Is my drinking the reason why I am miscarrying?

[fastandspurious]

I have name changed for this post, as this topic is something that I am so worried about, but have not told anyone. As I write this, I also am thinking that I sound ridiculous!

I want to start by saying that as soon as I have found out that I was pregnant, I have stopped drinking. It has been so easy to do; I never missed it once, or even thought about it, so this is not a post about struggling to stop.

My post comes off the back of my second miscarriage this year- it was three weeks ago. I was 10 weeks this time, but the baby had stopped growing at 7 weeks. I had no idea until a scan, whereas with my first one, I had heavy bleeding.

For the past two years I have got into a terrible habit with drinking. Me and my husband regularly share a bottle of wine of an evening, but this is often not enough for me and I will supplement this with strong G&Ts. I will often do this whilst cooking dinner or sorting things in the kitchen, where the booze is kept. I'm not necessarily hiding it, but I'm not sure my husband is aware of how much I am actually drinking. I never get drunk for him to notice, and I don't get hangovers, but I think this is because my tolerance is now so high. I have never measured by I am sure that I am putting away a serious number of units a week.

As mentioned, I have now had two miscarriages, which means that unless I go private, I am in the dark as to whether there is anything wrong, or if it is just bad luck.

What I am really struggling to shake is the idea that my heavy drinking habit has caused the miscarriages. I think I am feeling this way because I am otherwise healthy- I exercise regularly, I'm a healthy weight, I'm early 30s. I do have irregular cycles, but I have fallen pregnant quite quickly both times, so the doctor is reluctant to say I have PCOS.

What I am struggling to deal with is the internal shame that I am currently feeling- this is the thing that is in my control and this habit could have got me into this situation. It's creating this downward spiral where I drink more to block out the feelings of shame.

I am not looking for an excuse to carry on drinking so heavily; I know this is something that I need to address. I guess I am asking if anyone has been a in a similar position to me?

Hard to say but it likely isn't helping. That is a pretty significant amount to be drinking. It's binge drinking which is dangerous

Can you stop or at least reduce to once or twice a week? So perhaps plan to only drink at the weekend or something.

Yes, it could be a reason. You're drinking a significant amount daily. Even if you were to have a baby, they could have foetal alcohol syndrome.

It's not possible to know whether or not the drinking has caused the miscarriages. Women sometimes miscarry for no known reason, so stop blaming yourself.
But, you do need to cut back on the booze anyway, so why not give it a try?
You might be better asking your GP for help. Good luck, it's not easy.

Yes, it could be a reason. You're drinking a significant amount daily. Even if you were to have a baby, they could have foetal alcohol syndrome.

^ I'm not a doctor but I agree with this too. I think you should stop trying to conceive until you have stopped drinking because then there's no shame to be had at all as you're doing everything you can for your baby.

This is obviously just my experience, not medical knowledge - but I was an alcoholic for way over ten years. Proper alcoholic drinking throughout the day. During that time I got pregnant three times and had three babies. I did not miscarry once.

However, you are drinking a lot and I know you didn't come on to ask this but your drinking is at a level that needs to come down. Please, I struggled so hard and nearly lost everything, I hate the thought of anyone else going through this. My other note is that each pregnancy I easily gave up alcohol for that time, it did not worry me. Please don't see your being able to give it up as a sign that you do not need to consider alcoholism as something that is in your life.

I say this with the best intentions for you, I am sorry if I have over-stepped.

If you’re able to stop when pregnant, could you not treat your body as though you’re pregnant all of the time? That’s how I treated my body when I was TTC, so I never had that worry of drinking / smoking potentially affecting a pregnancy.

I'm sorry for your losses.

Perhaps give up alcohol while TTC and see?

I would stop drinking completely now OP, if you can, not wait until you know you're pregnant.

Those first few weeks are really important and as you never quite know when you're going to get pregnant and have a history of MC if I was you I'd just focus on doing everything to conceive and then stay pregnant that's within your power.

This is what I did after a difficult several years of TTC. And it eventually worked.

I think other posters have been really judgmental and insensitive- also inaccurate, as I’m sure none of them are medics!. I’m guessing you haven’t been drinking like this after finding out you were pregnant, and everything I have read says that drinking before a positive test has no effect. See your GP and ask if they can refer you for testing - if you make enough of a fuss they will do it after two miscarriages.

Standard Issue did a great podcast episode a while back where they spoke to experts regarding foetal alcohol syndrome, very eye opening and I'm sure there was a connection to miscarriage mentioned or being investigated/studied but I can't remember fully. Either way it's worth a listen if you are planning to try again.

Please get professional help for your alcohol dependency before ttc again.

I don't agree, I think people have been encouraging of her reducing/quitting alcohol and not judgmental at all. She said she had stopped drinking once she was pregnant so there wasn't judgement on that (except one poster who mentioned potential for FAS). Others are just agreeing that although unknown if the alcohol is causing a miscarriage the alcohol could be a potential problem in itself and for the future for her.

those who stopped consumption near their missed period had a 37% greater risk of miscarriage compared to women who did not use alcohol.

From here: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200810102430.htm

I would quit now OP. Not least because whatever is causing you to drink so much may be triggered again during motherhood so there's no better time to get prepared and develop more healthy ways of coping.

All the best for a successful next pregnancy.

Nobody can really say what is causing the miscarriages. It could be blood clotting disorders, irregular shaped uterus, chromosome issues etc. If you have already had two, speak to the doctor/hospital, especially if you are late 30s+ as they can refer you to the recurrent miscarriage clinic if you push - I did and got referred after two. People get pregnant all the time when drinking - it’s how a lot of babies are made! People have different experiences of drinking and not drinking and pregnancy, there are so many variables you can’t make a conclusive evaluation. In the very early stages it will not lead to foetal alcohol syndrome if you stop drinking after you find out you are pregnant. FAS is where the mother drinks large amounts throughout the pregnancy.

But, pregnancy aside, you are concerned with your drinking habits and because of your concern it would make sense to try and address it.

I have also had 2 miscarriages in the last year and I don't drink alcohol at all - haven't for years. Sometimes you can just be unlucky.

That being said, it sounds like now might be an ideal time to try to reduce your alcohol consumption. Good luck xx

I'm sorry about your previous miscarriages, you sound devastated. None of us here can tell you why they happened, and you may never know.

What I would say is to try to take positive action for your health and ask DH to do the same. Eat well, exercise, don't smoke, cut back on alcohol and drink plenty of water to keep hydrated. These will improve your general health. They are not a guarantee of success I'm afraid, but a good foundation to begin TTC.

The only additional thing that occurs to me is whether there could be a nutritional element caused or exacerbated by binge drinking? I think it is really positive that you are facing this and acknowledging it, and yes it is a very good sign that you can stop for pregnancy without difficulty.

If you can have an honest conversation with your GP, they can probably help tease out the different issues around miscarriages and alcohol effects, consider whether there are any tests that could be indicated or helpful at this point, and be a source of support and accountability for managing your alcohol intake more sustainably into the future.

At the very least you can have a plan that says, ok if I have a third miscarriage this is what will happen next.

Best wishes for that NOT happening :)

Even if you were to have a baby, they could have foetal alcohol syndrome.

That is complete rubbish if the mother stops drinking at the four week mark (or some studies suggest later) which the OP has stated. Shame on you for posting such misinformation and scaremongering.

OP, you shouldn’t be stopping drinking because you want to have a baby, this level of drinking is unhealthy full stop. Even if you never intended to have children you still shouldn’t be drinking at that level.

Forget about whether or not the drink is causing the miscarriages, nobody knows, fact is 1 in 4 pregnancies ends in miscarriage anyway so most women will have one in their lifetime, but drinking on the quiet is really indicative of a bigger problem, one which you need to resolve regardless of whether you’re ttc.

It possibly won’t help. A lot of foetal development takes place in those first few weeks and while early pregnancy alcohol intake hasn’t been well researched there are some papers exploring the probability of increased risk of miscarriage.

it could well be another reason but without further testing it’s not possible to know. I’m assuming you won’t get any support for recurrent miscarriage unless you have another miscarriage? But a lot are due to undiagnosed clotting problems.

but if you find it easy to stop when you know you’re pregnant can’t you just stop now and then ttc? This pre conception period is important.

Alcohol depletes your folate levels, which is bad news when trying to conceive, as it increases the risks of neural tube defects such as spina bifida, anencephaly, etc.
We don’t know the cause of your miscarriages, OP, but I would strongly recommend you stop drinking and start folate supplements before trying again for a baby.

This. Seek counselling OP and look after yourself. Try pregnacare it has everything in.

I think other posters have been really judgmental and insensitive

I disagree. The OP clearly has an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. The advice if you are TTC is to cut back on alcohol anyway.

This is absolutely true but this study also reports that the women who continued to consume alcohol were also of more likely to be higher maternal age, more likely to smoke and more likely to use illicit drugs, all of which are known to increase miscarriage risk.
I'm not defending alcohol consumption during pregnancy but it's important to view these studies in a scientific light in terms of sample - this isn't a randomised control trial and it's not as simple as saying x behaviour led to y outcome.

OP, I think you know its time to cut down your drinking but please try to let go of any shame you are feeling. There's no way to know what caused the mcs and you have realised that you need to change. Best of luck in ttc.

Ridiculous posts from previous posters, I'm genuinely surprised at the responses. No OP drinking when TTC and in the early days before you find out you're pregnant will not cause you to miscarry. Miscarriage in the first trimester is usually due to abnormalities not compatible with life or some kind of hormonal issue, Ie nothing the mother does to cause it. Remember, 1 in 5 pregnancies ends in miscarriage, so you have either been unlucky or you have an underlying issue, which can be looked into later by a dr. (Not sure but think you have to have had 3 miscarriages for investigation) which I know is upsetting. Having said that, it would definitely be a good idea to cut down, simply because you'll need to throughout pregnancy and early motherhood anyway so you might as well start now and get as healthy as you can! I'm sorry about your miscarriages, I've had one. I know it's so easy to blame yourself (especially considering the misinformation and ignorance around the topic), but it's not your fault.