A Personal Story




Submitted: Sept 3, 2006

Shared by: Gabrielle

Age: 22
Weight: 130
Height: 5'0''
Do you smoke tobacco? No
Where are you from? What country? USA

Did you have a pregnancy test? No
If no pregnancy test was taken - do you think you were pregnant? How strongly do you feel this way? I think that it was a definite possibility. I had unprotected sex but only for about a minute before he put a condom on. This happened between 5-10 times throughout the month. My period was 3 days late, I had a strange pain in the right side of my abdomen (unlike period cramps), I felt nauseous sporadically through the day for about 4 days, my lower belly swelled, and my breasts swelled. Doctor said it could've been a hereditary cyst on my ovary which could cause pain and delayed period...but a cyst was not confirmed, either.

How was the pregnancy ended? Vitamin C , Dong Quai, Evening Primrose Oil, Black Cohosh, Parsley Tea, Hot Showers, Heating Pad

Is there anything that clued you in that the herbs might be working before bleeding started? I had VERY mild cramps for about a half hour the night before bleeding started and again about an hour before bleeding started.

For how many days were the herbs used (total)? 3

Were you using birth control? Condoms most of the time.
Do you know how/why it failed? If I was, indeed, pregnant it was because we didn't use a condom at certain points .

Did you experience any symptoms or signs of pregnancy? Swollen breasts, nausea

Please include a summary of dosage information.
Vitamin C: pure absorbic acid, no rose hips
1st day: took about 6000 mg sporadically
2nd day and 3rd day: took 1000 mg every hour on the dot starting at 9:30 am until 12:30 am.

Evening Primrose/ Black Cohosh: capsules
2nd and 3rd days: took between 1-2 capsules every hour between 12:30 pm and 2 am , alternating each ( i.e. one hour I would take Evening Primrose, next hour I'd take Black Cohosh, etc.) Also, before I went to bed, I inserted an Evening Primrose capsule into my vagina.

Dong Quai: capsules
2nd and 3rd days: took 1100 mg every hour between 12:30 pm and 2 am.
Also, I made a tea with a load of parsley and water...drank it throughout the day.
Took hot showers, used a heating pad on the hottest setting and applied it to my abdomen for about 3 hours each day.
I did not take anything while I slept.
I did not feel any horrible side effects, except maybe a bit gassy at times and tired.
How did the herbs affect you? They didn't really.

Do you have any health problems or issues? No, I'm healthy.

If the herbs caused miscarriage -- how did you feel just before bleeding began? And when bleeding started - How was the bleeding, cramping, etc? Many women would like to know more about this part. If you can discribe what it was like for you it would be helpful. The night before I started bleeding, I felt very mild cramping for about a half hour and actually envisioned getting my period and tried to mentally aid it along. The next day , right before bleeding began, I had normal cramping. The bleeding was thin and alot.

Could you reflect on the process of a herbal abortion and write a paragraph about it.
I am so greatful for it. Being from a Catholic family and having very strong beliefs, I did not want to go through with a clinical abortion and I was so scared to even take a pregnancy test. The herbal method gave me a sense of control and it felt natural. I did not feel like I was doing anything wrong and did not feel a sense of guilt. I felt that it was a method to fall back on before a major life changing event ( clinical abortion) might have needed to happen. It was a painless, easy, natural experience and I am very thankful for finding out about it.

Is there anything you would have done differently? Yeah, wear a condom ALL the time, EVERY time

There are many lessons that can be learned from an experience such as this, Do you feel you have learned something from this experience? If so what? Yes, I learned that accidents happen very easily and that nature is extremly powerful. I also learned that things like this CAN happen to me, a middle-upper class, college graduate, from a rural community. I need to be more responsible and not test my reproductive system.






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