Positive test 4 weeks post M/C help!

[emlfriss]

Hi ladies,

Hoping someone can help.. had a MMC almost 4 weeks ago now. Scan at 11 weeks to show no baby empty sac. Had medical management and seemed to have successful (very painful!) miscarriage with clots etc. Stopped bleeding 2 weeks ago and we decided to start TTC again straight away. Now I have taken a few pregnancy tests since mc as advised by hospital and all have been strong positives.. I went for bloods 3 days ago and my hcg was 230 and I'm going back tomorrow for bloods to see what's going on. In the meantime though I'm going a bit insane! Has this happened to anyone and been a new pregnancy? Is it likely just left over tissue? I haven't had any prolonged bleeding or pain etc. so feel like it can't be incomplete but I guess it can be different for everyone? Any similar stories would be a great help right now xxxx

@emlfriss

Hi there, I'm really sorry to hear about what happened. We have been in the same boat ourselves.

I had surgical management of my miscarriage on 6th Sep, I carried on getting blazingly strong positives up until late October. In early November they became fainter and fainter, until I finally got my period again last weekend (the 9th, so a good 9 weeks after the surgery). I actually took another test yesterday as I wanted to finally see a negative test, and it was still faintly positive (too early to be a new pregnancy).

I think the above (while really confusing and frustrating) shows that HCG can take much longer to fall for some people than for others, and also that it is possible to get your period again with HCG still in your system. (I don't know if I ovulated as I haven't been testing).

I really hope you get back to normal quickly. It's good that the hospital are keeping an eye and doing these tests (my hospital doesn't test HCG levels so I've had to just take HPTs). If you are still concerned you should go back to the EPU and they will do another scan to check if anything has been left behind (what I did a month after the surgery when I was still getting positive tests).

Really hope you can have a healthy little baby soon, it is my big wish too .

I can't help but wanted to let you know I'm in the same boat. I think if I'd understood there would be this awful lack of closure, wondering if something was retained or if you were pregnant again, I would have used protection.

I miscarried at 11weeks at home. My local EPAU never bothered to call back so I've not had any aftercare or information. I had sex when the bleeding stopped because the advice on the internet seemed clear you couldn't ovulate with hcg in your system. It also said the only problem with getting pregnant again before your period was that it would interfere with dating a new pregnancy. That didn't seem a big problem at the time.

I bought cheap tests and I've been looking for a colour change since the bleeding stopped. They show a weak positive which doesn't seem to have got any lighter or darker. I don't have a clue what's going on and I supposed I have no choice but to wait it out.

The thing that is really upsetting me, is even if I do get pregnant again if I miscarry early, I won't know if it was a second miscarriage or a phantom caused by the hcg from the first one. That really bothers me.

I know that trusting information on the internet was dumb, but it's not like anyone is at their logical best just after a miscarriage:(

@sunshinefordays @Hyacinth23 Hi ladies, just want to say thank you both for your replies. You don't know how nice it feels to know your not alone, albeit under really shitty circumstances. I have an amazingly supportive partner but this post-miscarriage journey has felt very isolating, given that it's just me and my body.

Today I have started having light pink spotting whilst at work. Only a little when I wipe. No period pains or anything and positive pregnancy test this morning still so not expecting it to be a period. did either of you have anything like this?

I called the EPU this afternoon to explain and said I've been going stir crazy getting stressed out as I keep thinking in the back of my mind the MC didn't work or some kinda shit outcome. So I'd rather know sooner than later what's going on. I feel like a scan will give me a bit of closure as if the MC is complete at least I know my period will eventually come and if not - at least I can address that and move on.

Hearts go out to both of you, I never imagined going through this when we decided to start trying for our first baby. Have accepted it's all part of the journey. Praying for all of us. I'm sure we'll get our BFP very soon.

Xxxxx

@elmfriss

It is awful isn't it, I too have a lovely, caring partner, but he's not quite able to understand exactly how it feels to have your body go through this and all the uncertainty. Sorry you're still in the dark about what is going on - I did have a tiny bit of "old" blood bleeding (literally for an hour or two) 6 weeks after my surgery, but carried on getting dark positives up until what I would count as a "normal" period at 9 weeks.

I've carried on testing with the "Blear Blue How Many Weeks" as they're not as sensitive as the 6 day early response ones (they can only detect 20ml of HCG (or whatever the unit is) as opposed to 10ml of HCG for the FRER and Clear Blue early response tests). I managed to get a "Not Pregnant" on the Clear Blue "how many weeks" a few weeks ago, but carried on with faint positives with the early response ones.

What I have done and you could try if you thought it would help, is to try and start tracking ovulation again. I used the digital clearblue ovulation reader as it works by detecting a pattern in your hormone levels, so I'm pretty sure that I finally (!) ovulated again a few days ago.

Really hope that your body gets back to normal quickly, if you're still feeling lost then I would definitely go back to /ring the EPU, I've found them to be very compassionate.