Miscarriage confusion

[cuppycoffee]

Hi all,

I was just hoping someone might be able to shed some light on my situation.

So, a couple of weeks ago I found I was pregnant. Due to heart complications I’ve had previously, everything was booked in quite swiftly by a consultant who knew of my previous complications.

A week after I’d found out, I started bleeding, only on wiping but it freaked me out. I was 6 weeks, at this point. I went to A&E and they said ‘it’s not normal, but it is common. Try not to worry. We’ll get you booked in for a scan tomorrow’ - as it turned out, I had a scan booked for 2 days later anyway so I just said I’ll go to my scan that’s already planned.

i went to my scan and advised the doctor I’d been bleeding so thought I’d miscarried. By this time the bleeding was more frequent so I wasn’t expecting any good news from the scan. She shown me that the sac was empty, said I’d miscarried. They took some bloods and said they’d be repeated in 2 days.

so, I went home and tried to carry on. When the day came to go to have my blood taken, I couldn’t face it. My mood had hit rock bottom, I was so sad. I called and asked could I have my blood taken on Monday instead (this was Saturday). She said that was fine but it was important they took the blood.

I went along on Monday for my blood tests, had a call that afternoon that my hormone levels had risen. “Not enough for a viable pregnancy but they shouldn’t have risen”. So they want to do blood again, 48 hours later, because that’s how they assess things.

Im so confused by it. Surely if it’s risen over a few days, it would have given off the same kind of result 48 hours after the initial test. If it’s rising and not falling, should they not do a scan to see what’s going on. It seems so backwards to me. I phoned today to ask ‘if my bloods tomorrow show my levels have risen, what’s the plan after that’ and she said it depends on what the doctor wants to do next.

I feel like they don’t really know what to do. What’s the significance of blood tests 48 hours apart?

last night my bleeding stopped, completely. Now I’m passing blood clots.

has anyone had a similar experience or know what the procedure should be? It’s driving me mad.

thanks

Hi @cuppycoffee

I wish I could give advice on the blood tests but when I had a missed miscarriage, they rescanned me just over a week later to confirm it. I didn't want to read and run though so wanted to say that I know how awful this period of time is where you don't know what's going on. For me it was the longest 9 days of my life and I too was feeling like I was going mad, it was a really tough and sad time and looking back now it was all a blur of so many emotions.

Wishing you all the best and try to look after yourself xx

@cuppycoffee sorry to hear your going through this. Im going through the same at the moment (was 11 weeks 2 days when I saw some light bleeding and I got the same result as you and also told the same outcome, bloods 48 hours apart).

They didn't really tell me what they were testing for either but after a lot of research online I found out that they are testing HCG and progesterone. When I went back in for my second blood test I asked them about this and to check what I read online and they did confirm that

• if HCG and progesterone is declining then it's a miscarriage but if the HCG is declining but progesterone increasing then it could be a sign of ectopic

In my case as both were decreasing and as I was bleeding (lightly at the same) they said that my diagnosis was miscarriage with potential ectopic. They said that no further scans were needed and that the only treatment available for me was to wait for it to leave naturally and to take a pregnancy test in two weeks)

I am by no means a medic but this is just my experience. Hopefully someone else will also reply to confirm if they have similar information,

Sorry you are going through this. I had a similar experience 3 years ago (my first pregnancy) and remember all the same questions

In my situation i had repeated bloods for the same reason as you (hormones rising) and ended up having to have a d&c as my body was not naturally processing the miscarriage

I am currently going through the same experience. 7 weeks pregnant and started bleeding with slight cramps, went to hospital and they referred me for scan. Scan said my sac was empty so it’s a pregnancy of unknown location. Blood test were done and results said my levels were rising but not enough as should be expected. So they still can’t tell anything.
Have to have another scan next week to check again but it’s another week of not knowing and overthinking.
Cant get answers out of anyone and when I ask questions all I get is ‘we have to wait and see’.

@scaredofff thank you for the additional information. That was useful to me as I await to see if it naturally goes.

@CuppaTaddict it really is a awful time the waiting. Sending you good vibes x

Thank you so much for all of your replies. It means a lot.

My bleeding stopped for about 15 hours then started again. Congealed blood clot then just more bleeding followed. I suspect I’ll be being told my hormone levels have dropped after my bloods today.

I’m sorry to hear you’re going through the same thing. It really is difficult and the stuff you read online is all conflicting information. I hope you get some answers soon.

I am sorry you are going through this x
It was actually the anniversary of me finding out on the 23rd so it's at the front of my mind
I remember being confused about what I was told on the Fri so I spent the whole weekend believing the sonographer was wrong and that at the rescan on the Monday it would all be ok.
It's a whirlwind of emotions when your body isn't processing the miscarriage too.
I'm sorry you are going through this. Give yourself some time to grieve xxx

I went for my bloods yesterday and was told my levels had dropped to 300, so it was a full miscarriage.

While talking to the nurse before she took my blood, I mentioned I’d had a miscarriage and she said “Who’s told you that?!” She told me I hadn’t had a miscarriage, it was a threatened miscarriage and I should have continued to take any medication I’d been prescribed for the pregnancy and basically carry on like I was pregnant - which I didn’t, because I’d been told I’d had a miscarriage.

My pregnancy wasn’t planned, but the baby was wanted when we found out. I can’t even begin to imagine trying to conceive, the pure joy at the positive pregnancy test then to go through something like this.

I sincerely hope that you all have better experiences than I have. From what I can see, women in early pregnancy aren’t treated very well - I know a pregnancy at such an early stage can’t be saved from miscarriage but surely we deserve answers and to not spend days worrying about what is happening. xx

Thanks for updating us @cuppycoffee . Surprising information form the nurse yesterday (it seems like we are always in the dark about the information we need during these times) but I'm glad you have answers now.

Your last paragraph sums it up so well. I'm on Day 17 of bleeding after my diagnosis of empty sac and miscarriage and I'm still testing positive for pregnancy but I am so scared of calling the EPU. I know I should but I dont know if I can face it.