3 chemical pregnancies in 6 months

[VM7]

I am 33 and we have been trying to conceive since October last year. We do not have any children. In this time I have had 3 chemical pregnancies, all ending before 6 weeks. Absolutely devastated. I am currently going through one now.

The EPU referred me to the reoccurrent miscarriage clinic after 2, however I was rejected as they advised i had to have had at least 3. I contacted the EPU yesterday to advise I was sadly having another miscarriage and asked them to refer me for testing. The nurse I spoke to said a chemical pregnancy is not a miscarriage and therefore I would not be accepted for testing. We are heartbroken, mentally and physically spent and have no idea where to go from here. The same thing has happened 3 times in a row now.

My dr did some tests back in June. All came back ok apart from heparin which was low. The dr isn’t an expert in this area so has wrote to Gynae for some answers. In the meantime we are left in limbo.

We are unsure what to do next, what the tests mean, do we try again? Is a chemical pregnancy a miscarriage? Google tells you different things.
Does anyone have any experience of this?
considering going private in attempt to get some answers? We live in Manchester if anyone has done this before can can share some insight?

any help would be much appreciated. Feeling very alone :(

it is heartbreaking. I’m sorry this is happening.

I had three early losses in 6 months. It is mean to say a chemical pregnancy is not an early loss and I would probably challenge that if you feel up to it. Sometimes EPU is a bit harsh but a consultant reading a referral can be more sympathetic.

I saw recurrent miscarriage clinic and they found nothing wrong really. I had a low vitamin D level for which I took high dose vitamin D. The next time I was pregnant which was only a month later I used progesterone for the first 12 weeks and then I had a baby boy. Apart from the progesterone I did nothing different.

I am a doctor so was very interested in the other investigations and treatments. I considered going privately and did a lot of research. I think I would have tried to see Lesley regan in London but I am not sure it would have changed much. There is a lot of interest in natural killer cells etc and taking steroids but the evidence for this does not seem to be clear. I worry that people are spending a lot on things which may not help because they are so desperate.

i asked my gp to check the basic stuff like thyroid function and vitamin D. They weren’t very willing but they did!

I hope that you will find hope and keep going! The worst girl gang ever is a good place to look for advice and reassurance.
I hope it happens for you very soon.

Most conceptions are lost early, so it is really not worth testing that early, because the chances are you lose it. Plus, early testing might not even mean a conception, just an anomaly, so you get your hopes up, but have not actually even conceived.

Best wait a bit longer to test. Don't test until a pregnancy is established.

If all women in history had counted their "chemical" pregnancies, it would far outweigh live births. It isn't worth the trauma

There might not be much you can do about early losses but if you know that conception is occurring and then for whatever reason it sadly doesn’t work that is useful to know as it shows you ovulate and you most likely don’t have a fallopian tube problem.
It can help to know where the problem (if there is one) can be.

in my pregnancy that went to term, I tested at the day of my missed period and that gave me the opportunity to start progesterone which I feel may have helped.

In my case, I had nausia, sore breasts, strong sense of smell and exhaustion very early in both my pregnancies. Tge first was an MMC and the second a chemical. I do know that chemicals are extremely common but it would seem unfair not to include this as a miscarriage when one is so obviously pregnant. Just my view though.