Slowly decreasing HCG levels and TTC again

[Kirsty4278]

Hi everyone,

I had a miscarriage at about 5/6 weeks and everything happened naturally - it was my first pregnancy. I had scans and blood tests at the early pregnancy unit and my HCG levels are falling really really slowly. I haven't been able to find any threads started by people who have had similar issues but I'm hoping there's someone else out there!

So, my miscarriage started on 29th August and they took my HCG levels on 1st September and again two days later. I've been back pretty much every week since then because the levels aren't falling quickly enough - last week they were down to 13 but the hospital want to see them down to zero so I'm back again next week for another blood test.

The hospital gave me the usual advice about waiting until I have a period before we TTC again to help with dating. I was then told my cycle wouldn't start until my levels were below 2. A couple of weeks ago the level was down to 20 and last Wednesday I started bleeding quite heavily and it felt like a period - I was a bit confused about this.

I was then told your body knows you're not pregnant as soon as your levels are below 20 so it could be a period (it only lasted 4 days though). So I asked if we could start TTC again and this doctor (a different one) said I should wait for another period first to make sure that I was in the best physical condition before TTC.

I'm so confused! I want to start TTC as soon as possible because I think it will help me get over the miscarriage.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar?

Kirsty

Hi Kirsty,

I'm really sorry for your loss.

I dont want to scare you too much, but I actually know quite a bit about this for all the wrong reasons.

I think you will find some really useful information www.pregnancyloss.info/waitingforaf.htm here which explains why your HCG might be falling slowly (it can often take a long time without there being any particular problem)

It is really important that you do wait until your levels hit zero (which really means less than 2 because the test can detect anything smaller than that), anything higher could indicate retained tissue or another kind of complication which would definitely need addressing before TTC.

I had a missed miscarriage in March managed medically but I didnt pass everything, I started getting my HCG levels monitored and they went down slowly and then started to go UP. After two months of doctors not really knowing what was going on I was re scanned and they found that lots of placental tissue had regrown. I had an ERPC and the tissues were examined because they suspected that this might be partial molar pregnancy. In the end it wasnt and my HCG eventually fell to zero.

Complete or partial molar pregnancies are very very rare, If you have an mp then you may need chemotherapy and your HCG levels will need to be monitored for a year before you can TTC. If you do become pregnant without having been treated you will certainly miscarry again and may be at risk of developing cancer. Apologies if that sounds horribly scary, please remember it is a very rare condition. If you wait for your HCG to reach zero or if you know that you have had a period then you can be assured that your body has recovered properly from the mc and there are no complications.

By the way in order to be sure that it is a real period, there should have been at least 20 days of no bleeding first.

Getting the dates right on an early scan (if you get pregnant again) is also to your advantage because it will be you who wants to know if the baby is growing OK or not, much more than the doctors. www.pregnancyloss.info/trying_again.htm

Hope this information helps, xxxx

Hi MummyAbroad and thank you for your reply.

Hopefully my HCG levels will fall again this week when I have my blood tested - I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Kirsty
x

Good luck, and do let us know how you get on. xxx

I started to miscarry on 15/8/19 at 6/7 weeks pregnant. HCG levels coming down slowly and bloods taken every 48 hours. Now down to 697 - absolutely heartbroken 💔