How long until I should feel physically better?

[COCKadoodledooo]

Probably a piece of string question, sorry.

I miscarried last Friday night, and was rushed to theatre at 2am for ERPC as my blood pressure/heart rate were dangerously low. I narrowly escaped a transfusion but had at least 5 litres of fluids throughout the night.

There was an awful lot of blood/large clots, but I have no idea if this is to be expected with a miscarriage as I've never gone through it before and nobody really explained things, other than the ERPC was necessary otherwise things would have gone very badly for me.

I still feel utterly shit physically. Since being discharged from hospital on Sunday I have done nothing, but am wiped out. I keep going dizzy and light headed. Am fortunate to have friends/family/dh around to help out with the children, because even making a sandwich at the moment is beyond me.

Is this 'normal', or should I go see my GP? Should I have insisted on the transfusion? (not that I was really capable of coherent thought/conversation at that time). I absolutely feel no better, possibly worse even, than when I was discharged. I'm sleeping really badly at night too, though making up a bit during the day. I panic about something horrible happening to dh or one/both of my other babies.

The consultant gave me a cert for 1 week off work - there's no way I can go back on Monday if I still feel like this, not least because I can't trust myself not to have a dizzy spell whilst driving (and quite apart from the emotional aspect).

I realise I'm asking entirely about the physical, that's because I just don't feel strong enough in myself to face the mental/emotional yet

I was 11+1 by the way, and I never had a scan so never even got to see my baby

Any advice please?

Forgot to say am on iron tablets (200mg 3 times a day) for 10 days. The only difference they seem to be making is to the colour of my poo

Cockadoodledoo I'm sorry to hear of your loss and subsequent difficulties. It is never easy and I think these things take longer to get over than one might imagine.

I had a similar experience a few months ago and did have a transfusion so can say that initially I felt great. I even suggested I would walk home from the hospital until the nurse told me not to be crazy. However, my longer term recovery has been slower. It took me about 2 -3 weeks of taking ferrous sulphate in the same doses as you to feel ok. However my blood count is still low and I get the feeling that this is just an ongoing problem for me so you may feel better once your blood count is back to normal and your iron stores are up.

If in doubt go and get your blood checked at the doctors. I should imagine that if you had needed it they would have given you a transfusion. You may need to stay on iron tablets for longer.

As for the emotional aspect, aside from the loss of your baby which I am sorry you didn't get to see, there is the trauma or emergency surgery and recovery. Please don't think that because the doctor has only signed you off for a week that you should be over this or feeling anywhere near better. I have found the physical recovery harder this time especially as I have DD who is 3 but also the emotional recovery does not happen all at once. Grief comes in waves and at the oddest of times so don't be surprised to find yourself crying at all sorts of random things in the next few weeks/months.

I hope this helps.

Thanks redbunny, it does help, and I'm sorry you've had to go through it too. Am going to ring my gp in the morning to ask about extending my note I think.
I don't know why they changed their minds about the transfusion, nobody said, well.not when I was in a position to understand anyway. I'd gone into theatre having consented to it, but it didn't happen.

No one's mentioned anything about follow up either. Is there any? Mw said she'd call me to follow up when I spoke to her last week when the bleeding started, but I've heard nothing. Guess I'm simply not her department any more.

Hi Cockadoodeldoo, I had to go to bed as shattered so didn't get chance to follow up. I'm not sure about the transfusion but maybe your blood levels had stabilized and they didn't see the need. I had lost alot of blood and was aneamic anyway. My blood levels were below 5 and are now only at 10 when they should be over 12 for a normal woman. However your tests will make things clearer.

As for follow up I'm afraid it's a sad fact that there is none. Your midwife may call to extend her condolences and just verbally check that you are ok but that's it I'm afraid. So you will be under the care of your GP unless there are further gyny issues. I would suggest you find some counselling as this seems to have been quite a shock for you. This is my 3rd and worst miscarriage so far but the others were easier so even though I found it very traumatic I knew what was happening.

I hope you can get some answers from your GP but really bear it in mind that you have been through quite a trauma (despite how the medical profession view it) and need some time to recover physically and emotionally.

Take care sweetheart.

Thank you for your kindness redbunny. Actually woke up feeling quite a lot better this morning. Have been to see lovely GP this morning and had a good long chat and a sob with her. She's signed me off for another week which has taken the pressure off and I'm to go back for another blood test once I've finished the iron tablets. She's also given me some diazepam to help with both the anxiety and my sleeping. She agrees with getting me better physically before thinking about counselling.

Thanks again for your support x

Hi Cock,
I'm so sorry to have read the Jan thread and seen your news. It totally sucks doesn't it :(

When i mc'd 2wks ago at 10wks i had the biggest clots i had ever seen! Some were as big as my hand.

I'm pleased to see that the Dr has signed you off for another week. I was 'fortunate' that i had the week booked off already so managed to have a few days without the worry of work.

Unfortunately there aren't any follow ups other than the blood tests to confirm that hCg levels are dropping back to normal. They tell you that within 2wks they should be back to the normal level and that a pg test will show as negative. Don't be alarmed if they are not. No one tells you what normal levels are so you have no idea if the figures they give are good or bad. My 1st blood test in A&E showed levels at 27,000, after i had mc'd they dropped to 7577 then yesterday they were down to 74. A normal level is less than 5, so i am still showing as pg on a test.

I really hope that your health starts to improve and that you can start healing. We will never forget our lost ones but we can make sure that we love our dc's a little bit more. I am so grateful i have them to help me get through. I bought a 'forget-me-not' bead for my troll bead bracelet. I have one that i refer to as my 'baby bracelet' and it has all the initials of my dc's, plus an engraved one with names/dob/weight on so i thought it was only fitting to acknowledge our lost baby.

Lots of love and hugs x

hi, you might want to request another scan just to confirm that all is gone. I had a ERPC done after a medical management, and after feeling bad for 2 months had to have another ERPC done as there were still some bits of placenta left after the first one. Take care of yourself, lots of hugs.

I lost a lot of blood in the course of dealing with a molar pregnancy - I think lost about 1 litre before/during the 3rd ERPC alone (in the space of 8 weeks) which finally sorted the problem - and felt totally wiped out for weeks afterwards, which I think was partly the after-effects of three GAs/surgeries and a lot of emotional stress, but also due to anaemia. I also did not have a transfusion but was put on iron tablets, which made me constipated, but I presume they eventually worked.

This was quite a while ago, so I can't remember exactly how long it took me to feel 'normal' again, but it was certainly weeks rather than days before I felt completely back to normal energy levels. I was lucky that I was freelance so didn't have to go back to work immediately, though I did have a 2-year-old to look after.

A week sounds like far too short a time to be off after a major medical emergency, so it's good your GP has give you another week off. Could you see about maybe going back for shorter hours to start with when you do go back?

So sorry Cock, really hope that you can take it easy and feel better soon. x