Extremely out of breath after miscarriage

[GingerCalico]

Hi all

Unfortunately my first thread is on this forum, but I do want to start off my saying a massive thank you to all previous threads for all the knowledge and answers i've found. Especially when all you get from a Dr is a shrug and a "keep an eye on it"

This is my 2nd miscarriage in 1 summer (fun) both were at 7/8weeks. I miscarried naturally last saturday, the usual lots of blood lots of clots, most medium, some huge etc.

However I am still bleeding 10 days after which I have read is normal, but 3x now i've had sudden huge gushes of blood like a tap, to the point of needing to immediately run to the loo, followed by huge clots (one the size of a tennis ball, sorry for TMI) last time was a few days ago and I was stuck on the toilet for 30mins, goodbye lunch break!

Anyway all this as horrible as it is seems similar to other stories from you ladies, (again thank you for all your help) but my #1 concern is my severe breathlessness. I get out of breath with a rapidly beating heart/heart palpitations from just walking to the kitchen. I'm extremely weak, cant even change the bin anymore, if I try to do washing up I get dizzy and need a sit down break to catch my breath.

I'm a little scared of infection and sepsis, especially because breathlessness is one of the symptoms of sepsis. The EPU ward are lovely and have given me a direct line but i'm trying not to over-react as my work doesnt know I miscarried and am trying to meet my deadlines as best I can with all this going on.

is anyone experiencing severe lack of breath and rapid heartbeat after miscarriage? Thanks in advance

I think you should get medical advice ASAP. My sister was left very anaemic after a miscarriage and that causes breathlessness but I would get yourself checked out and signed off work for a bit. I think you need time to recover and a medical check over.
Hope you feel in the mend soon physically and I'm very sorry for your lost pregnancy.

Have EPU given you a scan to see if the miscarriage was complete?

You need to be checked. You could have a PE.

Also

Hi

I'm so sorry for your recent loss and the pain.

It sound like you're anaemic because I'm generally anaemic and it does give you palpitations/breathlessness.

It could also be blood clots but I don't want to scare you. Best it to get it checked out ASAP.

Keep us posted
X

Call 111 - they will advise. A simple blood test can check for clots.

I would ring ASAP, explain you are breathless and experiencing palpitations and extreme weakness.

You need to be seen tonight.

I think from previous similar experience they will want you to go straight to a&e just in case OP. Definitely don’t ignore it! And so sorry for your losses.

I was like this with one of my losses I was very anemic very close to a blood transfusion I would request doctors test your blood for anemia and also check your folate x

Hope you got seen in hospital and are feeling better now.

Wow thank you everyone I dont know what to say!
First off sorry for not replying sooner I was trying to get my work done but as soon as 6pm hits I have to go for a nap to get my strength up to eat.(eating whilst feeling nausea is just the worst, so confusing)

I'll call them tonight. I had my bloods taken last week which showed I was not anaemic and my haemoglobin levels were good apparently. I've had no fever or pain which I think is their main concern, but i'll call again tonight and let you know how I got on

The blood test is called a D-Dimer to check for clots.

Just got off the phone from the hospital, theyre always really nice and talk through everything so I feel lucky I have them to call.

She said the kind of bleeding i've had is 'not normal' and i should call my GP asking for a HB blood test first thing in the morning, and if anything changes overnight to ring an ambulance but she said it doesn't sound too bad at the moment as my breathing is ok now as its the evening and im just sat in bed.

For those wondering, the 'not normal' thing was me stuck on the loo for 30 minutes 10 days after my MC, it was like a tap, as in there was so much blood there was no point in getting up or putting a pad in as it'd need changing in 30 seconds. She also said passing clots grape-to-kiwi size that long after MC is also not normal, and neither is being so out of breath that walking to the kitchen means I have to sit down to catch my breath.

Ugh, just want to get better. Cant remember what energy feels like. I used to jog every day now I cant even fathom doing that again in the near future :(

Will call my GP first thing and get a taxi over. The hospital did say if the GP refuses to do my bloods then to call back and they'd tell them off for me

How are you feeling today? Have you seen the GP?

The hospital sound lovely. Good care is so important.

You will feel normal again. And normal will feel amazing after feeling so rubbish!

I hope you’re ok today OP. Did you get your results? I wonder if you have some pregnancy tissue left which your body is trying to remove. I had this once.

I had extreme exhaustion after both my miscarriages, with a lot of blood loss. My iron levels were on the low side but not extremely low, however I couldn’t walk 50 yards without stopping. Normal iron levels vary from person to person so I would push for supplements if you have the symptoms even if your levels aren’t too low. They take a good few weeks to work unfortunately. They made a massive difference to me.

Thanks Pea, and everyone for your advice.

I did end up going to hospital for a 9-hour stay. They were great and i cant sing the nurses praises enough. Everything was explained thoroughly to me so i was never in the dark about why they were asking to do something.

I was vaginally examined again, they took blood and blood pressure, then admitted me to the ward where i was given an antibiotic from a course of 3x a day for a week. This would be to fight infection although they said they didnt think i had one but it was for extra protection.

I was given 4x pills to be taken vaginally to induce cramping to expell any extra materials, although all that came from me was clots.

Their conclusion for my physical exhaustion was that i had continued working at my desk where i should have been on horizontal bed rest to recover from the blood loss, and that was the reason i was getting faint and pale, i guess ive been convincing myself i was fine to work and do chores but actually i needed a lot more rest than i was allowing myself.

Got signed off for 2x weeks, hope i don't lose my job over this! (I know its illegal but it happens, especially as this is a new job and I'm still in my probationary period)

Going to try not to stress about that and rest

Oh! The dr did mention apparently that getting iron from food sources is way better than from pill form, so i definitely can be eating better. Lots of chilli with brown rice and dark leafy veg she said (well she said any meat or fish really)

Im gonna get a box of biscuits for the nurses I think, absolute stars they were

Vitamin C helps with the absorption of iron so a glass of orange juice with your iron rich food will help. I like floradix/spatone liquid iron too. It's a bit pricey but it helps restore my iron levels much faster than diet alone and I eat a lot of iron rich food.

Rest up, try not to worry about work and take it nice and easy.

Thanks @ShowOfHands ive been taking vit c with iron and vit d as well, hopefully thats the magic combo

Update - its now 3 weeks since I first started to MC, ive started to see a pattern developing of either 5 or 3 days of normality (light bleeding, feeling faint and weak as always) followed by huge clots being passed (smallest kiwi size, largest hand-sized)

For this MC i havent had any pain but last night i woke at 1am with excruciating pains, worse than anything ive experienced. Got up to make a hot water bottle and take 2x paracetamol and just writhed about on the sofa to the bewilderment of my cats.

Went back to bed with hot water bottle resting on my uterus and felt movement, so got up again to pass more huge clots, the pain almost immediately went away the second I passed them.

Went back to bed feeling v dizzy and fell asleep with hot water bottle resting on my uterus. Woke up just now at 4am with large wet patch underneath me of watery-blood (not bright red, more like reddish fluid) went to loo and passed more big clots (probably all palm sized)

Im supposed to take a pregnancy test today and forgot to ask partner to buy one, plus i've gone through all maternity pads they gave me at the hospital so it looks like i might need him to stay home again :(

Really hope when I call the EPU that this is normal but have an irritating feeling it isnt and i'll be back in hospital for more poking and prodding soon :( so fed up

Update just for future readers of this thread (past threads have been so helpful to me so i like to do the same to pass on info for others):

Called the EPU just now at a more reasonable hour than 4am - explained waking up at 1am with extreme labour type pains, then passing clots and lots of watery-blood (the big wet stain on the bedsheet wasn't bright red it was like a watery brownish red)

She said as I had started bleeding + clots 2 weeks ago it sounds like last night that was the sac because of the pain :(

Weird feeling of relief, sadness, and also amazement. I asked how come it didn't pass sooner and she just stated some MC's begin that way, weeks of bleeding and clots followed by the sac afterwards :(

As a result, she advised that I move the date that I was going to take a pregnancy test to check hormones levels to 2x weeks from today. Though i'll prob take one in a few days time too just for curiosity's sake.

Really hope this is the beginning of the end now. So tired. Glad ive got a course of antibiotics from the hospital to get through and am signed off work. Maybe now I can even allow myself to grieve? Sounds awful but I've just been so physically exhausted I've just been concentrating on pain, dizzyness, and blood management