TTC for 12 months+ after missed miscarriage

[Haylsttc]

Hi everyone,

I’d like to hear about other people’s experiences of going to their GP after trying to conceive for 12 months or more after having a miscarriage or missed miscarriage.

For background info we’ve been trying since March 2023, fell pregnant in April 2023 and had a missed miscarriage in June 2023. Since then we haven’t been able to conceive.

I’m going to ring our GP this week to start fertility investigations as we’ve been trying for over 12 months since the missed miscarriage.

I just wanted to know how the process went for others so we know what to expect.

I'm sorry to hear about your miscarriage and issues with conceiving. We went through the same thing, I had a miscarriage and then tried to conceive for more than a year with no luck, before I arranged an appointment with my GP. I felt that my GP wasn't so knowledgeable about fertility issues and the investigation wasn't very thorough. They ordered a couple of blood tests (progesterone, thyroid). I had low progesterone revels so I had to be prescribed progesterone supplements and it was frustrating to learn that this is not something my GP can do. They ended up referring me to our local fertility clinic to something called "Level 1 investigation" which is all NHS funded, but it took a while to get there. I'd say you have to be very proactive with your questions and instead of going through several GP appointments like I did, maybe you could request the Level 1 investigation straightaway and see what they say. I'm not sure where you live and whether this is available there, but worth trying. My experience with the GP wasn't so good, I think the NHS are not brilliant when it comes to women's health. She didn't know basic things about hormone levels, etc., which was shocking! Your GP might be better than mine of course but fertility clinics are always best. Hope it goes well for you.

@BelleCrescent thanks for sharing your experience!

I’ve read a lot about low progesterone and suspect I have this too as I get all the tell tale symptoms so I’m going to push to get this checked as soon as possible. I’ll also take your advice and try to push to be referred straight away.

Can I ask if you have conceived since getting the progesterone or are you still going through treatment?

Unfortunately my first IVF round failed and I'll be doing another one soon.. So taking progesterone supplements doesn't guarantee pregnancy but I was told that since my levels are very low, without Cyclogest I'll either not get pregnant or have an early miscarriage. It's definitely worth investigating and discuss with your doctor the pros and cons. I'd say it's helped with my PMS symptoms, they used to be awful! I also had a HyCoSy to check my fallopian tubes, maybe you can ask about that too?

@BelleCrescent I’m sorry to hear your first round failed, I hope your second one is a success.

I just wanted to say thanks for your help and also update the thread with the outcome of my doctors appointment.

I’ve been referred to my local fertility centre who will organise a Hycosy and decide what the best plan of action is whether that be IVF or something else depending on the outcome of my tests.

In the meantime I’m booked in to have a day 21 progesterone test at my doctors. They’ve also booked in a couple of other blood tests too including a full blood count. My partner has also been booked in for his analysis too.

Feeling positive and heard after the appointment, just the wait ahead now to see what comes of it all.

Hi @Haylsttc, Thanks for the update, it's so nice to hear that your appointment went well! I hope the outcome of the tests will be good. I think the HyCoSy and progesterone tests are a good starting point, and if they find no issues during these, you can request other tests to investigate further. Good luck!