3rd recurrent miscarriage since May 2021

[dom12922]

Hi everyone. I wonder if there is anyone on here who is in a similar situation so I can share some thoughts and advice.

Long story short: got pregnant in May and miscarried at 6 weeks, got pregnant again in August and miscarried 10 days after my missed period, then got pregnant again in September and miscarried 5 days after missed period.

A bit more detail: First pregnancy felt the most real and I went for all check ups once started spotting, i had sore breast that doubled in size but other than that i felt amazing but then developer trush like discharge (sorry) which turned into a miscarriage but apparently there was no trush or other infection on my swabs. 2nd and 3rd i hardly had sore breast, just had positive tests that were getting fainter each day. Every time i could feel implantation cramps and knew i was pregnant before missed period.

I have asked my gp for blood tests - she did thyroid, LH and progesterone - all fine, but i only had one so not sure how they can say it’s all fine from Progesterone perspective? She said it beyond GP scope to do further tests and sent me to gyno and that she doesn’t any see objections why not to try again… which is a bit beyond me because there must be something not right? She said ‘miscarriages are common’ - who has 3 miscarriages in 5 months? I got a letter today from gyno saying they will be in touch within 3 months to tell me when they might be able to see me.

I know it’s a bit of a read this message and everyone is different but is there anyone on here who’s in a similar position? Do you know any private clinics in north west where I should go try get to the bottom of the issue while waiting for nhs?

I have read about the baby aspirin but i am allergic to it so can’t try, and i am on vitamins.

Thanks for reading and i really appreciate any help as I don’t know what to do anymore.

Btw I have just turned 30.

Hey @Tinypeanut1224

I am so sorry you’re in this situation. Yes, it’s exhausting…

My gp refused to do any more tests or even give me progesterone because it’s ‘beyond her scope’ and also said that she tried sending me for the blood clot condition but she was told it has to be done by a gynaecologist because she won’t be able to ‘interpret the results’ and it has to be done at a hospital :/ in all honesty i feel like i have been unlucky with my gp based on other things people have said… She checked my thyroid, LH (the hormone that goes up when you ovulate) and progesterone and said all was fine but she didn’t even know what day of my cycle that was on so how does she know if it was right? I am just going to be patient and wait for my appointment with the clinic. I don’t think she even referred me to the recurring miscarriage clinic. I have an appointment in gynaecology department on 1st of December.

I feel exactly the same as you, I want to keep trying but I am scared of going through it again in case it’s something easily fixable but then you see stories of people that had 5 unexplained miscarriages and then had a healthy baby. The worst thing is that no one gives you any answers and every time they were saying ‘it’s common’ until i got to 3 in 5 months and no one can tell me anything anymore.

I am going to wait for my appointment on the 1st, still carry on trying and just see what happens. I feel positive today because i am on my ovulation days but fast forward two weeks I will probably be in a foul mood worrying that I’ll never have a baby… I don’t think I will pay for testing just yet, I will see what they say on the 1st of December.

If I were you I would try your GP, say you are worried about waiting so long for an appointment in case it’s something they could fix. Ask for full bloods and what else they could do.

I hope you get to the bottom of it quickly!

Hey @Grey4 - thanks so much for your input, I do worry that I may have some issues with my immune system as I have an autoimmune disease (psoriatic arthritis), so this is definitely something I'll mention and hope it prompts them to check? If not maybe I need to do some research in private testing for that if everything else is clear?

@dom12922 - oh love, that's really frustrating about your GP, it's so hit and miss with who you get and how they handle things which feels really unfair.
It's good news you have your appointment on 1st Dec, that's not too far away so fingers crossed you will get some answers then. I also wouldn't worry about it being a Gynaecology appointment as most Recurrent Miscarriage clinics are hosted from the Gynae department so you'll probably see a doctor who knows their stuff.

Yeah I think I'll call my GP tomorrow and just ask for an appointment for blood work to be done. They will hopefully test for the standard things and may even prescribe something like progesterone or aspirin as a precaution (this seems to work for so many people?).

Errrghh I find all the unknowns so horrible 😖😖😖

@Tinypeanut1224 hey how did you get on? Hope you got your tests done and got some help / answers.

It’s worth mentioning and even directly asking if it could be related. Unfortunately it does seem that some GPs are more knowledgeable/ understanding than others.
I know a private clinic is a huge privilege that isn’t available for most people but it’s worth having a chat with a few clinics to know what options you have and weigh up costs.

Hey @dom12922 , Sorry I've been so quiet!

I contacted my GP and they agreed to see me and we went through everything that has happened and they agreed to do all the preliminary bloods (I think they did blood count, clotting, thyroid and then some general MOT types like Liver Function). I've got my results back and everything was normal apart from Blood-count which was boarder-line and my Liver function which was classed as 'abnormal'. I have a call with a GP later today to discuss these results. Not sure if either of those things could be causing my issues?

In the meantime we decided to keep trying in the hope that if I got pregnant that the EPU or even the recurrent miscarriage clinic might be able to see me to try and support the pregnancy (I've heard from a few people that this can happen).
I ovulated last Wednesday (24th) and now I'm on 6DPO - I don't know if I'm being crazy but I seem to be having all the pregnancy symptoms again. I've been spotting yesterday and today - which I have done each time with my pregnancies. I know they say 5DPO is too early for implantation bleeding but it's happened to me every time. I've also got dull back-ache which is always a give away for me. It might all be in my head but also I could well be pregnant AGAIN.

If I am, then I think my latest theory could be correct. I've been reading up on 'Hyperfertility' or having 'An Unfussy Womb'. I think the idea is that you fall pregnant incredibly easily but it's because your womb-lining accepts embryos that a normal person wouldn't. So essentially 'bag eggs' and then it takes a few weeks to realise and then miscarries. I think this is why it takes most people a while to fall pregnant - because their womb is fussy about what it implants?

Sorry for the longest reply ever! How are you doing? How are you feeling about your appointment tomorrow? Are you feeling prepared? xxx

@Tinypeanut1224 I hope you can get more answers when you have your call with gp and that it’s nothing serious and can be easily managed and will help! Let me know how it goes please.

No way! I hope it’s the lucky one if you are!! Don’t want to jinx anything for you so just sending lots of fingers crossed 🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞 i always know well before that i am pregnant, you just know don’t you. That makes a lot of sense you know… I couldn’t get pregnant for 8 months and now i get pregnant like every month… I am currently pregnant again, only one day late but found out 2 days before i was due, symptoms seem stronger than last 2 times but I have cramps like I did when I miscarried last two times so I am not getting my hopes up. Every time i miscarried my first symptoms were my boobs getting less sensitive and they are less today than yesterday. Hope i can make it in time to the doctors tomorrow and can get some help.

@dom12922 - Yes I hope so too, I'm also maybe going to ask for Progesterone to be prescribed and see what he says? It seems like it's in the 'Can't harm but could help' camp, so we will see?
Yes, I definitely have the feeling I am but who knows, I guess we'll see in a few days. How sad is it that we can no longer be excited by the sight of a positive test .

Lovely to hear you're pregnant - likewise, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. I really hope this is the one that wants to stick around for you. Are you still having your appointment tomorrow? Do they know you're pregnant? They might be able to give you something to help your body 'hold on' to it? x

@Tinypeanut1224 Yes, definitely ask! So many people say that they asked and got it prescribed and it helped. Worth a try!

Still going to my appointment but no, they don’t know. Will see what they say.

I know… How does your partner take it? Our first was the worse for both of us and all other miscarriages we were like ‘I knew this would happen’ so we don’t even get excited anymore. It is sad…

@dom12922 - Hope the appointment goes well, let me know what they say to you. So you're currently about 4 weeks? Is that right?

My Husband is very 'I can't get excited' now. He was really sad for our first one and seems to have become progressively numb to it. I think my 3rd actually hit me hardest, I think I thought I couldn't get that unlucky again. It's so rubbish.

I'm still having all the things that are pointing to me being pregnant again:

• I had a small amount of ovulation spotting at 1/2DPO
• I'm now having implantation bleeding which started on 5DPO (this has happened with all my other pregnancies)
• I'm having lower back-ache which is really specific and I only seem to have when I'm pregnant
• I'm temping and this morning my temp has plummeted. I won't know until tomorrow if this is an implantation dip but I went from consistently being 36.73 for 3 days to 36.23 today.

I'm not normally one to symptom spot but all these things seem like things I cannot ignore and can't be in my head??
I spoke to my GP on the phone last night and he said if I get a positive test to contact him straight away as he'll fast track me to the Recurrent Miscarriage Clinic to be seen immediately. He wouldn't prescribe progesterone as he didn't know all my history and wants me to see the specialist for them to decide.

xxx

@Tinypeanut1224 Thank. It went okay, still not many answers but got prescribed progesterone until 16th week and an early scan at 8 week. They said they will do a scan this week if the bloods are at certain level. However, I feel like I am miscarrying again, having the same symptoms as before since last night but the doctor said there isn’t anything suggesting that I am and the only thing they can do is to repeat my bloods on Friday. She said that the progesterone treatment is a very new research and they are very careful when they prescribe it - bit different to what others have been saying. She also said that usually it’s prescribed when there is light bleeding (not miscarriage/ menstruation) and that’s where it saves 50% of pregnancies according to the research results. Will keep you updated how I get on.

That does sound like you might be again based on how many times you have experienced it… I think with us having so many miscarriages in such a short period of time it make us very observant and we remember the symptoms. What DPO day are you in now? When do you think you will test?

Yes, same here, it hit us both the first time, we went for all my epu appointments together but 2nd and 3rd time I didn’t feel like i needed a medical advice and we had lots of other distractions on which helped to be a bit more numb to it. Also i find that sharing it on here really helped me too. I haven’t told anyone apart from one friend but it’s difficult for people to understand if they can’t relate to it.

I really hope you get a positive test and get to the clinic quickly so you can get help early! Fingers and toes crossed for you! Would be so nice to know that someone in a similar situation finally got somewhere! X

I am unfortunately going through the same thing, 3 miscarriages this year last one was in August. Now my cycles are irregular and it’s hard to track ovulation. Blood tests are clear and have been trying to get progesterone but no GP is prescribing it unless a specialist agrees it. Been waiting for an appointment for the miscarriage clinic for months. Finally used my insurance through my work to be privately referred to a gynaecologist and will hopefully be prescribed progesterone from them. It’s just so hard seeing those negative tests each month.

Wish you all the best.

Hi @dom12922 - I'm so sorry for my radio silence. I was away at the weekend and then had a very hectic few days with my elderly father having a fall and being admitted to hospital. Seriously, if it rains it pours!!!

How are you? How are things going?

I was wrong, I was so convinced I was pregnant but AF actually arrived this morning. I'm part sad but part relieved as I do think my body needs to do a cycle and try get my hormones back in check. It means my natural cycle after my MC was 30 days long with Ovulation happening on CD16 which is pretty normal I'd say. Trying to see the silver linings!

I've actually now got my referral appointment through which is on the 22nd of Dec which isn't too long to wait which is fab. I should be ovulating around then so hopefully we can start the process again.

@Glitterprincess124 - So sorry you've been through all this too. I've had the same experience with Progesterone which require a specialist to prescribe. I hope you get your Gynae appt through soon!

Me and my husband have got 2 boys (6and4 yrs) we’ve been trying for the last two years and in that time we’ve not had 5 miscarriages. Always miscarry between 6-8 weeks, The recurrent miscarriage team found nothing wrong with my bloods or ultrasound scan, all they have said is if I’m pregnant they’ll scan me at 7 weeks then every two weeks. we’re at a point now we’re we are a bit lost. We’ve had children together, we can conceive but can’t carry them. I don’t have any family or friends who have been through this so I’m a bit lost on what to do?
Has anyone been through similar who can advise on anything we can do x

@Keepingfaith2 - Hey love, I'm so sorry to hear about your losses - they're absolutely brutal.

You say that you've had bloods done, did they check your progesterone levels at all? Not sure if you read the previous comments but I have a similar story to you in that I have, a living child who we conceived with no issues what-so-ever and then in 2021 I had 3 miscarriages and I had no idea why. I was sent for preliminary tests at the GP (they check blood count, liver function, thyroid etc.) and all came back normal. I was then due to see a specialist at the Recurrent Miscarriage Clinic in January 22 for tests at certain points in my cycle which were going to check my hormone levels etc., however I'd had an initial consultation for this in Dec 21 and had mentioned to the consultant that me and my husband hadn't stopped trying so there was a chance I could be pregnant and if that was the case what would they do - She then prescribed Progesterone to be taken from 3DPO (I was 1DPO at the point of the appointment) for just in case. Turns out I was pregnant and I'm now 15 weeks and have finished taking the progesterone and things seem to be going well? So I never got to have the specialist tests but I think due to all my MCs ending between 5-7 weeks and having lots of spotting, in hindsight I can see I had poor luteal support.

Do you have any other symptoms when you miscarry? Do you bleed before/spot before? How are your cycles when you're not pregnant?

xxx

Thankyou for replying to me I really appreciate it. I have been on the phone to epau today as I’m still bleeding heavily (miscarriage started 9 days ago) I was asked to do a test which I still showing positive and Iv to go tommorow for some bloods which they should of done 9 days ago. The follow up and help Iv received Iv had to beg for and not sure if they did that specific blood test but I will ask them tommorow. I mentioned progesterone in the phone today and was told untill you get a scan that shows a viable pregnancy they won’t prescribe it?
When I start to miscarry I always start of with brown spotting for a few days and then the backache and cramps come followed by a big bleed.
I just feel like the care I’m receiving isn’t very good I’m having to research and make suggestions.

Hi @Keepingfaith2

Sorry to hear you’re going through this :( I just wanted to say I was in the same boat as you with miscarriages and when finally got an appointment with the clinic I was 4 weeks pregnant (4th time). The doctor said that I could try progesterone and I am now nearly 20 weeks. When they called me at 15 weeks to say to stop taking it the doctor said that they are so happy that they can prescribe it as it’s helping a lot of women to carry their babies.

I didn’t have a scan before they prescribed it… I said I had a positive pregnancy test the day before but felt like I was loosing it again - my breasts were getting less sore and that was always my first symptom followed by cramps.

I hope they can prescribe it for you, I can’t see why not. Fingers crossed for you!

@Tinypeanut1224

So happy for you!!! I wanted to reply on this thread for ages but couldn’t find it and now as you have both replied I got an email notification.

Hey all, I just wanted to give a little insight if it helps anyone reading or searching the forums as I once did.

So I had 3 miscarriages, was referred for the NHS testing and all was clear.

I then had another 4 miscarriages after this and was told it’s just bad luck, each time i would get a early scan at 6 weeks to always see a beautiful heartbeat, then on the next appoint 2 or 3 weeks later the heartbeat had stopped. I had no issue getting pregnant, it was keeping the baby!

I then decided to go private to Coventry clinic to see if i had natural killer cell problem, the nurses struggled to do this test so called professor Bronsen to carry the procedure, anyway he noticed a line on the ultrasound, I couldn’t see it. So based on this he was happy to refer me to St Mary’s for a follow up, he believed this line was extra tissue. The results came in that I did indeed have elevated natural killer cells but felt that the tissue was the cause of the miscarriages.

So I attended St Mary’s and saw Professor Lesley Regan, the scan confirmed there was some tissue present which is worth removing.

4 months later I had an op, the tests also releaved I had thick blood so was worth having aspirin, I was allergic to aspirin so was advised to take clexane and take the injection daily when I found out I was pregnant.

So interesting when I got pregnant again for the 8th time I had a scan at 6 weeks and for the first time I was told my uterus was NOT BICORNATE. All 7 pregnancies was stating I had a slight bicornate uterus. The penny dropped, I never had a slight ‘heart shaped womb’ it’s was in fact extra tissue, the eggs would implant on the tissue and not have enough blood supply.

So I finally got passed 12 weeks, made it to my 20 week scan and then went into early labour at 23 weeks, unfortunately the baby girl survived 3 hours, this broke my heart. I was then told that it seemed like I had an incompetent cervix so I dilated too early and went into labour.

Fast forward another year I got pregnant again, the anxiety took over but I made it to 12 weeks, then had a cervical stitch at 14 weeks, made it to 36 weeks! Wow! Then had the stitch removed at 36 weeks, the baby held on another 2 weeks and 6 days and I had a baby girl! My dreams came true in that moment I finally held a Baby in my arms! Feel free to contact me, I lost hope and had to accept that I may never have a baby, but I can’t believe I’m typing this post, I cannot believe I’m finally a mummy xx

I had 3 consecutive miscarriages when I was about 30/31.

The first was at 6 weeks, second at 6 weeks and the third at 8 weeks. The doctor referred me for investigations, all my tests came back normal.
I was prescribed progesterone to take for the first two weeks of my cycle (I think). My next pregnancy was a success and the following one was too. I know have amazing 7 and 6 year olds.

As hard as it is op, persevere. Don’t stop trying. As heartbreaking as it is each time, you will get there. Good luck op. Thinking of you xx

@dom12922 thanks for sharing. I could have written almost the same post. Three miscarriages in 7 months and I am also in the North West. I'm waiting to see the recurrent miscarriage clinic at Liverpool Womens' who also have a specialist in immunology. I had a load of blood tests on the NHS. saw a specialist in Manchester privately for £225 (Dr Maiti) who has great reviews online and has recommended progesterone but is only saying take it after I get pregnant (eg 13 days DPO when I take a test), not 2 days past ovulation like other posters are saying they have been given. (@grey4 - would love more info on your experience?) I am sure I was pregnant last month, had all my usual symptoms, but then had a massive late period so I'd really like to start taking it earlier. I hope you have got pregnant by now and able to move on from this (noticed it was Nov 2021) but any advice you can share would be greatly appreciated x

I’ve since had another miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy that required surgery. I was taking progesterone with both. My NHS clinic said to take progesterone from first getting a positive test but when I asked if I could take it from 2DPO as others have been recommended they said there’s no harm in it. Best of luck!

so sorry to hear that @Grey4 really hope you get somewhere soon. All the best good luck xxxx

Thank you! Happy to help in any way I can if you have any questions. It’s such a tough journey.