Recurrent Chemical Pregnancies

[charlzz]

I have cross posted this so apologies!

TW: Recurrent chemicals

Hi everyone. I was looking for some advice really, and maybe some friendly people I can stay in touch with who have been through a similar situation.

TLDR: Trying to conceive my second child for 8 months. 3 consecutive early losses/chemical pregnancies. Looking for answers.

In April, May, and June I had 3 consecutive chemical pregnancies. For all three I've had darkening tests, followed by them getting lighter then I bleed. The first one was around 5 weeks, the following 2 were just a day or two after my period was due.

I went to my GP after the second, who was pretty dismissive but agreed to do some basic blood tests (iron, thyroid, vitamin levels) but nothing hormonal. The only relevant thing these showed were low vitamin D, which I'm now supplementing. They also showed low white blood cells and neutrophils (but I always have this so don't think it's relevant) and a slightly raised ALT (liver enzyme) which they are rechecking.

Now I've had a third chemical, they have reluctantly agreed to refer me to the recurrent miscarriage clinic but the wait is likely to be at least a year.

This cycle I took a break from trying and checked my progesterone privately. It was 45.5nmol/L at day 21 which looks pretty strong, and indicates I'm ovulating well. My luteal phase is anywhere from 11 to 14 days, although during my third chemical I started spotting at 9dpo. ChatGPT did say I could potentially still look at progesterone suppositories as my levels may not be staying high enough to sustain a pregnancy, but obviously I've got no way of knowing if that is good advice or not, and no way of getting progesterone anyway as I doubt my doctor would agree to prescribe it.

Up until this month I was still breastfeeding my 17 month old. I've now stopped as I convinced myself it may be affecting my hormones. So we will see if that helps at all.

Does anyone have any other advice or ideas of what I could do to try to have a healthy pregnancy?

I had four chemical pregnancies in a row last year within 6 months. I am currently 33 & a half weeks pregnant. I did nothing different. Sometimes it just happens. Its more common than you would think.

I was under the recurrent miscarriage clinic. Had every test going & all was normal. Sometimes it could be that it is not a good quality egg.

I thought the same about progesterone and had contacted a private clinic to access it as gp is not allowed to prescribe it & my consultant said it wouldn't be a good idea. She said progesterone would fall because of the pregnancy not being sustainable for whatever reason eg. A condition with the embryo like T21, Edwards syndrome etc.

When I did manage to reach 6 weeks with my current pregnancy & id had a scan to make sure the pregnancy was located in my womb and not ectopic did my consultant agree to give me progesterone as a precaution. Willy nilly taking progesterone isn't always the answer.

Stick with it & have all the tests that you can. GP can give you thyroid check etc. You can also buy private tests through Randox or medichecks which are reasonably priced.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, and congratulations on your pregnancy!

So sorry to hear about your four chemicals. I know they can pretty much just be "bad luck" but it's so hard not to catastrophise when it keeps happening ' you just feel like it must be happening for a reason.

That's really interesting to hear what your consultant said. I was obviously not going to take ChatGPT's advice without speaking to an expert, but I think based on your experience I'll save myself some money and won't bother having a private consultation, especially seeing as my levels were fine when I privately tested them.

Thanks so much again!

Thank you 🙂

I know how hard it is when all you want is a successful pregnancy. I remember asking my consultant if she thought I might just be broken and never have a successful pregnancy. She assured me that was not the case, but at the time I thought it might never happen.

Definitely save yourself the money & just keep doing what you are doing. It'll be your turn soon ✨️

Sorry about your chemicals, it’s horrible as you feel you can never trust a bfp again :(

No help on what to try next as I’m in a similar position, started ttc no2 last Oct, had 3 chemicals in a row (I was also breastfeeding my dd and stopped as thought it might be why) then didn’t get another bfp for few months but had another chemical in June. This time I went to gp who reluctantly referred me to recurrent miscarriage clinic but the wait is long as you say.

I’ve been trying taking 150mg baby aspirin daily after ovulation to see if that helps one stick, started last cycle but typically didn’t get a bfp. Theory is it helps thin the blood so helps with blood flow to uterus and also some people can have sticky blood which stops implantation. No idea if it’ll help and I’ve done off my own back not through gp as don’t find gps much help.

Wierdly It took us quite a while to conceive our dd but I had no chemicals, just seemingly endless bfn’s! So not sure why it’s happening this time.

I tried taking aspirin too, but my consultant advised against it while ttc. I was tested for sticky blood & don't have it. Only when I reached 6 weeks pregnant & they ran through my blood clotting risk factors did they recommend taking aspirin

Sorry to see other people going through recurrent losses. I’m on cycle three of ttc #3, pregnant first month ended in a chemical, didn’t ovulate second month (it was a weird cycle after the loss), then pregnant the third month and another loss.

I assumed it was to do with mine and my partner’s age, (40), but studies show chemical pregnancies do not increase with maternal age. Other types of miscarriage do but not them. So just one of those things.

I do have hypothyroidism though, and I want a blood test to see what my levels are at.

Hi.
So sorry for everyone on their loss/es. It’s soul destroying.

This thread is very interesting, in that a lot of us have been breastfeeding whilst experiencing loss. I’ve had two miscarriages and one chemical in 12 months. My age is against me at 40 but nevertheless my hormone levels have been good and I have a very regular cycle and ovulate every month. I fell pregnant in June and just had an early loss over the weekend. On the 7th of July I stopped breastfeeding my LO so I would have been 4 weeks pregnant. Within around a week or a little more after this time the pregnancy stopped developing. Of course this could be for many reasons but I’m just finding it very interesting given we have quite a few women having early losses and breastfeeding. I’m looking forward to seeing what the journey will now bring since stopping BF. I haven’t yet asked to be put on the recurrent miscarriage list as it can take forever and at my age I don’t have that time but I am not doing everything I can to have a healthy successful pregnancy. Hope we all get lucky soon 🍀 xx

Sorry, that was obviously supposed to say that I AM doing everything I can to have a healthy successful pregnancy! X

I’ve had 2 chemicals, and did have lower progesterone so am taking progesterone from ovulation and aspirin all cycle (progesterone from a dr and aspirin from my own research). There were a couple of good podcast episodes on Don’t Tell Me To Relax about recurrent miscarriages and what tests to do, worth a look ☺️

I had 5 early MCs before my second son. Went private and also NHS both prescribed high dose Vitamin D, 150mg aspirin per day and progesterone suppositories. Good luck

I have 3DC and with my second and third I was also initially breastfeeding while TTC and kept having chemicals as well as short luteal phases. When I stopped BF I had successful pregnancies almost immediately.

Hi OP

I too wondered about a potential link to breastfeeding but my recurrent miscarriage clinic, GP etc. all said no, it wouldn’t make any difference. Prolactin was checked, hormone panel etc. They were very thorough.

I had about 4/ 5 chemicals and 4 early losses after my 1st successful pregnancy.

So maybe 9 losses, some consecutive some after a few months break.

All the tests showed nothing.Scans showed no abnormalities. No apparent reason for it whatsoever.

Genetic testing on us or losses not done, so that aside.

I tried everything, but did not completely stop the BF. I wasn’t convinced it’s that either.

My experience and research has led me to the following conclusions : agree with PP it is often a case of getting “the right one”.

I have known people undertake IVF and from 20 eggs get maybe 1 or 2 viable options. The percentages can be quite shocking. This is people younger than me (I am 35)

I also believe some people genuinely have an “unfussy womb” / hyper fertility and it will try and take anything, rather than filtering out the more viable options. Mine deffo took literally anything, it seemed.

Also this may or may not have worked for me, but Doxycycline antibiotic. If you haven’t come across that research yet OP, look up endometritis and recurrent miscarriage.there’s a few clinical trials into this particular area.

There is also some debate on timing of progesterone treatment and / or aspirin treatment as well. That’s something to consider.

I was so far down this particular rabbit hole it’s crazy, any questions happy to advise of anything I looked into.

I hope you have some more luck soon for anyone that is trying and hoping xx

Have you had a sdt test as an infection may need to be ruled out

Currently going through my third chemical in a row. Feel so deflated 😔

Do you remember if I'm your first successful pregnancy you were sick?

As in, I've seen that some women have high NK cells and they got pregnant naturally the first time because they were sick at the time of conception/early days so their immune system was busy right the illness instead of the embryo.

Have you tried steroids? Or you could try LDN Low dose naltrexone which is an immune modulator.

It will depend on the specialists. One of my doctors recommended 150 mg after ovulation and other one recommended to take it all the time when TTC. Both fertility specialists.

I started taking 75mg aspirin this cycle too, also off my own back. I figured as long as I take it with food and it's not for too long, it can't do any harm! So sorry you're going through these losses too. Definitely keep this thread updated with how you get on!

Ah that's interesting about age not being linked to chemicals! And good shout about getting your thyroid levels checked, the very (un)reliable doctor chatGPT said thyroid issues can be a cause of recurrent chemical losses. I paid for a private thyroid panel to rule it out. Keep us updated if you do get them tested x

@Pinky1256 I’ve just come across your message as I’ve had 2 chemicals in a row before this cycle so started reading the thread. Today got a digital BFP so I’m feeling nervous but hopeful that this won’t be chemical no 3… but your comment about being sick around the time of conception, I was sick around ovulation this cycle! And the same with my second daughter I was sick at ovulation that time as well. How interesting that is!

I'm so sorry for your losses. I agree, I just think breastfeeding takes so much of your body's energy and has such a huge impact on your hormones that it must play some part! I'm about 5 or 6 weeks into stopping breastfeeding now, the nights are a struggle because my little boy is a TERRIBLE sleeper and shoving him a boob was an easy way of getting him back to sleep haha. Keep us updated with how you get on! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for everyone on this thread x

Ahhh hi @Muddysocks1 - we chatted a bit on the monthly TTC board. Good news that you're on progesterone and aspirin now, fingers crossed for a BFP soon!!

I'm getting my Vitamin D re-checked soon as it was pretty low and I've been supplementing with a high dose Vitamin D spray, plus I paid for a Vitamin D injection too. I know low levels can have an impact on pregnancy outcomes, so fingers crossed it helps me! Did you have low progesterone, or did they put you on it "just in case"? Congratulations on your son x

Ahh, fingers crossed that stopping breastfeeding is the silver bullet for me too!!

@charlzzhope you have some luck with the aspirin 🙏🏻 I took last cycle and didn’t get bfp but also no chemical either. I’m 1dpo today so starting it again as of today! I had a weird cycle last month after chemical the month before and wondering if I didn’t ovulate. Definitely got ovulation pains this month so we shall see! It’s been 6 months since I stopped breast feeding now so hoping my hormones should have settled by now. It’s tough to start with isn’t it when the boob gets them back to sleep easily isn’t it! Thankfully since my DD has dropped naps altogether she’s now exhausted at bed time and sleeps a bit better (touches wood!), but it was a bit of a battle to start with!

Also to add I’m still breastfeeding at the moment as well so I also think that has played a part in my chemicals too. I haven’t attempted to wean her off recently as she’s just too obsessed with it and it wouldn’t go well. In my mind I was thinking well thousands of women get pregnant while breastfeeding unintentionally so I should be able to have a successful pregnancy too, even though it may take time. I think if this pregnancy turns into a chemical then I’ll go private for investigations. Fingers crossed it sticks 🤞🏼

and keeping everything crossed for everyone else for a sticky baby 🤞🏼❤️