Hi all
I have recently gone through the experience of using Misoprostol to bring on my missed miscarriage.
When I was deciding the right path for me after finding out my baby had stopped developing, I was struggling to find first-hand, real and honest experiences of using misoprostol. There was a lot of info out there on the NHS website (and similar) about the generic 'period pains & bleeding' but barely anything about real experiences. So when I went through it, I vowed to write my experience somewhere online for other women to read. Not to say you'll have the same experience, but just as a reassurance that another human has been through this and you are not alone.
I am 25, healthy, and active. I had the awful experience of finding out at my 12 week scan that i had a 'missed miscarriage'. To be honest, I did not know that this could even happen. My baby had stopped developing at 9 weeks, and i had no signs, no warning, no symptoms that it had died. The news was a complete shock. I got sent home with a leaflet of info about the 3 ways in which the baby would need to come out of me. Expectant management, Medical Management, or Surgical Management. For me, medical management was the right option as it gave me more control.
I returned to hospital a few days later for a blood test and to pick up my prescription of Misoprostol.
I had anti-biotics to take 2 hours before i started the treatment, so i took these at 12pm on Friday. I then settled on my bed (with snacks, tv, blankets etc) and inserted the Misoprostol tablets into my vagina as directed at 2pm. I laid still and relaxed as directed for 1.5 hours on my bed. I begun to get some mild, period-like cramps around 4pm.
I then made my way down to the sofa (with said blankets etc) and relaxed here, waiting for my husband to return home from work.
5pm, my husband made a light dinner for us (snacky food, chicken nuggets, chips, pizza) as I didn't want to sit with a full plate in front of me. Cramps were geting stronger, more of a constant cramp along the front of my stomach. Nothing overly painful (I hadnt taken any painkillers).
5:30pm, bleeding started. Had some large clots to start with heavy period-like bleeding. Same crampy feeling, nothing overly painful, no painkillers taken.
10pm, my husband and I went up to bed. Still heavy, period-like bleeding and cramps. Not overly painful - took 2 paracetamol before bed and fell straight asleep.
1am, woke up with intense contractions. These lasted about a minute or 2 at a time and came in waves. Could almost sleep inbetween contractions, but when contracting, it was very painful. I took 2 codeine tablets. Heavy period-like bleeding, some clots.
1:45am, after laying in bed, breathing through contractions for 45 minutes, mid-contraction i felt a 'pop' high inside my vagina. Immediately after this pop, the contraction stopped. I went straight to the toilet where I bled, a lot! It poured from me (for a very short time) before I passed 2 very large clots - I didnt look at these too much so thats all i can say about that. I stayed on the toilet (as i was bleeding heavily) for around 45 minutes-1hour.
2:45am, I sat in bed eating popcorn (i felt exceptionally hungry). I then went to sleep with my alarm set for 1 hours time (i was scared of bleeding through pads etc).
4am, woke again in lots of contraction pain, on and off in waves. Went to the toilet, bleeding very heavily, changed pad etc, took some painkillers and returned to sleep.
5am, same as 4am.
6:30am, same as 4am.
7:30am, same as 4am. Passed another large clot/thing. Fell into the toilet so didn't see size etc.
9:45am, woke up having lots of contraction pain. Probably less intense than 1am. Still painful. Felt dizzy when standing and faint. Husband brought me a bacon sandwich and coffee in bed which I ate. Relaxed in bed for a while then moved downstairs to sofa.
11:45am, very painful contractions, felt very very nauseous. Didn't want to move off the sofa, stomach pains when standing, pelvis felt exhausted. This continued throughout the day.
4pm, starting to feel much better, lots less pain, probably mild-period pain now. No contractions, nausea disappeared and hunger begun. My husband picked us up beige chinese food (thats all i fancied) but i ate lots which helped.
10pm, chilled out all evening on sofa, drank lots of water and ate snacks. Very tired so went to bed. Still heavy bleeding all day, much much heavier than period.
9am Sunday, felt much better. Light period pains, but still bleeding heavily. Went over to a friends house for a chilled out roast dinner and TV day with our husbands. This helped take my mind off everything :)
9pm Sunday, needed to ' use the toilet ' for the first time in a few days. Bowel movements were putting pressure on pelvis area so were causing quite bad pain. after using the toilet, had a lot of pain from pressure and movements 'disturbing the peace'. Took painkillers and went to bed shortly after.
7am Monday, mild period pains only, still heavy bleeding (more like a period again now). Hurts to stand up for too long so took it easy this morning and went to work for a short time in the afternoon (im a self employed beautician).
7am Tuesday (Today) , mild period pains, bleeding is starting to get lighter now, so would compare to medium flow. Boobs feel sore (hormone changes i would imagine), very tired but will be doing a full afternoon at work today.
From here, i believe everything will be getting better day-by-day. Going to take a pregnancy test after 10 days, again at 2 weeks and again at 3 weeks (if not showing neg). Hopefully negative will show soon, and then i will begin Ovulation tests to try and get back into tracking my cycle. Then to TTC again as soon as we can.
Everyones experience will be completely different, but i just hope that this helps somebody who was in my (clueless) position before i begun my Medical Miscariage.
Best of luck to all you amazing, strong women who are wanting to start families. You are never alone.