Blood loss - recovery?

[Igglybuff]

Hi

I had an ERPC after a disastrous natural miscarriage went wrong - ended up losing a huge amount of blood, huge blood clots and felt awful. Had to wait in hospital after calling an ambulance as had eaten before could have the procedure. Turned out there were clots blocking the cervix so things couldn't complete.

I'm still in shock physically and emotionally I think.

Anyway my blood loss meant I was on the borderline for needing a transfusion but decided against it.

I wondered if anyone had a similar experience and how long did it take to recover? I'm taking iron supplements and eating iron rich foods. I have a 13 month DS to look after but drafting in extra childcare so I don't overdo it.

I've provisionally said I'll take a week off work but have a feeling it may take longer?

Sorry to hear this. Yes it might take longer then a week to get back to work.

Make sure you take the iron supplements with orange juice as vitamin C helps with the absorption of iron. Tea, coffee and milk all inhibit the iron absorption so avoid these for a couple of hours before and after taking the iron.

Also floradix is a good natural supplement. available in both tablet and liquid form.

Thanks belgo. I'm taking spatone which I used post birth with DS which helped. I lost a lot of blood after I'd had him too but as I was recovering from childbirth too I don't know how long it'll take this time.

Hi igglybuff, i kind of went through the same but didnt go into hospital, managed it all from home, i took me around 8 hours to pass all the contence of my womb and fainted twice because i lost so much blood, which wasnt good, but really didnt know what to expect so by the time i was actually happening it was too late to do anything about it then...
my doctor advised me to take two iron tablets for the first month after my mmc, alongside a sennacot as they do cause constipation.
i felt dizzy and tired for the first month, i took three weeks in total off work, but only a week after the actual mc, for me i found the emotional trauma of returning to work harder than the physical one.

So sorry for your loss, good luck with your ongoing return to a healthy life.
(previous rachk32)

If you manage to get enough rest and take the supplements, then you should physically feel better after a couple of weeks; longer if the bleeding continues for longer. But emotionally I found that my hormones were up and down for a while. I don;t know when you will be able to go back to work - that depends entirely on you and your own work.

Thanks.

mrsb I'm amazed you managed it at home. I'm sorry you have gone through this :( After 5 hours I just couldn't. In hospital my bed was soaked in blood.

Since the ERPC the bleeding has slowed a lot. I have a scan tomo to see if there's much left.

I have a desk based job so not too taxing. But we'll see!

IgglyBuff

So sorry this has happened and this will not help because I cannot remember the name of the product - my doctor recommended a bottle of 'tonic' that was quite syrupy and packed with iron. I bought it from the chemist and took it for four or five days just to get my iron levels up. It did seem to help.

Get lots of rest and take all the time you need.

sun I'll try and find out what it is - my GP might be able help!

Thanks Lunatic. I've been prescribed the same iron as you had. Equivalent spatone would be 15 sachets a day according to their website!! So I'll take the tabs instead although worried about constipation.

I had a similar experience/blood loss, also with my cervix being blocked. Galfer with orange juice worked for me and no constipation just black 'stools.' Very sorry for your loss.

Hi again Iggly.

3 weeks ago exactly I was rushed to hospital for exactly the same reason. Thankfully I didn't need a transfusion either but I think it must have been fairly close as I got through 5 toilet rolls, a kitchen roll plus whatever poured out of me, I passed out on the toilet and needed a rehydration drip, also my blood pressure went really low so they kept me in hospital for 2 days and sent me home after the ERPC.

I would say that i now feel 98% normal, although the first week and a half I did feel like crap - tired, unmotivated, achy, pessimistic, scared of my own body, petrified of going to the toilet.

I've been taking spatone for the last few days which seems to have helped. Iron tablets do bad things to my digestive system!! Also I had my haemoglobin levels checked at the docs last week and I haven't heard from them so I guess they're ok. In fact I just got my period back which is why I'm back on the mc board - seems too soon so I hope everything's ok!

Hello Janice, so glad to hear you're better! It's a horrible thing to go through isn't it? Glad that your periods are back.

I know what you mean about being scared of your body. I felt so out of control. Even when in labour with DS I didn't feel like that. Madness.

Here's hoping for sticky beans in 2011. I think we'll try again after Xmas - just need to recover and take things slowly for now.

I don't know if it is a period though, everything I've read says it should be 4 or 5 weeks minimum and I only stopped bleeding about 10 days ago. I'm so confused!

Are you feeling nervous about trying again? Sometimes I feel positive about it and other times it just feels like I'm setting myself up for months of scariness! I'm not going to think about it until Christmas at least!

Also I'm now wondering if I had the right blood test. I think they tested for iron levels, but maybe it should have been for HCG(?) or whatever the pregnancy hormone is. Can I test it myself by getting a preg test and hoping for a BFN, does anybody know?

Thanks Lunatic, I suppose it is 4 weeks since the bleeding started, although it was only spotting for the first few days . And now I've had a bath and it's stopped again (even more ).

Why can't we have simple bodies like men??!!!

Janice I was told to take a test to make sure I got a BFN. that'll be nice

I'm nervous about trying again - before the mc it was easy - just wait for the right time and get trying. Now I won't know when I'm back to normal for a while, I'll be worried about losing it again.

You're right - so much easier for men.