Mifepristone..."The Abortion Pill": The Facts

It made me sad to see so many posts about negative experiences. Three years ago, when I was 23 years old, I unintentionally became pregnant. It was a very stressful time, but I decided that having an abortion was really the only way for me to go. To this day, I do NOT regret this decision.

When I discovered that there were two ways to have an abortion (pill vs. surgical), I KNEW the pill was the way for me to go. It seemed like a much better alternative, and I even drove to a Planned Parenthood clinic 2.5 hours away from where I was living, in order to get an appointment before I was 8 weeks, so that I could still get the pill.

My boyfriend at the time was pretty supportive through the whole thing. He paid for the procedure. He took off work and drove me to the clinic each trip (I don't remember if it was 2 or 3, I guess it was 3 after reading this student's report). He stayed at home with me. Yes, of course taking the pills was the not the most amazing process in the world, but I just experienced really bad cramps, they had given me 800mg-Advil, which helped some, I slept a lot, used a heating pad.

There was a lot of bleeding, but it just seemed like an insanely heavy period, NOT like I was dying or something. I did notice passing a blood clot (which I'm only realizing now was a blood clot, at the time - and since, I thought it was the embryo), but it wasn't painful, I more noticed it as like... I don't know how to describe it, maybe like a teeny tiny bowel movement out of my vagina? I just remember that I noticed something was coming out of my vagina, but it didn't hurt.
Then there was more sleeping, some more bleeding, and some more cramps.

The abortion was a success and I was not longer pregnant! I was not scarred at all from the experience, and I DEFINITELY think the Abortion Pill is the way to go. I have heard stories of surgical abortions either not working, OR jacking up your insides. I shouldn't have problems in the future, when I WANT to get pregnant. I view it as an induced miscarriage of a badly-timed pregnancy.

I do NOT regret my choice to this day, and I am POSITIVE the Pill was the way to go. My boyfriend was with me. I got to be at home, in my PJs, in my bed. Just taking pills, no crazy invasive procedure. I think the vaginal ultrasound at the clinic was the most traumatic part for me. Honestly!

I regret MANY choices I've made in my life, but having the abortion was the BEST decision I've made in my life to date. And I'm SO grateful that the Pill was an option for me! I really feel like it made a horrible situation more bearable.

And a final note to any Hateful, Anti-Choice Persons out there: What is so fucked up in your own life that you must so passionately intrude yourself into others' lives?

And to all the Pro-Choice Persons out there, and ESPECIALLY the Pro-Choice Women who have ACTIVELY PRACTICED THEIR RIGHT TO CHOOSE (whether it was the Choice to Abort, or the Choice to Not) -- STAND STRONG!

Just because one group speaks louder than everyone else, does NOT mean that they're right.

I had an abortion 2 years ago when I was 18. But I didn't take the pill only because it's like 60 to 400$, so I had gotten mine done at a clinic. It wasn't fun, but the worst thing is that when your partner doesn't let you talk about it. That's what I found horrible about the whole thing. The pill is not the way to go.

I wanted to share my experience because, like many of you reading this right now, I was absolutely terrified to go through this experience. I knew continuing the pregnancy was not an option, and I knew I didn't want to continue the pregnancy long enough to have the termination done surgically, so medical was the right choice for me.

I had the methotrexate injection at about 5.5 weeks since LMP. Inserted 4 misopropol vaginally at 7AM two days later. I had all my pain pills, anti-nausea meds, and a TiVo full of videos ready to go, expecting it to be a horrible experience. 4 or 5 hours after inserting the pills, I started spotting on the toilet, but nothing but light menstrual-ish cramps. This continued all day on Day 1- spotting only on the toilet, and only a little- no clots, nothing on the pad. Day two, I took a bolus of Castor Oil at the advice of a midwife friend and went for a 3-mile run to try to get things moving. Also tried having a few orgasms to get things shaking. The Castor Oil, as expected, gave me some diarrhea, but I never got ill from the pills. Still, nothing but blood on the tissue (none on the pad) and light cramping- didn't even need ibuprofen for that. Monday morning I called the doctor and she called in for another 4 pills of misoprostol. I inserted these at noon on Monday. The light cramps came back, still nothing more than light spotting. Tuesday morning I woke up and had some blood on the pad. This was the only pad I'd sullied the whole experience. Wednesday I called the doc again, concerned it hadn't worked, so she sent me in for bloodwork- my HGG had gone from 4500 the day before the methotrexate shot to 400, so it definitely worked. A week later, 40. Earlier this week, 6 and I just had an IUD inserted yesterday. I'm having more cramping from the IUD insertion than I did from the misoprostol process and, aside from the spotting after the IUD insertion, I stopped spotting from the misoprostol two days after my last dose.

Certainly everyone's experience is different, but, having spent so much time reading these kinds of posts before my procedure, I committed to coming on here no matter how it went to share my experience. And, I have to say, it's been a couple of days that I'm like, "Nah, I don't feel like writing it all up and thinking through it again," so I can definitely see why people who have bad experiences are more likely to share than those who have pretty run-of-the-mill experiences.

Anyhow, I wish you all the best with this tough choice and have faith that you have the strength to get through this, whether your experience is physically non-taxing like mine, or tough like some of the other ladies.

hello ,
im 19 from the u.k i found out i was pregnant 2 months ago and i had no idea what to do!
im now 13 weeks and 2 days BUT! i came to the chioce of haveing my baby aborted. im young and i have my whole life a head of me to have children . i already have experiance 2 miscarrages and they were upsetting but the father was no good he was volient and a cheater any ways.. i whent to the hospital on the 25th of jan and then they told me to come back on the 26th of jan to take the 1st pill. this i have already taken it had been 24 hours since i have taken it i havent experiance any bleeding as of yet. i have tiny pain in my tummy but nothing mayjor. im just curious if that was normal or have i not waited long enough for the 1st tablet to work ? im going back on friday the 28th to take 3 more tablets vaginally and thats when hopefully every thing will run smoothly and every thing will go that day. i now have a current new boy friend hes the father of this child but we are not ready as we have just go together. i carnt describe how much he is been beside me though this all hes deffiently a keeper! xx

Hi, i had unprotected sex on 2nd January. My boyfriend Delayed in getting me the emergency pill so i quickly took the 7 dark pills of a contraceptive pack then the next day he brought me an emergency pill and i took one then another after 12hrs. Now my periods still haven't come and i feel shaky, nausea and weak all the time. Also i have terrible abdominal and waist pains. Whats happening to me????

First of all, I should mention that i wanted this baby really badly, even though i hadn't planned on getting pregnant. I have a wonderful fiance that supports me in everything I do. I wasn't aware that a certain medication i take lowers the efficacy of my birth control. I was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder 3 years ago and have been battling it ever since. In my case, hormone changes aggravate my condition, dangerously so. I was 4 weeks pregnant, unaware of it at the time, when i tried to commit suicide. I was taken to a local mental health facility, where they did blood/urine tests, and lo and behold, i was preggers. I had a long talk with my psychiatrist, who explained to me that the increase in hormones was probably what sent me over the edge in the first place. He further explained that carrying this baby was far too risky in my case, because of the hormone changes, not to mention the fact that my anti-psychotics cause major birth defects a majority of the time. So, when i was released two weeks later i went to my local Planned Parenthood, who only offers the Medication Abortion at their facility. The closest place that offered the aspiration procedure was a hundred miles away, and no local doctor was willing to do aspiration either. So, my choice was pretty much made for me. I was 7w 3d along when i did the M&M procedure.

Thursday 1/20/11:

I went in to PP, got an ultrasound, some bloodwork to check for iron levels and such, signed a ton of papers, then was given some Doxycycline, Iron Pills, the Misoprostol to take at home, and Ibuprofen ( that's right ladies, NO codeine or nausea meds!) I told them that i had heard the pain could be similar to childbirth and that i didn't think Ibuprofen would be able to help me much. The nurse basically just poo-poohed me and reminded me to take 2 Ibuprofen at least 30 minutes after swallowing the misoprostol pills since if i took them beforehand my body might not absorb the misoprostol and could result in a failed procedure. I was then given the mifeprestone to take right there at the office and then went home. The RU 486 made me a little sick to my stomach, but that was it.

Friday, 1/21/11

I placed the misoprostol pills between my cheek and gum as instructed by planned parenthood. After 30 minutes i swallowed the pills and laid down for a bit, and drifted off to sleep for about 20 minutes or so. I woke up in HORRENDOUS pain, the worst pain i had ever felt in my life, my fiance came running in asking me if i was ok, i couldn't even articulate how much it hurt. He tried calling the Planned Parenthood emergency number for me, which didn't help, the doctor REFUSED to prescribe me ANYTHING for the pain, he said that "It's only 6 hours of pain, you can deal with it" My fiance was furious and immediately drove me to the hospital. After waiting for about 20 minutes the doctor saw how much pain i was in and gave me a shot of demerol and phenergan, since the pain was so awful i was vomiting up everything, including water. After the shot i felt so much better, i actually hugged the doctor. He sent me home with a prescription for 30 Vicodin and some Phenergan, which i didn't need after the first few hours.

So, i'm not by any means trying to scare anyone. But if you're going to have this procedure make sure you get adequate meds for your pain, even if you think you don't need them. The cramps really aren't so bad once you pass the fetus, which took me about 3 hours. I actually saw it, it just looked like a weird gray jelly bean.

My email address is ,Email me if you have any questions or doubts and i'll help you the best that i can. And remember no matter what your reason for having this procedure, it's the right one, because it's YOUR body, YOUR decision.

My boyfriend and I made the decision to have a abortion because we were both in college. Medical Abortion seemed good cause i was scared of surgical. I went to Plan Parenthood and took the ''abortion pill''. I went home and didnt feel anything, but a tummy ache. I ate some crackers and it was fine. The doc gave me all these darn prescriptions starting with Vicodin pills and nausea suppositories. I read stories on the web that scared me, so i was nervous. Went to get the other pills from PP including the doxycycline, birth control pills and the RU-486 pills. I was also taking pre natal vitamins to built iron. I had so much meds.

I got home from school that day. You cant have a empty stomach so i ate a subway sandwich. Then i inserted the suppository and took a vicodin. I waited for the vicodin to kick in and put the 4 pills on my checks. It tasted like chalk. I had to wait 30 min to swallow them, so decided to run to the gas station. About 15 min at the gas station, i felt some blood. I had a pad on as they told me to wear. Then i starting feeling little cramps, and rushed home. By the time i got home, i swallowed the pills with water and didnt feel anything. I had some cramps but nothing to bad. About 30 min after that, I was on my freaking knees. My boyfriend was holding my hand cause i was having the worst cramps....they would come and go, come and get worse. I was begging GOD to stop the pain....45 min and it was still going on...i stepped out to my patio and felt the breeze. All of a sudden, i felt some water come out and a piece of tissue. Then the cramps went away.

Within the next hour, I was passing blod clots and tissue that my panties couldn't support. One literally hit my panties and hit the floor. Gross i know. They were big and you could feel them heavy come out. Then i started bleeding. I went to sleep and when i woke up...the whole freaking bed was covered in blood. Literally it was everywhere. I soaked up alot of pads. The next day, i felt better though.

I was bleeding for about a month and then taking all the meds the doctor told me to take. I was good though after. It was a terrible experience though. I advise people NEVER to do that...just use condoms or BC cause abortions suck!

I had sex on 27th of november 2010.
I confirmed my pregnancy on 24th of december.
I then took mifepristone tablet on 27th of december.
Then completed the procedure with taking two tablets of misoprostol vaginally on 29th of december, in the morning.
In the evening, i started to bleed. First it was very heavy for two hours, with a big clot expulsion.
Then it became normal as a normal menstrual cycle.
I continued to bleed same way till 12th of january.
from 13th onwards the bleeding has increased a lot. I want it to stop now. Its causing a lot of inconvinience to me. Today i've also taken a tablet of methargine, but its of no use. Please help me.

my experience with the abortion pills (medical abortion)

After reading so many horror stories online, i decided to write this to give some positive encouragement to those who are considering a medical abortion.
I am a 30 yrs old woman from UK who never had children yet still dont feel ready to have a child. Many of you out there might have an objection about terminating pregnancy but for various reasons i felt it was the best decision for me and for my partner.
I was just over six weeks pregnant when i was booked at the clinic to have the abortion pills. First appointment was on monday where I had the first pill orally. Perhaps i felt a little dizzy and very light cramps but felt nothing major. The next day was the big day where the actual abortion pill misoprostol was going to be inserted through the vagina. I felt very nervous, especially after reading all the horror stories, i kept questioning my self whether this method was the one for me, yet i hoped for the best, plugged up the courage and took 4 little tablets of misoprostol inserted through vagina. I rushed back home before the cramps were to start. On the tube i started feeling very slight cramps approximately 45 mins after i ve taken the pills. My friend was going to be there waiting for me and later on my partner was going to come so i wouldnt have to go this alone. I quickly got changed into comfortable clothes and prepared the hot water bottle and tried to get on with things as usual while my friend was by my side reading a book and chatting time to time. Approximately an hour and a half later after taking the pills cramps started to get stronger and i realised bleeding started which was all very good meaning the pills were working because the horror case in my mind was pills doing nothing to me and that the whole abortion thing turns into a mess. As soon as i saw bleeding and as the cramps were getting stronger i took 2, 500 mg paracetemol and 2, 324 mg feminax. I was keeping the strong pain killer codene to the last (I was allowed to mix all of these as been told by the nurses). I had some diarrhoea at the same time which was expected so i went into toilet to change the pad but i decided to do it all in the dark which i recommend to everyone so that i didnt have to see anything which would potentially upset me.. As i was sitting in the toilet i could hear and feel the blood clots coming out so i decided to listen to my ipod whilst sitting in the toilet just to take my mind off it. Cramps were getting stronger so another half an hour i reached for the codene.. All in all it has been about 2.5 hrs since i ve taken the misoprostols. On the third hour, cramps were very strong , considering i had so much pain killers in my system, i would still rate them 7 out of 10.. So i am not going to lie and say it doesnt hurt. At the end of the day trying to take a life out of life will never be easy. I didnt know how to position my self to get comfortable, i started to feel so spaced out but all was bearable just not pleasant. I curled up on the sofa with the hot water bottle and closed my eyes and waited for it to be over. i think between awake and sleep (through the help of codene) i blacked out for a while. I could feel blood clots were coming out with so much blood... but all this really bad bit lasted around 30 mins and all of a sudden everything stopped. Cramps suddenly disappeared and i even felt the bleeding has stopped. It was surreal.. I must have prepared my self for so much worse that i was pleasantly surprised when everything just vanished. I even wondered if this was it or there is more to come..but no that was it... when i changed that last sanitary towel (in the dark)i could feel it was very heavy and i could smell fresh blood which wasnt pleasant. Ofcourse 2 days on i still have bleeding and feel somewhat sore down there (not enough to stop me from getting on with walking and hovering and other light form of exercises) but all in all it took me around 3.5 hrs to pass the pregnancy from the time i inserted the pills and about 4 sanitary 3 semi full sanitary towels. My breasts instantly felt softer which was a pleasant surprise and i now feel not pregnant, in fact i am sure this was a very successful case of abortion pills.
Rest of the night, we sat and watched movies with my partner and i feel a little less sore as the time goes on. I have my check up in 10 days but i have a feeling it will all be okay..
So dont you scare yourself by reading people’s horror stories. Abortion pills are clinically proven to be %97 effective and it is very unlikely that you will be in that unlucky %3 who goes through complications. Remember it is only pain and it will pass then the relief will set in. Also make sure you use your pain killers systematically, arrange it in a way that as the cramps escalate drugs will kick in. Good luck to everyone who is giving it a go.

I'm totally pro-choice and I just wanted to say that these horror stories are not anti-abortion tactics. I think every woman must experience the medical abortion differently.

About a year and a half ago I took mifepristone to abort my unplanned pregnancy and it was an absolutely traumatizing experience. The pain was unbearable and I saw my expelled 7 week old fetus.

The clinic didn't warn me about the psychological aspect of taking these pills at home. They made it sound like the expelling part would look like blood clots, but when you see it you know what it is. I bled and expelled tissue and experienced a lot of pain for well over a month.

I think that any woman who has an unwanted or unplanned pregnancy should have the aspiration abortion if she chooses that route. You're sedated during it and you do not have to see any tissue. Also, it costs the same as having an abortion by mifepristone. I'd guess the recovery is much faster by way of aspiration abortion.

While considering my options of whether to do a surgical abortion or a medical, I read most of the stories on this thread. I decided to go with the medical abortion because the thought of surgery scared me. I went into the clinic on January 7th, 2011 at 8:30am and everyone was very helpful and nice. My consultation started with taking my temperature and blood pressure then having an ultra sound. It was determined that I was 5wks and 6 days into my pregnancy and the doctor ensured me that it was a fetus yet it was still a little sack with a yolk inside as the screen showed. After the ultrasound I had some blood drawn to see what my Rh type was then it was time to take the first pill which was around 10:30am. Although they said that the first pill doesn't really carry side effects, I felt nausea almost instantly. I went to get my Vicoden prescription filled and tried to eat breakfast however I felt like I was going to throw up from even trying. I went home and fell asleep from 12pm till about 5pm. The nausea carried on for the rest of the night. I finally forced myself to eat and take my antibiotic as instructed and soon after threw up everything that was on my stomach.

From the time I woke up from my nap earlier I had been cramping pretty heavy which isn't expected. After I fell asleep for the night, I woke up to use the bathroom and a large clot the size of a tennis ball came out. As instructed, that morning I began my nausea medication at 7:30am. This did not help at all. After throwing up the night before and me being to weak to my stomach I had no food on my stomach and the thought of taking lots of medicine on an empty stomach didn't seem like a good idea. I passed another clot which looked similar to brown tissue of some sort. I called my doctor and she prescribed me a stronger nausea mediation (Zofran) and instructed me to take the Vicoden and Ibuprofen thirty minutes after. After taking the zofran I managed to eat some chicken noodle soup then took the pain pills as instructed. The cramps I was having stopped.

Two hours later I took the day two abortion pill (5pm). I put two in each cheek for thirty minutes then swallowed the rest with water. With in 20 minutes I started feeling the most painful cramps I've ever had. They lasted these lasted till about seven where I passed a small clot smaller than a dime in size. Soon after passing this I threw up again which was bright green and acidic tasting. When ever I would try to use the bathroom I'd throw up. I couldn't walk, my boyfriend had to help me everywhere around the room. Around 8 because I was in so much pain my boyfriend made me take another vicoden which I didn't want to because I was afraid I would throw it up. I also took another nausea medicine. About five minutes after taking both I threw everything up. Mind you, I am still having the most painful cramps ever and I am extremely dehydrated. Around 10 I am sure I am dying so I call my doctor and she says to take another vicoden then thirty minutes and take more ibuprofen. I asked if I could go to the emergency room and she said but also said that there would be nothing they can do to stop the process. I took the vicoden and soon after started feeling the cramps fade away. Around midnight the cramps were gone and I was able to fall asleep.

This morning I woke up with more bleeding and some light cramping. It hurts to walk and it feels like something is missing because it hurts so bad down there. This by far is the most painful thing I've ever experienced. If I could go back, I would opt for a surgical abortion.

Hope this helps the next person looking for guidance. Not all people have a bad experience but mine was a nightmare.