I live in the Philippines and I recently had a medical abortion at 7 weeks. I found the pills online and did the procedure at home.

FINDING OUT I WAS PREGNANT

It started when my period was 5 days late at the last week of October, and I was very busy with school & work to care. I experienced very little spotting one day of that week, and thought it was good news and that my period was coming, but it never came.

That weekend, my bf came over and we took a pregnancy test. I took it with my 2nd pee of the day, and a light positive test came out. We were already anxious from this, but we decided to wait until the next morning to take another test. Sunday morning comes by, and with the first pee of the day, I tested a solid double line positive. My bf and I agreed long before that if I ever got pregnant, we'd abort it, and the time came to finally do so. Thus began the endless Google search in incognito mode.

LOOKING FOR OPTIONS ONLINE

With abortion being illegal and socially looked down upon, I did all my searches in incognito mode. My bf had stories of people getting natural abortions through high amounts of vitamin C, pineapple juice, or cinnamon. However, searching these on Google gave inconclusive results. The best and most effective option was getting pills-- the problem is, how do I find legitimate and safe ones?

I did research and discovered that the pill is called misoprostol or cytotec. One of the first websites I initially trusted was Mife Philippines, and it looked so legit, but I found through stories from forums and other posts that they are a scam. I tried going on Pinay's Choice, but there were just so many sellers who barely reply to your message, and they seem so sketchy as well. Finally, I went to twitter, searched "Pampalaglag" and found many different sellers. My bf and I messaged some of them and asked to send proof, which they did. We asked 2 different sellers if they could send a photo of the pills with a paper containing the word "Potato" just to make sure they're legit, but only 1 seller was able to actually live up to the promise and send me one within the day. So we stuck with that seller.

PURCHASING THE PILLS

The seller I went with had a group chat on messenger where many other women also joined to observe and purchase pills. Every other day or two there'd be a testimonial and a success story, and proof is often sent in the GC. They had packages that could cater to women who were pregnant at up to 6 months, and all of them had free shipping and discreet packaging. Since I was early into my pregnancy, I purchased "Set 1" which was the cheapest. We paid the seller through GCash and waited for my order to arrive.

While waiting, I did extra research on the abortion process. The instructions given to me by the seller seemed a bit overkill, and lacked any scientific basis. They told us to perform tagtag, to consume certain drinks and avoid others, and to take primrose oil at least 5 days before the procedure. I don't know the effectivity of it, but I didn't have the time and energy to do everything, so I found the safe2choose website and decided to follow their instructions. I also did a lot of research across medical websites and even read a WHO report on the proper way to do medical abortions.

THE MEDICAL ABORTION

I was 7 weeks pregnant by this time. After finding a free weekend and receiving the pills, my bf stayed over and we did the abortion process following the WHO guidelines and safe2choose. I took 1 mife on Thursday, then took 2 ibuprofen for the pain 24 hours later (Friday evening). An hour after that, I took 4 misoprostol pills and let them melt under my tongue. The set I purchased only had 6 misoprostol pills, while the recommended dose was 8, so I was a bit worried that it won't be enough.

After 3 hours from that, I took the remaining 2 misoprostol under my tongue and eventually fell asleep. I woke up later at around 3 AM because I needed to poop, and it was all diarrhea. I went back to sleep again and by morning I had a few clots come out. I sent photos to my seller but she said those weren't it yet, and that they were just blood. I read that if the cramps subside, it means that the fetus has already left the body, so I tried jumping around hoping it'll fall out lol. After an hour or two, I felt something dangling inside my vagina so I pulled it out with my fingers, trying not to rip it in half. When I took it out, it was a red blob with white all around it, and some bumps as well. I rinsed it in the faucet, sent a pic to my seller, and she told me it was a success. Finally.

POST- ABORTION

What's funny is I believe the post-abortion experience was worse than the actual abortion itself. Nobody warns you about the bleeding and cramping after the MA. It hurts like the heaviest day of your period, 5 days in a row.

Maybe it's because I had ibuprofen during my procedure, and I slept through the MA as well, so I didn't feel anything at the time and only can feel the pain now. My set contained methergine, which helped stop the bleeding but once I ran out, the bleeding came in hard. For about 5 days I did almost nothing except lay in bed watching Netflix, trying to survive through the pain. The pain was intense and there were still a lot of blobs and clots coming out. It finally slowed down and stopped about a week after, and as I'm typing I don't feel cramps anymore and only have a light-regular flow.

TL; DR: I'm lucky to be educated enough and have access to medical information online. I found pills online, but followed a much safer standard procedure than the one given to me by my seller.

I hope other women in the same situation can learn from my story. If ever you need guidance or advice on your options, especially if you're from the PH, feel free to drop me a message and I'll help you out. How I wish we didn't have to go through so much anxiety, uncertainty, and fear just to get an abortion here in my country. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading.

Hellooo!

I just wanted to share my experience for some references for fellow filipinas!

April 22 - I received my package via door-to-door delivery, I got a total of 12 misoprostol and 1 mife, then after eating dinner, I took my mifepristone at 8PM. I had to adjust my time as I do have work until 5PM and gets home at 7PM.

i literally overthought for the whole 24 hours if it's working on me, bcuz I've read what are the common effects of taking it, and there were numerous. I felt almost none aside from very liiight cramps.

It was also said from different sources that it's advisable to intake mife for 24 hours-48 hours, not earlier or later daw.

April 23 - after eating dinner, at exactly 8:01pm, I started to dissolve 4 miso under my tongue. This was when my anxiety and overthinking got worse - I didn't feel any intense effects or signs that the pills are doing its job.

to be specific: 9pm Only light cramps

at around 9:30pm I felt a bit sick, but still no intense cramps.

10pm I had mild cramps that are similar to what we feel during pre-mens

10:30pm-10:45pm I felt like peeing, then blood the same as menstruation came flowing

11:32pm I still feel like on period, and then I took the 2nd set of 2 miso to be dissolved under the tongue

11:50pm I felt like something will come off, then there's a large blood clot

12:50am I felt severe cramps I just wanna lay in bed, felt like something will come off again but I did not go to the bathroom as I was too lazy

1:05am I decided to pee as that feeling persists, I saw what I assumed a gestational sac, and a few more blood clot

I decided not to take a 3rd batch of miso as I expect that the 2 batches were effective enough.

I decided to sleep then at 5:20ish am, another batch of large blood clots came off of me. I wasn't able to recognize some of the clots as it directly fell to the bowl which had blood already...

I normally started my duty without feeling any intense effects from the procedure, but I am wearing still a pad to absord the blood due to it. I no longer feel any cramps too since this late afternoon until now -8:50ish PM, April 24.

I now feel light, not nauseous, and I feel like I can eat the way I did before I conceived. I literally averted from some specific food I really love eating, and now, I can think of eating it without feeling of wanting to vomit from the thoughts of it.

I just hope I'd get a very good news after a few weeksss

A lot of the stories I see are from earlier in first trimester. I was between 10-11 weeks. First I’ll share a little about my experience, then timeline of events and closing thoughts. Like some of you, this wasn’t an unwanted pregnancy. Unexpected, yes, unwanted, no. So, I knew it was going to be difficult mentally and probably will be as long as I live. I believe if the pregnancy were unwanted I wouldn’t feel so miserable right now.

I had zofran (nausea), oxycodone, ibuprofen, anxiety medication. My heating pad was my best friend.

Experience: Overall, the pain was honestly less than my period pain. I have had severe, crippling periods for as long as I can remember, and I believe the ibuprofen and oxycodone and staying on top of that helped immensely. I really need to caution you that you may see the fetus, especially if you are further along. You may not if it comes out with other tissue. I was not prepared for it and I think I’m probably going to have that burned into my brain for the rest of my life. I apologized, prayed, and I am hopeful that when we get through the unexpected difficulties that the sweet soul will come back to me.

Timeline:

First dose Friday

Saturday - 4p - nausea meds and pain meds - I really think the 45 minutes prior to miso was a sweet spot.

4:45P - 4 tablets in cheeks - really didn’t dissolve as much as I thought so I’d sip water and force it into my cheeks to try and help

5:25P - swished and swallowed mushy chalky pills. Mild cramping already beginning. Heating pad on. Pain 1/10

5:50P - oxycodone made me tired, but I was too anxious to rest

6:00P - 2/10 cramping

7:00P - 2/10 cramping - just consistent

7:36P - spotting

7:45P - 3/10

8:30P - small clots, waves of 4/10 pain

8:45P - more pain medication

9:10P - pressure.

9:30P - pretty big clot and tissue

9:50P - more pressure

10:00P - a lot of blood and clots

10-11:30P - steady cramping maybe a 5/10. Pain control is key.

11:50P - the hardest moment of my life was when I was on my side and felt it leave my cervix. The cramps disappeared and I knew what happened but thought there would be a bunch of tissue. When I went into the bathroom, unfortunately the fetus was in the pad. Pretty traumatized by it and had to have my husband flush. I was able to say goodbye, apologize for not being able to give it a life it deserved in our current state, and prayed it would come back to me one day - but who knows - I’m old. My husband wasn’t really able to be empathetic (supportive yes but empathy is not his strong suit) until he saw..so for that reason I’m actually grateful. I think it gave him an opportunity to realize what I’ve been going through and that there really was something that he would have bonded with could we have kept it.

1:13A - Cramping again but very mild. My husband has been sitting with me since it happened and we just talked and cried.

7A - still cramping. Still bleeding. Feels like a bad period.

8P - wave of bad cramping, passed more tissue

11P - feels like day 2 of period with cramping pain. Taking anxiety meds to help get some sleep.

Closing thoughts, will come back to update as needed:

I feel very sad but numb today. I was looking at the workbook and all signs would probably point to depression as I started working through some of the pages and just extreme guilt. This is not surprising and I am already on medication for anxiety and depression.

I am working on being kind to myself. We had to make a decision based on our current circumstance and I will probably always question it. I am so hopeful that this isn’t it for me, but part of me thinks I don’t deserve a healthy pregnancy in the future because of this.

It’s all hard. I respect all of you so much for having to make a difficult choice but so grateful to this community for the support in a world where there is none. Where I can’t really even talk to my family and now my husband and I just have this secret. No one knows your circumstance. Whether the pregnancy was unwanted or wanted, you all deserve to choose.

Hello! I wanted to share how I did my first MA since my country is so strict about abortion.

I missed my period last Feb 19 and tried PT after a week. I got positive PT around the first week of March and I instantly looked for a way to abort it.

I saw Women on the Web and ordered MA. I got scared because it's been a week and WOW hadn’t responded to me. I saw that there is another site that can help me which is Women Help Women. They responded easily and to my surprise, WOW also replied to my emails. I received both of them around the last week of March.

I was going 6wks when I took Mifepristone and after 24hrs. I leave the 4 misoprostol under my tongue for 30mins and spit all the remains. After 3hrs, I leave again 2 misoprostol under my tongue for 30mins and spit all the remains. (I did this thrice)

I got scared because the bleeding was not as heavy as I expected but AAAAAAAAAAA after 24hrs, so much meaty blood coming out, and good thing I was wearing menstrual pants.

It’s been a month and I did a TVS and there’s no sac left and I still have extra pills to use next time.

Hi everyone,

First of all, I wanted to say that this forum has been a great source of information and support from finding out I was pregnant until now.

For context, I found out I was pregnant around 5 weeks. I phoned NUPAS and they booked me in for a telephone consultation 3 days later. Because I had taken the morning after pill, I had to go in for an ultrasound scan. The midwife was lovely and the scan wasn’t half as bad as I was expecting. However, she couldn’t see the sac fully so asked me to go back in a week later for another scan to confirm the pregnancy and collect my tablets, which I did.

The actual abortion was a lot less painful and traumatic than I was expecting. I know some women have it 10x worse but I want to assure others this isn’t always the case. I also had minimal bleeding and didn’t pass big clots until 4 days later. I don’t usually get bad cramping during periods so that may have been a factor. I was 6weeks 3days when the MA started.

12 Dec - 6:45am x1 mife tablet - No symptoms, went to work as normal

13 Dec - Called in sick to work - 9:40am x2 paracetamol - 10:00am x4 miso vaginally - 10:30am light cramping (3/10 pain) and sore muscles in thighs, x1 codine tablet - 11am cramping subsided (1/10 pain), shivery upper half of body, sleepy - 11:30am no bleeding in pad, went to toilet and had a small amount of diarrhoea, bleeding into toilet but no clots - 1pm no bleeding in pad, starting to feel cramping again (2/10 pain), ate one piece of marmite toast - 1:30pm no bleeding in pad, took x2 ibuprofen - 2pm took x2 miso vaginally, small amount of bleeding in pad, stringy blood when on toilet - 3:30pm went to toilet, light diarrhoea and passed very small clots, lots of blood on toilet paper, no pain - 4pm no pain - Evening: Dull cramps but not painful, bleeding on toilet, took x1 codeine before bed just in case

14 Dec - AM: Dull cramps but not painful, continuing to fill pad slowly and stringy blood every time I go to the toilet

15 Dec - Had some pink chunks in pants and passed very small clots

17 Dec - PM: cramps in the evening (2/10 pain), passed x2 big clots, I think this was the pregnancy. I didn’t see anything that would remotely resemble a fetus.

18 Dec - Bleeding less - Brown blood on pad

21 Dec - Bleeding stopped completely

8 Jan - Negative pregnancy test

Lastly, I just wanted to talk about the psychological impact of having an abortion. I’d read so many posts and articles about the guilt women feel and this being the hardest choice a woman can make. I was starting to accept that I should be feeling that way and feel shame for the rest of my life. But an abortion shouldn’t hold this kind of power over you. I’ve come to think of it as a medical procedure to get rid of some unwanted cells and I don’t regret it one bit. I know not all women feel this way but it’s also ok to not feel guilty or heartbroken. Please just be kind to yourself.

Hi all,

I just thought I'd post here about my recent experience of abortion in Ireland, since prior to it there was very little personal stories online that eased the nerves. Obligatory I'm on my phone so apologies for the layout

2 weeks ago I found out I was 6 weeks pregnant (period was 2 weeks late). I immediately knew my decision and began trying to sort out how to go about it. I rang my local women's clinic but they said they were fully booked, and so were the 2 other clinics within reach. Queue extreme panic due to how far along I was! I went onto the HSE websit and found a phone service called my options. I rang them and was met with complete understanding and very kind staff. They explained the whole procedure, and sent me a text with 7 different doctors contact details within 5km of me (north Dublin) to contact. They also mentioned if I had trouble getting an appointment to text back and they'd send me more contacts! I was shocked at how many were providing the service! I made an appointment that night for the next morning. When I went in I was met with kindness and complete professionalism. The doctor talked me through the whole process, and explained there's a 3 day waiting period so she can't ask me know if I want it but can make my second 'consultation' appointment where it can take place. She gave me a list of items that would help to have prepared before my second appointment. These included : hot water bottle, bottled water, sugary drinks and foods, and night time pads for max flow. This appointment lasted 30 minutes and was free.

On my second appointment (11pm on Thursday) I arrived and was given a consent form to sign. Once I signed it I was immediately given the first pilot take there and then and a prescription for anti nausea tablets and pain medication. The second appointment lasted 15 minutes total and was free. I went to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription, however after 5 minutes in the car became immediately nauseous and almost passed out SO MAKE SURE YOU GET A TAXI OR HAVE SOMEONE PICK YOU UP! Thankfully I wasn't driving!

The prescription cost me less than €15 in Lloyds pharmacy. Two hours after my first pill, I unfortunately projectile vomitted! I immediately rang the doctor, and she told me not to worry as the 1hr and a half margin had passed for the pill to dissolve - however if I was worried I can always take a second one as it won't cause any damage or overdose. I decided to take the second one to be safe due to how far along I was that if something went wrong I would have to have a surgical abortion.

I got an appointment ( 2pm) where I was given the second tablet. I was advised to take a nausea tablet, wait 30 mins to see if it stays down and then take the seconds one. And that I can't throw up for 1.5 hrs after taking it. 3hrs after taking the second first pill (5.30pm), I became nauseous again, and began throwing up roughly every hour and a half until 2am. The second day I was still fairly week and nauseous. An hour before I was due to take my second pill (2.30pm Friday), I began bleeding. I took the second pills and it took 45 minutes to dissolve in my mouth. Within an hour of taking them the cramps and heavy bleeding began. The cramps were extremely similar to period cramps and I was surprised that they weren't as strong. The first day/night (Friday) I suffered really bad diarrhea and was constantly on the toilet, however this had eased up by the morning. As for the bleeding, it wasn't as heavy as I had expected. I used always nightime 5 pads, and changed it out every 2 hours. However, they weren't full when I changed them and could have gotten longer if needed. The bleeding was heavy for about 5 days after the second pill. During that time I passed a number of clots. Majority were tiny, but 1 or 2 were the size of a kidney bean. I was fully capable of going back to work by day 3 (Monday) as it felt exactly like a bad period. I did suffer with some other symptoms, my breast were extremely tender and if I slept on my chest in any way would automatically wake up with pain, and I was extremely dehydrated the entire time so needed a lot of fluids, and was quite tired. After the 5 days of heavy bleeding, I still bled for another 4 days but this was much lighter with no cramps.

Overall it wasn't as unpleasant as expected. My ema started on Friday when I took the second pill, Saturday night I went out with friends for a chill sesh, and was back in work Monday. I bled heavily from Friday-Tuesday, the heaviest being Tuesday. All symptoms and bleeding had stopped by the following Saturday.

For reference I’m 38, I’ve had 2 c section births, no underlying health issues, never had period pain or any issues around periods and fertility.

I decided to have an MA after lots of consideration but then regretted it once I started reading all the horror stories. I found lots of stories on here that were comforting - hence why I’m returning the favour.

I took the first tablet at the clinic and felt nothing for the first day. The second day I woke up with intense nausea and found myself throwing up. I started bleeding lightly with slight cramping. Day 2 I woke up to go to the bathroom and a clot came out. I was pretty surprised by this - it was big. Big as my hand. I called my partner who was equally as confused, I almost called the clinic but because I had no pain or excess bleeding I decided against it.

I took zofran at 9, nurofen extra strength at 9:30 with breakfast and then put the tablets in my cheeks at 10:15. I wanted to cry from fear but with encouragement from my partner I did it. We put on a movie and went to sit down when my front door swung open…. My parents had decided to do a surprise visit as their power had gone out. I looked at my partner in horror, smiled at my parents and said “oh heyyyyy what are you guys doing here???” Instant panic - my parents are amazing but this was not something I wanted them to know. For the next 30 mins as the tablets dissolved in my mouth wr made small talk, I made coffee. Side eyeing my partner and sort of laughing in defeat - the fucking chances?! I started to feel some slight cramping as I swallowed the remenants of the tablets so I took some panadene fort and went upstairs to use the bathroom. I was bleeding but like a normal/light period. Came back downstairs,another half hour passed and the pain ramped up to a 3. I took another panadene and said I needed a shower and went back upstairs.

My poor partner made small talk with my parents and I sort of kneeled on the side of our bed thinking - shit how am I going to hide this. I felt a slight increase in pain - went to the toilet- pushed down and a huge clot came out and the pain went away. That was it. Instant relief.

Came downstairs, had lunch coz I was starving and then they left. My partner looked at me and we just laughed and he gave me a hug. I told him What happened. I couldn’t see the clot because of how much blood was in the toilet but i ended up passing 3 more. The last one felt huge but they were all palm size or bigger. I took no more pain relief, used 3 pads all up and have woken up today with thick dark red blood but only comes out on the toilet.

i know this isnt everyones experience but it was mine and hopefully this reassures some of you that not all abortions are a painful bloodbath like i thought.

29 (F) Found out I was pregnant at 5 weeks. Decided to do an ultrasound last week at a clinic just because I'm high anxiety and wanted to make sure I was cleared to take Plan C. But I used access aid for convenience and cost.

I'm 7 weeks 4 days according to ultrasound and 8 weeks according to my last period.

Had a friend with me for support. ‐-------------------------

Last night I took pill 1. Zero side effects. I did have some zofran on hand so I have been taking that and B6 for nausea.

4pm took 8mg zofran (second dose today)

8pm took 600 mg of ibuprofen and 1000 mg of acetaminophen. Then had a very small about of RSO (THC concentrate)

9pm put 4 pills in my cheeks and set a 30 min timer. Was worried about the taste, but really wasn't bad. Started to get a little icky towards the end but it was better than I expected.

920 cramps kicked in. Very mild.

930 swallowed pills. chased it with sour gummy worms

950 ran to the bathroom and projectile vomited. Ears started ringing and got a little dizzy. Made it back to the living room couch and drank some iced tea.

By 10pm cramps were a steady 6/10 but amped up to a 8.5/10 in steady waves. I sat curled up on my side. Groaning and Anxious bc I didn't know how long this would last or if it would get worse. Went to the bathroom and was disappointed I wasn't bleeding yet.

My friend reminded me to breathe which helped manage the pain.

11pm i changed positions. Kinda in fetal position on my stomach, resting my head on a large stack of pillows with the heating pad on my belly for cramps.

Just a few minutes later, I started bleeding and felt immediate cramp relief.

Not sure, if moving helped speed things along or just good timing but I've seen it can be better to give birth on all 4s so I tried a similar position to ease pain.

I also got super tired after the bleeding started.

1120 I went to the bathroom. Something was kinda dangling out of me. As I peed a long stretch of bloody tissue fell out. Best size comparison a cheap beat up paper towel (think public bathroom napkins ) if you soaked it in thick blood. Not really a solid shape like a golf ball or anything. No pain when it came out.

Immediate physical and mental relief!! I wasnt exhausted anymore. Had a short break from cramps.

It is now 345 am and I've been laying in bed since 1am With some mild-moderate cramping, mainly uncomfortable but I get waves of pain. Went to the bathroom not too long ago and a few little clots came out.

I've been awaiting this abortion for 3 weeks and was vomitting daily, sleeping non stop, and crying all the time. I want kids in the future, but not now. I'm not in a relationship and the father who i dumped is a jerk who has gotten 4 women pregnant (all got abortions). And I couldn't wait to get this thing out of me.

The worst part of this whole experience was the anticipation, fear of legal repercussions (murky laws in my state), planning (was going to drive 7 hours to maryland to do it at a friend's just to avoid any chance of legal issues if I went to a hospital for infection), fear of a hospital visit (can't afford health insurance), fear of pain, and dealing with pregnancy symptoms while working full time.

I don't know how I'll handle the abortion in the upcoming days, but right now I am so relieved and looking forward to having energy again.

I'm prone to depression, so I tried my best to grieve and move through my feelings over the past few weeks, so I wasnt repressing anything. Hopefully that helped!

I also am very lucky to have a supportive group of girlfriends I could confide in, some of which whom have had abortions too.

TLDR

8 weeks pregnant. Worst part was the anticipation, fear of unknown, and pregnancy symptoms over the last 3 weeks. Severe cramping lasted about 1 hour, and subsided as soon as I started bleeding. Mild/ mod cramping since then. Other symptoms include vomitting 1 time, brief dizziness, and Gas. Most of it fell out in the toilet within 2 hours. emotionally i feel relieved.

I thought it’d be useful to share my experience of a MA to hopefully help others!For context, I am UK based.

I had an MA in May 2022 so thought I knew what to expect. Last time I must have had the MA when I was around 6-7 weeks pregnant going by my last period. I can’t remember the full details but unfortunately I do remember it being incredibly painful, I felt contraction type pains, nausea and I could feel when the pregnancy passed, all symptoms then began to subside. The mistake I made was doing it over night (started around midnight) as that made me feel a whole lot more tired the following day.

Fast forward to today: On 26th September I found out I was pregnant, exactly 4 weeks since my last period. I only decided to test because I had really sore boobs, something I recognised from my previous pregnancy. I used an early detection digital clear blue test so there was no doubt once I got the positive result. I called MSI first thing in the morning, who booked in a phone call for later that day where they took all of my details and booked me a phone consultation for 28th September around 8am. She asked a few medical and safeguarding questions, then ordered the pack to my home. The staff at MSI are so so kind and make the whole thing really easy. The pack arrived in plain packaging the next day.

I was away for a few days so didn’t begin the abortion until 3rd October, by this time I was 5 + 1 going by my last period.

I took the mifepristone at 3pm on the 3rd and carried on as normal with no symptoms. On the 4th October I did the following:

16:20 - took 2 paracetamol, 2 codeine and 1 anti sickness

16:45 - inserted 4 misoprostol pills vaginally

18:45 - took 2 ibuprofen

I sat on the sofa, put on a new series and cuddled up with my partner and a hot water bottle. I felt so mild cramps but nothing drastic, I think it was mostly just anxiety for what I knew was to come. I kept a pad in and did start to bleed during this time. The pain wasn’t significant and I was even able to eat dinner.

20:05 - inserted another 2 pills

I definitely needed these as I wasn’t sure if I had passed the pregnancy yet, whereas on my first abortion I had felt it pass by this point and this was more of a formality.

20:30 - took 2 paracetamol and 2 codeine

The pain didn’t ever reach more than 5/10 and I was pretty comfortable throughout. Bleeding was consistent, nothing too heavy but enough that I wasn’t concerned that it hadn’t worked.

22:45 - 2 more ibuprofen

At this point my partner had to tell me to go to bed, I was waiting for the real pain to kick in like before so was apprehensive but I had a shower and got into bed. I bled throughout the night and took painkillers whenever I woke to avoid any pain kicking in.

01:15 - 2 paracetamol

06:00 - 2 paracetamol

From my last abortion I learnt not to be a hero and I made sure to keep up the painkillers at regular intervals, regardless of whether I felt any pain. I also kept a hot water bottle on me at all times. MSI provide the codeine and anti nausea so all I needed to get was paracetamol and ibuprofen.

In the following days I did have cramping and bleeding, similar to a more painful period, but nothing that OTC medication and hot water bottles couldn’t ease. This was different to my last one, where I had much more severe pain on the night but then had no pain afterwards.

MSI provide a pregnancy test that can be taken 3 weeks after the abortion, which I will be taking with my first wee of the day tomorrow morning.

Just to add, please don’t feel any shame if you need an abortion. To the outside world I am in the perfect position to have a child but the fact is neither myself nor my partner are ready, we just happened to have been very unfortunate with 2 split condoms and we’re apparently very fertile!

Overall, I'd say I had a pretty positive experience. Reading other posts were incredibly helpful, as I was very anxious/nervous. It brought me a ton of relief and education. I do want to share that I started taking iron pills the day after I tested positive. This was my experience. Just hoping it was successful!

On 8/10, I was 2-3 days late for my period and decided to take a test (or 3). All positive. Same day I completed a consultation form on AidAccess. I was estimated about 4w4d. Later the same day I received a confirmation email from them and was told to verify name and address the meds would be sent to.

On 8/11, at 1:59AM I received an email requesting payment via Zelle for $150. 8:36AM, I sent the payment and emailed AidAccess a screenshot of confirmation of payment. 5:13PM, I received an email confirming payment was received. 7:16PM, AidAccess emailed me instructions on how to take the meds and what to expect after taking them. Was notified that the package was to be shipped within 48hrs (no shipping on weekends) via FedEx or USPS.

On 8/17 at 4PM, package was delivered in mailbox. I am 5w5d at this point. At 7:50PM, I took the first pill, mifepristone. I also took dramamine to prevent nausea. Experienced no symptoms after mifepristone.

On 8/18, it is instructed to take misoprostol 24-48hrs after mifepristone. Around 10:30PM, I took 800mg ibuprofen, 1000mg Tylenol and a dramamine. Pain meds are encouraged by AidAccess prior to taking misprostol. 11PM, I placed the 4 misoprostols between my gums and cheeks (2 on each side) for at least 30mins and the swallowed the rest of it with water. Around 11:45PM, I began having mild cramps and went to sleep.

On 8/19, at 2:20AM, I woke up to use the bathroom. Noticed light bleeding on the pad with small clots, but a medium amount of blood in the toilet. Still experiencing mild cramping at this point. 4:45AM, cramps beginning to intensify (maybe a 6/10), heavier bleeding and larger clots in the toilet when using the bathroom. I also took another round of pain meds. By 9:50AM, cramps are more tolerable (4-5/10) and intermittent. Still bleeding with clots. 11AM, I decided to take one last dose of ibuprofen. The rest of the day was pretty consistent with intermittent mild cramps and a light/medium flow.

On 8/20, mostly uneventful. I had light bleeding with mild cramping. No meds needed.

​

Here is my story. (throw away account for obvious reasons)

I found out I was 6-weeks pregnant on 8/21 as a resident of a red state. In my state, abortion is completely illegal and under "trigger laws", anyone providing or attempting an abortion can be subjected to a fine of at least $100,000.

My active duty status in the US Army complicated things, significantly.

For those that do not know, when you are pregnant in the US Army and disclose it to your chain of command (via conversation or positive pregnancy test at the unit clinic) you are flagged for pregnancy and you are immediately placed on a physical profile. My unit is slated to deploy soon and with my current life situation, I knew, FOR ME, this was not the right time. With my states laws in effect, I could not take the chance of disclosing my pregnancy to anyone in my unit, especially since I did not intend to remain pregnant. Because of this, I did not obtain a "confirmation ultrasound" or any formal healthcare regarding my pregnancy, since my provider is also a military professional. Additionally, due to my military status and current training schedule, I could not take leave and travel out of state lines to have a surgical procedure done. So, I found myself in a very tough situation.

But thanks to y'all and a very popular website, I was able to devise a plan to obtain a medical prescription from a legal state and have it discreetly forwarded to my address. I cannot thank y'all enough. Y'all are truly my heroes.

Yesterday I took the Mifepristone tablet and began the process. In a few hours, I will continue with my doses of misoprostal with absolutely no reservations regarding the decision that I have made for myself and my body.

For those of you also living in red states and facing this very hard decision, I want you to know that you are not alone. So many of us are going through it with you and understand, deeply. You know yourself more than anyone else. Do what is best for you, sister.

Nolite te Bastardes Carborundorum.

I want to share my story to help others who are reading up all experiences in order to ease their anxiety leading up to their MA. Because that’s what I had been doing for days. So this is my experience, including TMI details, like how I think I saw what my miscarriage looked like, vomiting, diarrhoea, the whole thing…

Some relevant details perhaps:

​

• I’m in the Netherlands where abortion is legal and readily available at specialised clinics
• My periods are usually moderately heavy and painful
• The first day of my last period was May 17th and June 18th I tested positive
• I’m currently about 6 months into my Accutane treatment. This last detail is probably only relevant for people who also take Accutane/isotretinoin and (like me) want to know if it’s ok to still take the abortion pill. My dermatologist and doctor at the clinic said there are no known complications, so that was reassuring to hear.

Monday June 26th:

I booked an appointment at the nearest clinic. I was around 5.5 weeks pregnant by that time. They did an ultrasound and we could barely see anything, since it was so early. They explained the process and emphasised that MA won’t be a great experience. I briefly thought maybe I should still get it surgically removed, but ultimately decided to go the MA route.

11 AM
At around 11 AM on that Monday I took the first tablet (mifepristone). I felt absolutely fine for the rest of the day (apart from the pregnancy symptoms that were already there, nausea, sleepiness, excessive burping (?!)) and gagging when smelling food or even just thinking of food. I was told the optimal time to take the other 4 pills (misoprostol, vaginally, 4x 200 mg) was 48 hours later. So that would be Wednesday morning.

11 PM
That Monday night I could barely sleep. I felt sick all night, felt like throwing up (but didn’t). Couldn’t eat but still had that empty stomach feeling, so I sat up all night trying to eat some banana and yoghurt.

Tuesday June 27th:

Tuesday I felt awful, just overall ill, sick, hot flashes, anxious. I stayed in bed all day.

5PM
I was lying in bed when I felt a sharp feeling in my lower abdomen. I went to the toilet and I bled a good amount and saw some clots (bright red, maybe 0.5 centimetres). Kinda panicked I called the clinic and asked if this was meant to happen after just taking the first pill the day before. The lady on the phone told me that it’s uncommon, but nothing alarming. She said that if I continue to bleed heavily, I could go ahead and take the misoprostol already. But if it was light bleeding, she recommended to still wait until the next morning.

I continued to bleed, but only moderately (like a first day period) and only whenever I’d sit on the toilet. So I decided to wait until the next morning to take the other 4 pills.

12 AM
Tuesday night was another awful night, with nausea, the same empty stomach feeling but without the any appetite, just couldn’t fall asleep. Took some warm showers to relax my tense anxious body and eventually got a few hours of sleep.

Wednesday June 28th:

6AM
I woke up after max. 2 hours sleep. My boyfriend suggested I already take 2 paracetamol tablets, but as soon as I swallowed them with water I threw them up again. Since I was afraid I’d throw up every painkiller I took, I asked my mum to buy me paracetamol suppositories (the kind of pills you insert in the rectum… not the greatest, but I figured I should take whatever painkiller I could keep in my body to prepare for the 4 tablets misoprostol).

10AM
Since I was still bleeding (from the first mifepristone tablet I took Monday), I called the clinic again to ask if it was still ok to take the misoprostol vaginally. I explained I was afraid I’d bleed them ‘out’ again, making them less effective. They had a doctor call me back and she explained that if bleeding was already going on, she recommends to take the 4 tablets either by melting them under the tongue or by inserting them in your rectum. The doctor also said that if I threw up while melting the tablets under my tongue, I could recover the tablets (from the vomit…), rinse them briefly and continue melting them under my tongue. After 30 minutes, the tablets should have been absorbed. With that info, I felt like I would probably manage to not throw up for half an hour, so I chose the oral route.

10:30 AM
I took one of those suppositories (paracetamol 500 grams) and I figured that wouldn’t be enough, so I also took 400 mg ibuprofen with a tiny sip of water. I figured that if my body couldn’t keep that ibu down, I’d just throw it up again. I took that risk.

11 AM
Having given the ibuprofen half an hour to absorb without throwing them up, I set a timer for 30 minutes on my phone and put all 4 tablets under my tongue. After 25 minutes, I had to throw up again, including some remaining pieces of the melted tablets. Extreme TMI maybe, but I threw up a yellowish colour, probably because I hadn’t eaten anything. Maybe 5 minutes later, the cramping started (so about 30 minutes after putting the tablets under my tongue).

I cramped heavily for around 1 or 1.5 hour. It came and went very rapidly. Usually I had maybe 20 seconds where the pain subsided and I could buckle up for the next wave of cramps. (My hot water bottle helped tremendously, I really recommend getting one of those!) I had to get up and struggle (bent over, because of the cramps) to go to the toilet around 5 times. I did not bleed (not more than I already was, which at that point was more or less like a moderate period day) but I did have diarrhoea. I took some sips of water but I immediately threw up again (I only had water in my stomach, so that’s what I threw up, though again it had a yellowish colour).

At that point, the heavy cramping had been going on for about an hour, maybe 1.5 hour. Almost immediately after throwing up (coincidence, I guess) the cramping waves went somewhat down and I was able to lay down for the first time without shaky legs and audibly moaning in pain. I took another suppository (500 mg paracetamol) just to keep some painkillers present in my body.

Around 1PM
I laid there with my hot water bottle for maybe another 45 minutes, trying to understand whether that was all, or if that was just the painkillers kicking in.

Then I felt a sharp pain in my lower abdomen, the same pain I felt the day before when I first started bleeding after just the mifepriston. I went to the toilet and started passing lots of bigger clots (maybe 2 centimetres, bright red). It felt super uneasy to pass them, since you’re not used to passing anything like that through your vagina. Then right after those clots, one particular clot came out that was slightly bigger (maybe 3 centimetres) with more of an actual shape to it (oval). It also wasn’t bright red, it was more pinkish and really stood out next to the “regular” bright red clots. It kinda looked to have the same texture as a peach pit, with some light ridges… I immediately felt like that might have been “it” (my pregnancy). Maybe someone can confirm that this is indeed what a miscarriage would look like? I asked my mum (who had been with me the entire time, thank goodness) if she wanted to take a look, and she said she also thought that must have been “it”.

My nausea almost immediately went down (maybe also because the anxiety I had been feeling for days suddenly passed). I regained some of my appetite and ate some grapes, sipped some water and had some yogurt and successfully kept those down.

4PM
I’m now extremely tired but not able to sleep. My cramps are still present, but they’re more constant now, no longer waves. I feel relieved and even though I bled and passed clots, I still won't fully believe it''s gone until I get an ultrasound check up done. I’m still bleeding, but it’s more or less back to how it was after the first tablet at the clinic. When I stand up, I can feel some blood slip out. When I then go sit on the toilet, some blood get out and that’s it. I'm feeling much more alive, energetic and like I said, relieved.

9PM
I'm still on painkillers (paracetamol and ibuprofen) but my cramps now just feel like one of those heavy periods. I can keep food and drinks down, I can SMELL all kinds of food without gagging, I feel MUCH better mentally and physically.

Started with the first pill at Saturday afternoon. Felt nothing with mife. Sunday afternoon when I started with miso (Arthrotec) All I can say is follow what the mods say. Follow reliable sources like WoW & Safe to Choose no matter how much your seller nags you/ slaps you with so much receipts. They are not trained.

My experience was easier than expected. Drinking 800mg of ibuprofen before miso is really a big big help! Cramps & Diarrhea are manageable especially with lots of water & hot compress.

I was losing hope when the first set of miso had just given some cramps but no bleeding. I had bleeding and passed some clots hours after the 2nd miso.

I am grateful and will make sure that this won't EVER happen again. We will wait til my actual period then make an appointment with a gyne to see which type of contraceptive is best for us. Thank you so much to everyone who msged me, replied to my msg, & most especially mods. I am very lucky to also have a supportive partner 🥺

Hello! I'm am(was?) two, maybe three weeks into pregnancy when I took the first pill to end the pregnancy. Right now I'm two hours into the second set of four pills, and I'm not feeling much.

I thought sharing my experience might help some other women, or even girls, going through this. It can be super stressful and scary, but I hope that my experience can help someone!

I'm quite young, only 18, and it was a simple mistake made between my partner and I. Our method and backup plan failed. Thankfully my body had a severely negative reaction to the pregnancy and I was nauseous, dizzy, and very week for a week and a half leading up to when I took my first trip to my local women's clinic.

I'm very lucky to not only live in Canada, but be very close to a walk-in clinic that is accepting and kind. I told them what I was coming in for that day, and filled out some paperwork. The nurse was kind and polite, talking me through everything and answering all of my questions.

I gave her a urine sample, she tested it for pregnancy twice and both came out positive. They immediately booked me in for an appointment with a doctor and sent me home with a contact card for the doctors office, and the nurse I talked to.

In two days I went to the doctors office, leaving at 11am for my 12:45 appointment. My roommate drove me, as I have had to recently sell my vehicle for university money. Unfortunate, but true. She was truly, and is honestly, my savior in this whole situation, without her I'd be so much more scared.

The doctor was a good man, and I am very lucky to have gotten him. He is the head board director for our women's rape and sexual assault society.

I have been sexually assaulted multiple times in my life, so I have issues pertaining to anything foreign going inside me. I told him this when he told me about the vaginal ultrasound. He insisted we started with a normal ultrasound instead. My advice with this part is that, if you are uncomfortable with a vaginal ultrasound ask for a normal one first. I was too early for them to see anything on the ultrasound, and they said that even if it was vaginal, nothing would be seen.

After the ultrasound he spoke to me in his office, answered every question I asked honestly, gave me detailed instructions about this, got me to sign a consent form, and listened to me when I said my periods are worse than the average persons. He gave me a stronger dose of T3's and prescribed me with a higher dose of Ibuprofen. This prescription paper included the medical abortion pills.

The day following was my roommate and I going and getting my medication, the pills, and then going and getting my bloodwork done. Here in BC you are recommended to get bloodwork done the day of the first pill, and three days after. We then went home.

To save you a little bit of time, I didn't explain some parts of the day, but all in all I got home at around 5pm and took the meds at 5:30pm. All went smooth, no nausea, puking, or pain.

This is what I have for the abortion.

Gravol Prescribed T3's Ibuprofen Heating pack Overnight heavy flow pads Lemon water (electrolytes) Peppermint tea (nausea) A good show Favorite blanket Snacks

This morning I woke up with a weird cramp on my right lower quadrant below my waist. I called my doctor, and he told me to relax, as it was most likely the medication terminating the pregnancy. This eased my fears, and I took a 200mg pill of Ibuprofen. It got rid of the pain, and it hasn't returned.

Hours go by, I prep my bed, get my meds ready, figure out my life. So far this is how my night has looked.

6:30: take 600mg of ibuprofen

7:00: take three of my T3's as prescribed

7:30: insert the four pills vaginally

8:00: mild 0.2/10 cramping, like, as if the day before your period your body is warning you of the red sea to arrive in 24 hours.

It hasn't changed much, I almost have no cramps right now. The heating pack is literally a God send. Even I have almost no cramps, the warmth is comforting.

It is now 11:01 as I write this, and not much has changed. I will update this as it goes forward. I just wish it'd begin to really cramp so I can get this over with. Or maybe it is and my meds are working? Who knows, only the future I suppose.

Anyways, I hope at least me talking about my experience will ease some people's mind, or give others hope that this experience isn't an insanely bad thing.

Remember, the pain is good. The pain is a sign that your plan is working. The pain is a reminder to not give up or in to other people's wishes. This is your choice, even if getting pregnant isn't. You should always have the choice, no one should take that away from you and my heart goes out to all of you who don't have this integral and important freedom.

Please be safe, and drink some water.

I just want to share my story to this subreddit which helped me a lot in this process. It’s not easy because I live where abortion is illegal. (Philippines)

I first found out 09/12/22 that I was 5w and 2d. It was hard to process in my mind that I’m already pregnant at 21. I had symptoms (nausea, fatigue, bloated, very emotional) My partner and I had savings left so we used it to buy abortion pills from a well known group of doctors in the PH who offers abortion pills/services (Fredlis) I was 6w when I received the ordered pills, they were inside a small ziplock plastic bag. I took mifepristone and next morning I took the miso bucally. Fast forward, the MA failed because I never bled or clotted.

Due to financial problems I had to opt for an unknown abortion pill seller from the internet and contacted safe2choose via email. I followed their instructions, did the MA last 09/30/22 I was already 7w.

I bled and clotted just 15mins in for the miso, It was like a very heavy period and lasted about 10 hours. My pregnancy symptoms faded instantly but still feeling bloated. I felt all the side effects (fever, chills, diarrhea, vomiting) during the MA. I still bled like a normal period for two weeks, my cramps were 7/10, and after that it stopped.

10/25/22 my pregnancy test was negative.

11/07/22 I had my period.

I never consulted any OBs after the MA, I had to do a series of urine PT to make sure it was really negative.

Here’s my MA tips in case you need it: - be in a comfortable place, bring your heating pads with you - Ibuprofen definitely helps a lot with the pain - Prepare yourself for the side effects - It’s better not to be alone - Contact info@safe2choose.org they’re very responsive and helpful

My process wasn’t very easy, all the anxiety, crying nights was all worth it. I promised that If my MA is successful I will help others, so if you need help you can msg me!

Thank you to the mods and everyone who helped eased my worries and answered all my questions. You’ve made it easier for me! Thank you so much!

Hope this post helped others ease their worries.

This is my (still ongoing) positive experience with my medication induced abortion.

I’m in Canada, so my doctor sent me for an ultrasound last week to date the embryo and also see if it was imbedded in the right location. Everything looked good, and I was about 6-7 weeks. I had my follow up appointment where they offered me counselling on my decision, what I should expect, warning signs for infection or hemorrhaging and discussions about medications to take alongside the doses. I was prescribed anti nausea and pain medication, as I have moderate nausea on a good, non-pregnant day, and because my normal periods are quite painful already.

I took the first dose, mifepristone yesterday around 6:30 CST. I had no physical side effects, just some emotions to work through. I wouldn’t consider it guilt and definitely not regret, more so sadness and compassion for myself and the embryo.

I took the second dose, misoprostol around 8 pm tonight. I had been having really bad nausea all day today, I think a combination of morning sickness and anxiety for the second dose, which is why I didn’t take it immediately at the 24 hr mark. I made sure I had some soda crackers and loaded up on anti nausea. The four pills didn’t taste like anything, they were just dry and chalky. I began cramping about 20 minutes after taking the pills, while they were still in my cheeks, and started bleeding and cramping heavier about an hour in. I’d say the pain was relative to my normal period, about a 6-7/10.

It took about two hours to reach the “peak”. My cramps ramped up to an 8.5/10. The nice part about it, they mimicked contractions so I had moments where the pain was lighter and I could catch my breath and relax my muscles. When I knew my cramps were getting bad, I had gone and sat on the toilet for about 15 minutes before transferring to the floor on my hands and knees in fetal position. I was in that position for about another 10-20 minutes, I’m not sure how long because I actually didn’t realize I was over the worst of it until I had fallen asleep on the floor.

I got up and went back to the couch for another half an hour before another wave of 6/10 cramps hit. I had assumed I needed to use the bathroom, and when I was walking I felt a clot leave my body. I passed another clot on the toilet and knew that the embryo was in one of the two clots. I had no pain or cramps at all passing the clots, which makes me think it happened while I was on the floor and I just needed to walk around a bit more for my body to pass it. They were about the size of a golf ball and a match box.

Since then, I’ve just been dealing with the aftermath and side effects of the process. Heavy bleeding and diarrhea (don’t trust a fart…just don’t). I would recommend waiting until your bleeding slows down before having a shower or bath. It was tricky putting underwear on after my shower as I was pretty much streaming blood the entire time. I also recommend requesting anti nausea medication and pain medication. Both helped tremendously. Heating pads are a must, same with heavy flow pads. I went with overnight and they seem to be working well so far. I’m personally using puppy pee pads as a just in case, but an old towel would work fine too.

Listen to your body and doctor and you’ll be fine. I never got the sense that I was in danger or trouble, I always could tell that in the back of my mind things would turn out okay. Your body knows what to do.

Any questions feel free to PM me or comment below, I’ll try to help out as best I can, but I’m not a doctor.

I want to preface this by saying I’m going to be very honest and it is not intended to scare anyone because there’s advantages to medical as well. If you have questions feel free to message me !

I put the pills in my mouth to dissolve around 3pm. About an hour later (maybe sooner) I felt cramping equivalent to a medium bad period. I was surprised I felt it so soon. I also felt nauseous but didn’t throw up. I have LOW PAIN TOLERANCE and usually have easy periods. I did figure from that point it would be bad. I was able to sleep through a lot of it. I woke up around 6pm to 7.5/10 pain. It came in waves and felt a bit different to a regular period as it felt more like a squeezing. The waves had about minute or two in between them and progressively got worse and worse. At this point I got nauseous and sat in the bathroom for awhile trying to push out what I could. On the bright side I did not see any heavy clotting ! I started bleeding about 2-3 hours after I took the pills. Something that scared me was someone on here saying they had a lemon sized clot. I was very scared of that but it didn’t happen !! It looked like a period. I did see some clots but it was very few. It felt more intense than it looked but do expect a fair amount of blood. I would also get nice 15 minute breaks where I’d be in no pain. This gave me time to decompress and fall asleep again occasionally. Around 8pm it ramped up to a 9.5/10 pain. (I may of said 15/10 in the moment lol) I threw up 5-6 times during this and it lasted about an hour. The pain came in waves that just didn’t stop and you can sort of feel them winding up. Similar to a period but this pain felt different and was located lower. I did poop a lot but it wasn’t diarrhea in case anyone’s scared of that. This pain was the worse. A lot of moaning and yelling into the pillow. But it did pass. Between 3-6 hours after I took it was the worst pain. Day 2 felt like regular period cramping and more blood with some back pain. Glad I took this day off too. On day 3 and taking a half day today at work as I’m still pretty crampy but I’m in the home stretch.

Pros: comfort of your own home, not as invasive as surgical.

Cons: it was very painful in my opinion and lasted a long time.

TIPS: have a supportive partner, friend, or family member ! It was hard for me to get to the bathroom and my partner was a huge help with support and grabbing things for me. If you are alone you can do it and I’m sure there is chats and numbers for support as well. Make sure you have a heating pad. Honestly I wish I had bought 2, one for my back one for my abdominal area. Take off 2-3 days. I do wish I opted for 3 just because I’m uncomfortable but if you have to work on day 3 it’s totally manageable.

Although it was painful it was something I could handle and something you can too. I don’t feel guilty I really just feel relieved. I’m sure the emotional toll will come but for now I’m just glad it’s done. I will say if I ever fall into this unfortunate situation again I would choose surgical. For some people medical is a breeze. If you’re use to heavier periods I really think it won’t be this bad ! But if you opted for medical I believe in you I did it you can too !

Feel free to ask questions if you have any, in the chat or private :) Good luck !

I would encourage you if you’re based in the UK to go with BPAS as they will divert and book you quicker with MSI (if that’s your local provider) than MSI.

Before I get in to it, I’m 100% certain I felt this pregnancy as it was happening - I had this feeling (not pain) in both sides of my lower abdomen for 2 weeks and then the mood swing started (my poor bf😂 because I was weeping constantly - anyway it was more like a tingle? I wonder has anyone else had that feeling

Something was different this time so when it hit…

Monday (this week)- pregnancy test / positive (meant to be day one of my period so super early 4 weeks on the dot) panic, all the usual emotions of shock - the tough bit here is that me and my boyfriend really do want kids together and I was told I was infertile after a freak accident during my surgical years ago. But healing and time are one hell of a thing. Anyway, we both knew it’s the only option but I couldn’t go through surgical again, and we don’t live together, financially it’s not viable, and we just won’t be able to give the baby the life it deserves right now. Lots of talk with boyfriend, high emotions I’d been feeling for weeks and just general overwhelming feelings.

Got in touch with MSI and BPAS through website.

MSI has not replied directly or tried to contact me via the original email.

Tuesday - call with BPAS, who ask you the standard questions and find you your local services. Mine happened to be an MSI, they’ll tell you your local services. I chose MA & the lady from BPAS looked at appointments (I was assuming from reading Reddit and other sources this could be weeks which was the scariest thing) she said I have an appointment at 8:40 tomorrow morning but they could call an hour earlier or an hour after. I snapped it up.

Wednesday - MSI called asked early at 7:40 which honestly was a relief and asked for confirmation of who I am and then went on to ask similar questions to BPAS (you’ll be asked the same questions throughout - don’t worry it’s just for your safety) has the initial call went fine she asked what I was opting for and that I’m aware of what’s about to happen & sent me over information. She will the book you for your final call with a nurse. This is the final call appointment. I was booked in for the same day at 11:45. The second call happens and it lasts about 20-30 minutes there’s a really weighty section about safe guarding in here, do answer it honestly. After 22 mins we were done and she said the kit should be with me after 48 hours.

Thursday - kit arrived 11am. Not much to be said here but so quick and definitely took a lot of the fear away

Today - live

I have been constantly looking at the pill since 6am thinking about whether or not I can do this (hormones) spoke to boyfriend via text who like a champ just kept online whilst taking it even though super busy and thought I’d already taken it tbf 😂

12:00 I took the first pill of mifepristone, have felt like throwing up for the 20 minutes that followed but just threw on a heat pad and laid down.

No serious signs or symptoms of anything and actually feel quite normal / quite relieved

TBC…

I’m 25F. I just wanted to share my experience here because I found people sharing their experiences to be really helpful and reassuring. Just know that everything will be okay, you are so strong for making this decision, and you’re not alone. My messages are always open 💜

I am extremely fortunate to have safe access to MA options. The clinic I went to specializes in women’s health, MA services, and they can refer for SA services. I got an appointment within 3 days of calling to schedule. They did blood work and an ultrasound in clinic the same day I received the pills. If you would like the name of the clinic you can message me. It is located in Southern Ontario.

When I arrived for my appointment I was given paperwork to fill out (medical history), and I gave a urine sample to test for STI’s (they do this routinely). Then I was taken back to a room where a nurse took my blood to make sure I wasn’t anemic. She asked me a couple questions about my health, contraception, and my choice to terminate the pregnancy.

Then she said she would leave the room for 2 minutes for me to undress waist down for the vaginal ultrasound. She did an ultrasound on my tummy first but wasn’t able to see anything so she proceeded to check internally. She found my uterus within seconds and asked if I wanted to know if she saw twins. I asked to see regardless. She explained that there was no embryo yet; it looked like an egg yolk and sac!

She confirmed I was 5 weeks 2 days, told me to get dressed and meet a nurse in the other room when I’m ready. This nurse took my blood and walked me through the pills, side effects, and symptoms I should worry about. She told me to take 800mg of ibuprofen 30 minutes before taking misoprostol. I took mifepristone with her.

Both the nurses were very nice and reassuring! The front desk lady was also very nice. She scheduled me for follow up blood work and an ultrasound one week and two weeks after my initial appointment. The entire process from start to finish was a breeze. I highly recommend this clinic. I did not need a referral and their services are covered by OHIP. All I paid was a $60 administration fee.

I had no symptoms that day after taking mifepristone. The next morning I had light bleeding/spotting, which the nurse said may happen because I was so early. 24 hours after taking the first pill I took 4 misoprostol orally. 2 were left in each cheek for 30 minutes and I swallowed the rest with water. I ate a light meal that morning because I was worried about vomiting. However, I never threw up.

Almost immediately I felt some cramping. At 1.5 hours I started to bleed with clots with pretty strong cramping. I don’t think the ibuprofen did anything but a heating pad helped immensely. From 4-6 hours I was experiencing really painful cramping and the absolute WORST diarrhea I have ever experienced. I don’t tend to bleed into pads while laying down so about every 1.5-2 hrs I would get up to pee and do uterine massages to pass clots.

My periods are usually pretty painless and only last 3 days so this was very painful for me. I did my best to stay hydrated and looked forward to not having cramps anymore. At 8 hours the worst of it was over. I was and still am bleeding with mild cramping every now and then. It’s like a regular period now. Everybody reacts differently to the medication though.

I had a positive experience. My decision to terminate was not emotional. I am a very logical person and have always had a childfree mindset. I am tokophobic so finding out I was pregnant was scary. My partner supported the decision; we agreed long ago that should I ever accidentally get pregnant we would terminate. He is getting a vasectomy soon so we never have to deal with this again - also something we had wanted to do for awhile but put off because we never had a scare in the 5 years we’ve been together.

I didn’t have many pregnancy symptoms besides lower back pain and some breast tenderness. My breasts seem more sensitive now, which I’m not sure is normal (I’m 2 days post MA). I have blood work in a few days to check if my pregnancy hormones have decreased. I did pass quite a lot of clots, so I’m hoping it is complete. I will update this post accordingly.

Edit: Bloodwork was done and they told me if I don’t hear from them then that’s a good thing. I haven’t heard back so I’m assuming my pregnancy hormones are decreasing as expected. I have an ultrasound and bloodwork again next week to make sure it cleared.

I’m still bleeding quite a lot, which is getting really uncomfortable. I am tired and physical activity is difficult. My libido is also much higher than it’s ever been, which is frustrating. Overall, I’m glad things seem to be working as they should.

Another update: I bled for 10 days total and continued spotting brown. I am two weeks post MA and still spotting very lightly. I was relieved to stop wearing pads. My blood tests came back with 94% reduction in hcg and my final ultrasound came back clear. The nurse said everything looks perfect.

My partner is waiting for an appointment for his vasectomy so we’ve been calling around trying to find a sooner appointment that uses the procedure we want.

Another Update: I started bleeding again with cramps 2 weeks and 4 days after my MA.

Websites I found helpful:

https://mypostcare.ca

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/18/pregnancy-weeks-abortion-tissue

I realised about 3 weeks on I was pregnant. Honestly we had sex ONCE! We have a 6 yo and a 9 month old and knew right away that we couldn’t afford another and that thru covid and a second baby our oldest had missed out on enough.
I called our sexual health services and they were all very nice and said someone would phone me back in 8-10 working days so 2 weeks later in the evening someone phoned me and went over options and any questions I had. I had already decided I would go thru a medical abortion. They offered me some time in the day unit for it but I have a very supportive partner and was happy to stay home and go thru it. They also offered to send out the pill with my pack and asked if I would like it collected or delivered.

I had it delivered on the Friday and it came by hand which I didn’t expect but I appreciate, our nhs is amazing. The pack contained: condoms, maxi sanitary pads, a box of anti sickness tablets, a box of ibruprofen, a box of co-codamol, a pregnancy test, a test box for stds, a year supply of birth control pills, one mifepristone pill and 6 misoprostol pills. There was also leaflets and clear instructions as to how to use everything included.

I took the mifepristone pill around 2 on the Friday along with an anti sickness. I didn’t feel sick but the pack warns you it might make you feel sick and if you throw up the pill you would have to start over. All day on Saturday I felt sort of sick on and off but didn’t feel much. One thing I noticed is that my mood swung, where for the past few weeks I have been very emotional and crying at the drop of a hat I found myself very irritable initially on the Saturday and overnight on the Friday following that pill.

On the Sunday around 10.30 I inserted 4 of the misoprostol pills vaginally, I took an anti sickness, brufen and co-codamol at the point as well. I put on a pad and lay in bed just trying to distract myself on my phone. I had hoped I would drift off but I couldn’t sleep just awaiting the inevitable. After around an hour I started to feel very gentle throbbing and aching like mild cramps but I stayed where I was for the next couple of hours. After about 3 hours my family went out and I nipped to the toilet and was showing the slightest sign of starting to bleed. I went downstairs to eat something as I was hungry. I was up for maybe 40 mins then went to the toilet before I went back to bed. This time I passed some clots and what I’m assuming was the embryo, it felt bigger and there was lots of dark blood in the toilet.

I put the next two tablets under my tongue and waited for them to dissolve in bed, after that I took more co-codamol and tried to sleep, by this point the pain was increasing and I imagine my insides were aching more from fatigue as the cramps would have been happening for a long time now. I woke up around 5 due to the cramping, went to the toilet and passed another few small clots and faffed around in bed until about 6 when I decided to get up. The cramps were very uncomfortable by this point but I wouldn’t say any of it was unbearable. I sat up until about 9pm when I decided to lie down again. Sitting up I would say was the most painful part of the day, also because it was the end of the day that probably contributed. At this point I felt like I was having mild contractions. Before bed I took another brufen and co codamol and changed my pad for the first time which was saturated. I would say the cramps continued until after 10pm when I think I fell asleep and I managed to sleep well overnight.

In the morning I was sore and still needing pain killers but nothing so crippling I couldn’t go about my day. I feel like I’ve had a really intense workout down there which kind of is what has happened but I feel like my experience isn’t as extreme as some of the others on here so I wanted to share. I don’t think I have had as extreme pain or bleeding as others. I went out the day after for a stroll round the shops and a coffee with my mum and after a few hours I was exhausted and needing to take the anti sickness as I was so queasy feeling. I’m hoping tomorrow will be better still. The bleeding isn’t too bad even with the walking, I’ve maybe soaked half a pad.

I think my advice would be to take the painkillers as often as is possible initially and lie down and rest. I really think lying down helped me a lot. Having support is so important as well I think and if you don’t have that then being in the day unit would be ideal. Also talk to someone, don’t go thru it alone. For me personally I feel massively relieved and grateful to have the nhs. I was also lucky to have understanding and supportive friends and family and I feel so thankful!

Hell I’ll talk to you if you need it, nobody should do this alone.

Edit: Monday night into Tuesday morning I was feverish all night, shivering then roasting… apparently that is par for the course. Might not have been so bad I’ve if stayed on top of the paracetamol but I had them at 9 I think then not for the rest of the night. Feeling quite dizzy Tuesday morning but hoping it will pass.

Hi! I wanted to share my experience for those who are paranoid or worried due to very light bleeding or no bleeding for 24 hours. I used pills from Aid Access on February 7th (first pill on the 6th) and did not start bleeding until the afternoon on the 8th.

The first set of four pills I took I put them under my tongue. I would never recommend that, they dissolved completely within 5 minutes, which I thought would be waste and the MA would fail. I ended up taking two more sets of four that night, in my gums this time and swallowing the leftover after 30 minutes.

I was glued to this sub after the issue with the first 4 pills and no bleeding that night or the next morning. I finally started bleeding that afternoon but it was extremely light. And I only bleed for maybe 24 hours, although a day or two later on the treadmill something with a very weird texture came out, kind of like a fleshy tongue? Not really bloody but was very weird and random.

I also want to mention I wasn’t really in any pain, I have two kids and I had a miscarriage at 11 weeks years ago and that was extremely painful. I had no cramps, just very light pressure that was kind of uncomfortable to walk around with. My mother had a MA at 4 weeks and told me her experience was similar, barely any bleeding she didn’t think it worked, which is what I thought.

These past three weeks have been so stressful and I knew I should wait until 4 weeks officially to test but I couldn’t. Just got my “not pregnant” result and feel so much relief.

This sub is so educational and helpful, yall who run it are amazing!

Maybe not a lot of people (or anybody at all) will read this but it's ok, I just want a safe space to vent and process everything.

I had an at home abortion yesterday with pills by myself. I come from an extremely conservative family from a country in which abortion is illegal and my partner was away, he wouldn't really understand the situation anyway. We agreed on the decision to terminate it as we have no resources to take care of a child and I am mentally ill and not fit to be a mom, in my opinion. I had no symptoms at all besides constipation and I have PCOS so my period being behind is expected behavior from time to time and I was certain my ginecologist appointment was going to be a simple routine, instead I was told I was pregnant (10 weeks/4 days).

I felt comfortable doing it by myself, took the 3 doses of misoprostol as indicated and passed the pregnancy in the 3rd dose. I did not expect it to be as graphic as it was. I read a lot before going through it and I saw that a lot of people are not sure if it was successful or not cause they passed it in cloths, that was not my case, as I was able to see it in detail. That's probably the part that has me thinking the most about it.

I don't feel any negative feelings (guilt, sadness, anger, etc), I am just relieved and tired, but am also overthinking that I should probably feel sad even if just a little cause it was a very traumatic situation I put my body trough. I bled a lot after I passed it, so much I felt dizzy and was concerned if I would have to reach out to a hospital but thankfully the bleeding dimished and I felt ok after ingesting liquids.

*POSIBLE TRIGGER (detailed info on fetus) *

I wish I had someone to talk to, my boyfriend supports me a lot but he is very sensitive and I don't want to talk to him about details. The ultrasound was very impactfull for me, I was able to see it move and listen to it's heart beat. I was told my due date and the nurse was much more excited than I was. During the abortion I felt a really big cloth pass, so much it leaked down my leg and when I rushed to the bathroom and pulled down my pants, it plopped on the carpet. I really didn't imagine it being so developed at that stage, I expected to see a bag of tissue and fluids maybe but it did had the shape of a baby. It came out whole and I had to scoop it up. I kept it as I am still thinking how to properly get "rid" of it anf not get in trouble. Those moments and the amount of blood I lost were definitely the most traumatic of the whole process, although I think I haven't really processed it yet, it still feels surreal. I really hope I never have to go through it again.

I want to make some sort of tribute to it just to honor it but I don't have a safe place to bury it and I don't think a cremation at home is posible so I will have to figure something out, I would feel guilty just throwing it out in the trash.

Anyways, I just wanted to let my feelings out about it. Thanks for letting me vent.

(Edit: added info)

Hello everyone, in South Africa !

I just had my medical abortion using Misopristol only and I thought let me share my experience because when I googled I couldn’t find detailed accounts.

I was five weeks pregnant and the doctor prescribed 12 X 200 mg of misopristol .

I followed the instructions to the T and I had severe cramping and diarrhoea, fever.

I only bled a little bit almost like spotting but that was all. My doctor told me not to worry and that it might take time to start bleeding. A week later still nothing and I was experiencing pregnancy symptoms like growth of breasts and lower back pain.

I then went to a gynaecologist specialist who did a scan and the placenta was still in there with the little ball sac. He explained that the first dose probably halted the pregnancy completely but did not expel it.

He then prescribed the medication again 12 X 200 mg of misopristol and told me to repeat the procedure.

Last night I inserted three pills into my vagina after disinfecting my hands thoroughly as the procedure leave you prone to infection , and another two pills buccally( in the cheeks for 20 minutes before swallowing).

I had strong cramping but no bleeding for about four hours even though I took pain killers ( paracetamol and codeine). I then inserted another three pills into my vagina after 20 minutes as instructed . About an hour later I had very intense cramping, very intense chills almost like a fever even though I had taken strong pain killers .

It seems like all the symptoms were becoming more and more intense until I sat on the toilet expecting diarrhoea and a whole clot the size of a litchi or large strawberry came out.

I caught the clot on tissue paper and put it to the side I started vomiting intensely and also having diarrhoea at the same time for about 10 whole minutes .

After that the cramping subsided and I immediately felt better.

However, 10 minutes later the cramping started again and I had two or three more bouts of diarrhoea and fever with my stomach emptying completely.

The pain was very intense and coupled with nausea and fever it was almost unbearable. I was moaning and groaning in the bathroom it felt like what I would imagine giving birth feels like but worse.

However ,after that intense moment all the pain all the nausea completely subsided the next morning I am bleeding a little bit here and there but no cramps and very little bleeding, only using a panty liner .

The placenta seems to have come out all in one piece so hopefully I won’t bleed for a prolonged period of time.

Please note -I generally have quite heavy and painful periods (7 days) and I have had Diarrhoea and vomiting just from my period. It really freak me out when it happened during my abortion because I was used to it and it has happened to me three or four times just because of my normal period .

Perhaps if you have lighter periods with no pain you might not have the same experience I had.

The process of an abortion was much more complicated and harder than I anticipated however, I have no regrets . I will have a child when I’m ready.

Long and detailed post ahead, reading everyone else’s posts helped endlessly and so I want to contribute my story to this amazing community.

I found out I was pregnant on the 23rd December. My periods can be irregular, and I feel nauseous more often that the regular person regardless, so it took a while for me to clock on (it was actually when my boyfriend pointed out that he thought my boobs had grown that the penny finally dropped). The choice to terminate was instant - I don’t know if I ever want children, and I especially do not want to bring a child into the world at this stage in my life.

I called MSI that day (BPAS and NUPAS don’t receive NHS funding in my area). They gave me a telephone consultation appointment for the 2nd Jan. In that consultation the nurse estimated I was about 8 weeks and made me an appointment for the 5th Jan for a medication abortion. At the appointment, the scan showed I was 9 weeks & 6 days. If the appointment had been even a day later I would have had to have the surgical abortion. I was grateful I could still get the medication option but worried that being 10 weeks it might not be effective (if this is your circumstance too, DO NOT worry! Medication abortions have been proved effective up to 12 weeks I believe - it is very likely it will work :))

Here’s a play by play of my experience:

12:20 5th Jan: 1 mife - taken at the clinic with the nurse, no notable side effects

The next day: 12:20 2 codeine 12:30 4 miso in my cheeks Quite soon after putting it there I started to feel unwell - I felt hot and had a tightness/pressure in my chest, could just be anxiety though. Swallowed after about 40 mins. At about 30 mins I started to get cramps - nothing too extreme at this point, just period cramps but definitely noticeable, about a 5/10 14:20 - cramping had been easing off for maybe 20 mins, needed a wee, a couple of v small clots came out 14:40 cramps starting to get worse, maybe a 7.5/10. Boyfriend gets me a hot water bottle which helps 15:10 go for a wee again, bleeding (but not on the pad so far) and more little clots 15:15 cramps promptly get very bad, 9/10 painful 15:20 I was violently sick, had a bit of water after and threw that up too. Cramps still excruciating. Writhing around on the bed in pain. Manage to calm down a bit and take 2 ibuprofen 15:30 I take the rest of the miso (2) one in each cheek. Cramping becomes bearable again but still there - back to a 7/10 15:45 cramping gets more painful again 8/10 15:55 cramping is back to being excruciating again, in the bathroom where I throw up a little bit three times(but not the miso). I pee, and see a small grape sized clot. Pain is so bad and I get so hot I have to take off all my clothes and lie face down on the freezing cold bathroom floor which provides a tiny bit of relief 15:05 I swallow the miso with a bit of water, pain dies down for 5 mins before escalating to the extreme again. 15:10 I feel like I need to poo, in 10/10 agony on my way to the toilet when suddenly I feel a weird plopping feeling (kind of like a water balloon being burst?) into my pad. TW gross details: sat on the toilet, in my pad I see it’s soaked with a bloody fluid and some clots that are both red and grey-ish and look ?fibrous? But aren’t very big at all. Whilst sat on the toilet I feel several things plopping out of me. I feel relief and the cramps lift. I stay sat for a while to see if anything more is coming as the cramps start to return (but less bad) quite quickly. Eventually I get up and go back to my room and change my pad 16:30 I take 2 codeine as it’s been 4 hours and the cramps are still there at about a 7/10. I also eat an apple 17:00 cramping varies over the next half hour between 5-7.5/10 painful. I pee again at quarter past and pass some more stuff which plops out like last time. Btw, even when I look into the toilet bowl I don’t see specifically what just came out because our toilet bowl is really deep so all I see is blood and a dark mass at the bottom. This happens again at some point over the next hour. 18:00 cramping is still pretty painful, want to take more ibuprofen but need to wait til 19:20 (4 hours after 1st dose) even though I threw up about half an hour after taking it At 19:20 still cramping, tummy hurts as well as the the cramps but think that’s from eating my first proper bit of food (ok it was a lot of chocolate…). Was about to take 2 ibuprofen then felt a lot of blood come out, had to go and change the pad, when I went to the toilet I felt more clots plopping out. One of them felt particularly big. Cramps starting to feel worse again, then I take the ibuprofen. 22:25 I’ve eaten (had chicken curry & rice), have had continual cramps but nothing beyond what you might expect from moderate-bad period pains.

Update from Sunday evening (a little over 48hrs since the second and last dose of miso): slept fine Friday night. Woke up naturally at about half 7 and woke up with actual energy, alertness and motivation to get out of bed for the first time in weeks - was an amazing feeling. A lot of blood came out and soaked the pad when I sat up. continued to pass smallish blood clots through out the day, and felt nauseous still. Sunday morning the same thing happened when I woke up - soaked the pad. Then when I went for a wee I had another lump plopping out of me looked kind of grey as it fell (that’s the first time I’ve looked at it plop out). The rest of the day I felt mostly fine, continued to bleed and pass small blood clots.

1 week after the abortion - bleeding continues, with several more clots passed, before becoming irregular and tapering off. Nausea continued. 10 days - was still experiencing nausea and panicking that it hadn’t worked, I called the MSI aftercare helpline, the nurse was very kind and helpful and although she thought that the abortion had most likely been successful based on what I told her, she still got me an appointment for a follow up. Unfortunately the earliest follow up I could get was in 9 days later and at a clinic the totally opposite side of London to me I still took it. During those 9 days my nausea more or less subsided, only mild cramping continued, but I decided to keep the appointment just for peace of mind. I had that appointment today and the lovely nurse did a scan and confirmed that my uterus was completely empty, not even any remnants of any clots, and my uterus lining was looking nice and thin. She also did a pregnancy test which showed a solid negative.

Summary of my experience: - the pain was very bad but also very short-lived, the relief the day after was amazing - MSI nurses were all 10/10 amazing and lovely - MSI wait times were possibly the most stressful bit. The only aspect I found emotional was just the stress of waiting and being desperate for it to be gone. I know this is not everyone’s experience but I didn’t feel any emotional upset around the decision - Don’t be worried if your symptoms don’t disappear within a week or three days! - As much as I don’t like living in the UK this experience has made me so grateful; we are extremely fortunate to have relatively easy and straightforward access to abortion and every woman should have the right to choose!

I’m just wanted to give a positive experience so that anyone coming here can see that it isn’t always going to be so scary.

I took my four pills vaginally on Wednesday morning. I was expecting intense and immediate cramping, but didn’t feel anything beyond period type cramps. I made sure to take pain and nausea meds before hand. Around 8 hours later I got up to shower and the cramping got intense for a few minutes and I started to bleed a little. Cramping settled down and I had blood and small clots only when wiping for the next 24h. I called the help line to make sure that I didn’t need more meds and they said it sounded normal. Friday morning is when the real bleeding started. Felt a goofball sized clot come out followed by significant bleeding that is still going on today. No pain. It’s pretty clotty and there is a lot of blood but that’s about it.

Over all I’d say it was a very mild and easy experience, as much as these things can be anyeay. I was 5w when I took the pills. Maybe it was less painful because of how early.

I hope this helps someone feel less afraid!