Recurrent Chemical Pregnancies, anyone seen a GP?

[Moominmiss]

Hey everyone,

So I’m 37, ttc for 9 months now, about to start 10th cycle.

I had a mc at 9 weeks in January of this year, followed by a chemical in March, and have just experienced another chemical this month. So 3 early losses within the past 6 months.

It would seem getting pregnant isn’t so much of an issue as my body being able to keep hold of it.

I’ve got a telephone appointment with a dr next week but wondering if there are certain tests I need to be trying to push for?

I’m not going to be wanting to go down full on fertility treatment routes like ivf etc. Just wondering what they might suggest doing, or what I can suggest. Baring in mind they may not do anything as I already have children from a previous relationship.

So far my thinking is that it could be an egg quality issue, low progesterone, or perhaps a rubbish lining (I’ve had previous c sections so scar tissue could be a problem). What else could be causing the pregnancy not to stick other than just bad luck?

I want to have my appointment armed with as much knowledge as possible.

Thanks 😊

@Moominmiss I'm sorry about your miscarriages. I've had 2 very early losses (under 5 weeks). My GP has said that after 1 more loss she will be able to refer me to the recurrent miscarriage clinic. Hoping I don't get to that stage, but at least I know what will happen.

This is what the low dose looks like (and what it is officially for, if you can make it out on the back). The 300mg is for pain relief - 75mg wouldn't do much if you had a headache - though not many people seem to take aspirin rather than paracetamol or ibuprofen any more.

I was asked what it was for literally every time I bought it, though perhaps that was unlucky! DH wasn't.

I was told to take it from a positive pregnancy test and that's what I did. I remember that someone on the MN TTC after recurrent miscarriage thread I was on (I don't know whether that's still going but it was such a huge support for me at the time) took it all the time, on her doctor's advice, but stopped not because it did any harm but because it made her periods worse, I think because it's a blood thinner.

By the way, when I said 'my local recurrent miscarriage clinic' it was just the gynecology department at my local hospital where the tests were run. I remember being worried that it would be upsettingly fully of pregnant women but it turned out that gynaecology and obstetrics were totally separated in the hospital so it was nowhere near the antenatal clinics. They were going to refer me on the specialist clinic at St Mary's in London if I had a fourth loss - and as I mentioned upthread I referred myself to the Tommy's clinic at Coventry where I had extra tests done

@lisasimpsonsbff does it have to be dispersible? I only have normal ones

No, that was just what they had in Tesco the other day. I don't still have the letter to double-check but I'm sure the doctor didn't specify either way when I was told to take it.

Ok thank you :)

Hi ladies, really interesting reading through all the posts here. I’m in a similar situation with consecutive early miscarriages - no problem conceiving but can’t hang on to them. My GP thinks there might be an autoimmune issue as I had rheumatoid arthritis. Some googling suggests a link with natural killer cells so I’m freaking out a bit.
I am seeing gynaecologist on Monday so I will ask about all these tests and if aspirin would be a good idea next time.
Fx for all of you

@Diorissimo1985 it’s all so stressful isn’t it? Being able to conceive easily but not keeping it :( hope you get answers at your appt tomorrow

Thanks @2020wish 💕

@Moominmiss
I know this is an old thread but wondered how you got on with things? Im 37 and had 3 mc's in a row too.

@MgW1 not sure on the original thread but have you been referred to a recurrent miscarriage clinic yet? You do qualify with 2/3 losses and a RMC can run more tests than a GP so if I was you this would be my next step.

@NoCallerID
Yes i have had 3 and been referred. We dont know whether to give it 3 months now and has another try or wait to be seen .... G.P had no idea how long the wait time is.

@MgW1 have they referred you locally or to Tommy's? Ok with Tommy's and it seems phone appointments are picking up again and it's approx 8 weeks from referral to the consultation. I had my bloods taken the next day. (But I'm local to the clinic so could organise myself quickly.)

It's completely up to and whether you could go through another potential loss. We were at the point where we said we've got nothing to lose in trying again whilst we are waiting to see what the tests come back with.... It's all been a long process for us but we're very positive to have found the cause, hopefully resolved it and are excited to start trying again.

@NoCallerID
Its a referral locally not through Tommys.
We already have 2 children. I dont know if its bad luck or what but too anxious to try again just yet, will wait a few months and see.
That is a positive outcome for you , has it been quick for them to identify a cause? Iv had my thyroid checked and that was normal.

@MgW1 they only managed to find out because I was willing to take part in a medical trial. I also have one living child and never had issued conceiving. We had a termination for medical reasons last year and after this the early losses started (4 of them within 6 months). It turned out that I have a bacterial infection called chronic endometritis which was either caused by the retained placenta after the termination or the follow up procedure to remove the placenta. Most women don't have any symptoms so never know they have it. It was only possible to be diagnosed through Tommy's due to them running the trial. I got medication for two weeks (you either get antibiotics or a placebo as part of the trial - I'm 100% sure I got the antibiotics) and then had another biopsy and now we're good to go again. We decided not to waste any time because we've already lost a year and wanted a small age gap for our children. (It's now already 1.5 years more than we wanted...).

@NoCallerID
Wow I bet you couldnt believe it and thank fully you have got to the bottom. Just read up about it now ans it can be nasty if untreated. Dis you have a pelvic scan after mc? I have had a pelvic scan and im going for another in a few weeks time ( internal for a closer look) so will ask to make sure uterus is clear.

@MgW1 I had several scans after the termination due to heavy bleeding. I was fobbed off at first and told the remaining products would clear themselves. I continued to bleed and pass clots and they eventually did an MVA to remove the tissue and gave a weeks course of antibiotics after that. It was too late at that point and the antibiotics I was given to 'prevent infection' were the wrong ones for this kind of infection anyway. I've since had another scan after my 3rd miscarriage (privately in my home country with a specialist consultant) because I was worried about scarring from the procedure being the cause for the miscarriages. This all came back fine and the condition I was eventually diagnosed with can only be diagnosed with a biopsy, it can't be seen on scans or detected in blood tests.

@NoCallerID
Were you prescribed doxycycline?

@MgW1 yes, it's either the Doxycycline or the placebo, so I had the doxy. It's a blind trial so no one knows what you're given but due to the side effects (and me opening the capsules because I needed to try and find out whether I had the real stuff or would have to revert to plan B) I knew I had the actual drug.

@MgW1 Sorry, I think you meant the one week course after the MVA, no that wasn't Doxy, I think it was metronidazole.

Nope, taking that back... just checked my notes if was co-amoxiclav 625mg...

@NoCallerID
I shall speak to my G.P and ask if it is possible and how it can be ruled out. I had a miscarriage at the end of my first trimester and then 2 early mc's.....very stressful. No i meant treatment for Chonic endemetriosis, il see what my doc says thank you 💕

Was co - amoxiclav for C.E?
I think i have been on that before for something but not recently

@MgW1 I'm soo sorry. It's awful going through this.

Did you have a natural/medically managed miscarriage? Any intervention or D&C?

The co-amoxiclav was to prevent an infection after the manual vacuum aspiration.

For the chronic endometritis (make sure it doesn't autocorrect to endometriosis if you email your GP on your phone...) it was 100mg Doxycycline twice a day for 14 days starting with the first day of the period. It was a crap two weeks for me - I felt incredibly down and struggled with my stomach, both which are side effects of Doxy, it's definitely no walk in the park. Unless you have a very very compassionate GP who is willing to bend the rules it's unlikely that they would prescribe this. CE isn't tested for in the UK yet as there is no NHS guidelines / approval on it. We tried to go private due to the 50/50 risk of getting the placebo in the trial but no one would do it. That's the whole reason for the trial - to get this treatment approved on the NHS by showing that Doxy is effective.
You can read up on it or even send it your GP, it's called CERM Trial.
Doxy is already being used in other countries with (partly) privately paid for health care despite there not being a lot of research into it.

@NoCallerID
Natural miscarriages every time so i think the risk of infections is lower. Did they do all the other tests at tommys ? To check for blood and progesterone etc ? I put mine down to stress after 1st miscarriage , but i dont know. Strange i have never had one before , had 2 children and then had 3 in a row. Did you have any symptoms of CE?