Rising/static hcg levels after miscarriage

[Julia1507]

Hi lovely ladies,

So a bit of a long one here but has anyone else had rising/static hcg levels following a miscarriage but no retained tissue to be seen on the scan? To cut a very long story short, I had a confirmed miscarriage back in July at 8 weeks pregnant, bleed for a couple of weeks but was still testing positive on a urine stick mid August once the bleeding had stopped. Returned for a scan where they confirmed that all tissue had in fact passed and my period appeared to return to normal and I had my first one at the end of August. Great - stopped worrying 👍🏻

Fast forward 3 weeks later and I was in having a routine scan to check a cyst on my ovary and they found what appeared to be some retained tissue/a very very early new pregnancy in my uterus (possibly 2 weeks but they weren’t sure). I didn’t even suspect/think I could be pregnant again so they sent me off for some hcg blood tests which came back at 47, repeat bloods in 48 hours rised to 58 but then went back down to 49 and I was certain I was having a second miscarriage. Bleeding started on the 2nd October and lasted for around 6 days so I assumed the worst.

I’ve had repeat bloods each week but now my hcg levels seems to be stuck at around 18-21 and aren’t dropping. Had a scan yesterday but they can’t see anything wrong and no evidence of any retained tissue so we’re all baffled. They’re not even sure now whether I’ve had a second miscarriage or whether this is in actual fact some retained tissue stuck in there from the one in July.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? It’s been 2 and a half months since my first miscarriage - would it be possible to still have a tiny bit of retained tissue from July? Next step would be a hysteroscopy.

Any help really appreciated.

Hello @Julia1507 appreciate this is an old post but I'm currently going through the exact same thing right now. Similar levels of hcg and similar time passed since my miscarriage. Wondering if you had any answers?

Hi there,

Firstly, I’m so sorry that you’re going through this. Have you had bloods taken and a scan to check for retained tissue?

I ended up having/requesting a hysteroscopy as this continued on for 3 months and they found a 2cm piece of retained pregnancy tissue, which had been undetected by any scan. I had it removed and my hcg levels returned to normal almost immediately after.

Thank you for replying @Julia1507

I've been scanned twice, once with the nhs last week and once privately earlier this week. The nhs doctors said nothing in there and all normal, while the private specialist did notice a slight adhesion in my uterus and said if things continue he would do an hysteroscopy.

Bloods last week in the nhs reveals hcg of 22.5 and I'm waiting on this week's results. I had medical management for a MMC in mid-March and tested negative (in hospital in April and on digital tests through to mid to late May) before I started getting faint positives again and a positive digital around 2 weeks ago. Getting a bit worried that the hcg has come back despite no pregnancy.

Really hope this is resolved soon, am lucky to have found a supportive specialist at Portland Hospital through my bupa insurance as the nhs completely dismissed me.

Hi @fleur89 I’m sorry you’re going through this. It’s so worrying when we don’t know what’s going on with our bodies. It does sound like there may be something retained that’s not showing on scans. I wonder whether another possibility could be that the previous MC was a molar pregnancy - has anyone raised this? It could be worth querying with your doctor if not. Very unlikely, and it can be a scary prospect (try not to Google too much!) but very treatable if so.