still testing +ve and bleeding after 2 weeks?

[starfish99]

hi
I had an erpc 16 days ago. The op seemed to go well and had slight bleeding which petered out to just brown discharge after a week. But now 2 weeks later I have had some pink and red/brown bleeding. should I be worried? I phoned the EPU and they were really unhelpful and just told me to to to a&e if it got worse, even if rhr epu was open. no idea how a&e could help as surely I need a scan to see what's going on?
has anyone else had this? worried i might have some retained tissue.
I'm also still testing positive on a pregnancy test.

Could you go to your GP and see what they say?

I had an erpc last Thursday and the more I think of it, the worse I feel about the total lack of info I was given on aftercare.

Have you done anything over the past few days that could have caused a bleed, etc? I know after I did a fair bit of walking the other day I was bleeding a bit and in a lot of pain just from over exerting.

Hoping some people reply and you get some advice from others who have perhaps had similar problems. xx

Dear both, sorry to hear that you both had a MMC. I too had one in mid November last year. I had the ERPC on 18th November.

I bled very little for the first week and went for a walk and was sore and crampy and uncomfortable. I then bleed lightly but constantly for 4 weeks. I tested positive too for the 4 weeks. I was so frustrated by the lack of information and disinterest from various places that I took myself off to A+E when I awoke one morning with severe pain (about 4 weeks post op). I was given a full check over and scanned and bloods etc.

To cut a long story short, the gynae registrar was brilliant and explained everything really simply for me. Wish I had that after the op. Bleeding is perfectly normal after an ERPC, even if it lasts for some weeks after. Some people may bleed for a week, some for a few months. It is all perfectly normal. The only time that you need to get checked over is if it gets heavier, accompanied with an unpleasant smell and you feel unwell and have a temperature. I too worried about retained products but scan showed all ok. I got my period about 5 weeks after op, heavy for 3 days, that was it. Had another since for 5 days, back to normal pre-MMC.

My advice would be that if you have a little bleeding, give it another couple of weeks or so, do a pregnancy test in a couple of weeks and then ask to be scanned if still positive. It could be that there are some retained products, but the body is quite good at doing what it needs to do. If blood is brownish, it's the old stuff making its way out. Also depends I think on how far gone you were. I was 10 1/2 weeks so took a while for body to realise not pregnant anymore and for HcG levels to fall. If go to A+E, tell them that you've been bleeding continually. I know it's very easy for me to say not to worry, I was really quite paranoid about it all, but it sounds so similar to my experience. I'm sure others will write messages too. Try not to worry too much.

x

thank you both so much. I did do some yoga the night before last, I wonder if that might have caused the new bleeding?

I think I'll take your advice and wait a little while and see what happens, then follow up with gp or a&e if necessary.

do you think I might still ovulate even if I'm still bleeding?

Thank you for sharing your experiences and so sorry you've also been through such horrid times. so glad mumsnet exists and there are kind people like you helping worried people like me. I found the epu so unhelpful. when i found out that at my scan that there was no baby (7 weeks blighted ovum) felt like they didn't explain anything and just wanted me out the door. And again when I phoned today they just wanted me to go away and stop bothering them. Really not what you need when you've been through such a miserable time and are so confused about it all.

The aftercare is often woeful Despite clear follow up scan after natural MC it has often taken me 3 weeks to get a BFN post MC at 8-10 weeks, but GP has followed up by testing blood HCG after a fortnight to ensure it was low and falling. You probably have nothing to worry about, but if you are still getting a positive in another few days then try approaching GP.

I'm amazed at how the op aftercare seems to vary so much from place to place. A follow up appointment has never been mentioned to me but I have heard others mention they've to go back to have follow up scan/tests/etc.
Everything I've found out about post op aftercare has been on on here and from googling. I'm planning on doing a test after 2 weeks or so and seeing what it says. But wasn't told what to do if it is still positive after however long. I'm assuming they'd only want to hear from me if I thought I had an infection or was bleeding very heavily. Sigh.