Recurrent miscarriage advice

[Caz84690]

Hi all,
I have had 4 miscarriages in a row and after a year and a half we are thinking of trying again, after my fourth miscarriage I had lots of blood tests taken and an internal ultrasound and was told everything come back ok. The thought of trying without any extra support is making me feel anxious already. Has anyone been in the same situation and did they have any extra support? I seem to miscarry at about 8-10 weeks and it’s torture. One of them I had a scan and saw a heart beat in the morning and by the everting I started spotting and miscarried a week later. It’s heartbreaking and not sure if I even have it in me to go through with it all again if I’m honest x

Sorry you are going through this. I had all the tests after 3 miscarriages (all missed miscarriages so 3 lots of surgery). All tests came back fine so I was told to go away and keep trying- it really was said that bluntly.
By some miracle my next pregnancy stuck and I now have a 2 year old.
I did nothing different that time round. I even had more bleeding than I did with my 3 miscarriages and was convinced it was going to turn out badly.
It is heartbreaking to keep going through the losses but for me it really was worth it in the end x

Thank you for the reply. Wow congratulations that is a comfort to know as I know any kind of bleeding will upset me due to previous experiences but to know you come through the other end with a successful pregnancy is hope. I think it is more trying to mentally prepare myself, felt like it took my life over for awhile x

I'm sorry you've had so many losses @Caz84690. I've had 4 early losses in the last year and although my GP's tests all came back clear, I decided to see a private specialist. His tests have showed an issue with NK cells, for which I'm now having treatment. Too early to say whether it makes a difference yet but I've just found out I'm pregnant again so I have everything crossed. I hope you get a good outcome next time.

My sister in law has similar issues. Now she has a 2 yr old.

One thing she did was visit a nutritionist before conceiving. They created a whole meal plan and worked out the right amounts of macros etc that she needed. I’m not saying this is the cure all but perhaps this extra resource will help you.

I don’t know if other women did some preparation before conception as far as nutrition and things like that. But I don’t see how this can hurt you. Food is also medicine so perhaps it can help by having a nutritionist in your corner could help.

I’m so sorry you’re going through this.

I had 4 losses before having my son last year, and I’m just in the middle of another one just now.

All my tests came back fine and I was told to just keep trying. But I was convinced something was wrong so I referred myself to the Implantation Clinic in Coventry. There they diagnosed me with high NK cells & I successfully carried to term with their protocol, which is progesterone and steroids. However that same protocol has just failed in my latest miscarriage.

The other thing I found helpful was the book “It Starts With The Egg”, which provides evidence-based suggestions for supplements.

You could also speak to your GP if you have a long wait before seeing a specialist and ask if they will prescribe you progesterone - print them the results of the Prism Trial (you can find info on the Tommy’s website).

Wishing you the very best of luck - it’s such a horrible position to be in.

Sorry you have experienced the same @treesall and congrats I have everything crossed for you and that is really interesting you saying about the NK Cells I was reading about this earlier, I will look into it further. We previously have fell pregnant quite quickly but its trying to get through the weeks which I struggle with without it consuming my every thought 😩 x

Absolutely @MarshmallowSwede I don’t think it can hurt to look into it, I am quite conscious of staying fit and trying to eat a lot of balanced food and like you said you never know what effect it can make x

Sorry @MarshmallowSwede you have experienced the same and so recently. The progesterone is something that I wish I had spoken to my doctor about when I started spotting in my last pregnancy, I watched a few years ago Lacey turned on tv who had experienced miscarriages and when she started bleeding she spoke to her doctor who advised the progesterone and she is convinced this is what helped her carry full term.

My last miscarriage was so much worse than my previous 3 I ended up calling an ambulance and as crazy as it may sound I felt that the pregnancy was going to progress but i guess it just wasn’t meant to be.
I will have a look at the book you suggested - thank you!
I wish you the absolute best and i have felt more support through this post then I have via the doctors so thank you everyone for your thoughts x

Sorry previous meant for @Fornalutxa (not good at these posts) 🙈

Are you in the UK OP? If so, asked to be referred to Professor Leslie Regan’s clinic for recurring miscarriages at St Mary’s hospital in London.

It might make sense to do a test for toxoplasmosis. If you have zero converted recently, that could be the reason. If so, it will clear up soon and you should be ok.

Sorry for your losses @Caz84690
I had 3 mmc blood tests etc all came back fine but after some research I asked about aspirin when I found out I was pregnant with ds... Gp said it was worth a try and nothing to lose. I took 75mg aspiring to 36 weeks and was induced at exactly 37 weeks as placenta wasn't working and ds stopped growing. He's now a happy healthy 3 year old.
Currently just over 35 weeks pregnant and on advice of consultant I am on 150mg aspirin throughout this pregnancy. Touch wood baby growing well. I really do think the aspirin has helped!

I’ve had 15 miscarriages in 10 years, 13 before 8 weeks, a 9 weeker and an 11 weeker. My 16th pregnancy somehow stuck and I now I have a 3 month old son

We didn’t qualify for any fertility help in our area because of our BMI’s so our choices were keep trying or dont (I know that’s blunt). The only thing tests ever found for us was my PCOS, everything else was normal.

It was only when I was heavily pregnant with my son that they discovered I’ve got a really rubbish cervix which has probably caused all my other losses. It just randomly gives up and opens spontaneously.

We call our son the impossible baby because his survival was so unbelievably unlikely that I didn’t actually believe he was coming until he was crowning. I kept expecting them to tell me they were mistaken and i had lost him in the first trimester and he’d never grown and he was coming out tiny like the others. But they didn’t, and he’s here and he’s safe.

Anyway, the point of my post is to say I’ve been where you are. I’ve given up trying and I’ve started again and I’ve lost hope and found it. Keep trying if you want to, but equally if you’re done trying, stop. There’s no rule that says you can’t start trying again in the future but make sure you take time to heal. Our boy happened after a 6 month break and I fully believe stopping trying for a bit gave my body time to heal properly and that’s why he stuck around.

Get checked for PCOS and make sure they check out your cervix in case it’s useless!

Thank you @Smurf123 congrats and happy to hear all is going well. I have read about the aspirin and wondered if it was worth trying if there is no negatives. When you have recurrent miscarriages it does make you feel like you need to try something else and is something I’m going to consider if we manage to fall pregnant again.

We I started spotting the fourth time I did speak to the doctor and it was “if it’s going to happen it will happen” but I would push for the progesterone if it happened again and I wonder if you are able to get more regular scans, the wait for a scan in these situations I find torture x

Have you been tested for coeliac disease? You can have it with no symptoms (“silent coeliac”) and it can cause miscarriage. I had 3 mcs then was treated by a very expensive private doctor for “aggressive nk cells” which worked and I had 2 kids. I’ve recently found out I’m coeliac and that this was the cause all along. The treatment for the nk cells just happened to address the coeliac symptoms (I took steroids which suppressed immune system flare up basically). I’m quite annoyed that I paid thousands for private treatment which omitted this basic blood test, and that the mcs could have been avoided by simply changing my diet. I had no coeliac symptoms whatsoever - was picked up after I had anaemia in pregnancy.

I wish I could remember the name of a book I read that basically divided miscarriage down into various categories - chromosomal abnormalities, "structural" ones to do with your uterus/cervix, blood clotting issues, and immune issues (which natural killer cells would come under). I'm not saying these are the only possibilities, but it helped me - I realised for me it was likely to be the immune disorder type (with a side order of chromosomal abnormalities due to my older eggs!) and with treatment I did have a baby.

@Iggi999 what treatment did you have? (If you don't mind sharing)

Like others on here, I saw Dr Shehata in London (I'm not in London) and had steroids, low dose aspirin and progesterone. Also high dose D3.
This was quite a few years ago now, the treatment plan might have changed since then. I don't know if any one of those things was what worked, but I did have dc2 after 4 mcs in a row (and in my early 40s), so I was happy with it! Best of luck

Yep I had the same as @Iggi999. Like I say - check for coeliac and also get your thyroid levels checked out.

Hi @Caz84690 sorry you have experienced so many losses. I had two miscarriages at 8 weeks, I read lots about aspirin and with my third pregnancy started a low dose 75mg per day off my own back. My midwife told me at booking appt to increase it to 150mg (still lower than normal dose but the current recommendation) because I was 40 at the time. My little girl is now 4 months and I have to say I'm certain that she's here because of the aspirin. I read all about now it helps blood flow to the placenta, which is what seemed to be letting me down. Like you I saw heartbeat with one of my pregnancies before i miscarried and it was heartbreaking so I was desperate to try any thing that may help. Best of luck to you x