who is now 13.

The second time we had used protection and that old line it did spilt, but it did, anyway no way did I think it would happen again otherwise I’d have gotten the morning after pill. But I had the surgical option, I wasn’t even offered another alternative, not sure it was an option back in 2011, so I’m sorry I can’t help through experience.

I didn’t have any pain from that and just normal period type bleeding for a few days. I don’t remember any other impact.

Hope it goes smoothly and bravo being open enough to ask the question, nobody ever talks about it and we should, it’s the same as any other medical matter.

And I would like to say that sometimes it is the only decision. This is important. Personally it wasn’t a difficult decision for us, but that was based on our situation and I understand it might be for some people.

Keep us updated on how you get on as I know it’s hard when there’s nobody you can talk to about these things. Take care
 
Thinking of you @Type1gal

Wishing you well.
 
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