Can someone explain this please?

[ANXIETYCC]

we had unprotected sex after a couple of drinks a few weeks ago and I took the morning after pill the next day. My period was due a week ago and I had some brown discharge which I assumed was implantation as my period didn’t start. I took a test and a faint positive came up. Three days later I didn another test and said 1-2 weeks pregnant. I was very bloated, headaches, sore boobs etc. came on holiday and yesterday started bleeding. Went to the doctors and hcg was only 18 and he said likely a chemical. A lot of bleeding today - very heavy and feel awful - headaches, exhaustion, some nausea. But also crying so much and don’t know what is causing what symptom.

obviously I am miscarrying/chemical pregnancy but I don’t understand what the difference is or what is happening. Is this now just an extreme period? Could it be the morning after pill that caused this or making periods heavier?

i have health anxiety and trying to keep calm whilst away.

It sounds very much like my chemical pregnancy (which was my third pregnancy after two miscarriages). As I understand it, a chemical pregnancy is a very early miscarriage and it is also the most common type of miscarriage, which typically happens because there was something genetically wrong with the developing embryo.

My chemical pregnancy felt like a very heavy, very painful and very long period. I also had the symptoms you describe: headaches, exhaustion, nausea. I put these down to falling hormone levels (bHCG which is the pregnancy hormone, but also progesterone which increases in pregnancy and falls during miscarriage) - a chemical is an early pregnancy, but it’s still a pregnancy, and it’s understandable that you’ll feel all sorts of different things. I was surprised with how bad I felt initially but for me, it didn’t last long and these symptoms got better over a week.

I also felt very tearful and it was quite an emotional rollercoaster - again, I put this down to hormones, and it did improve quickly, thankfully.

I hope knowing that this all seems very normal is reassuring and that you can enjoy your holiday as best you can :)

A chemical pregnancy is just an early miscarriage - it’s not a very useful term (speaking as a doctor myself) as it implies there’s some other distinction, when really the only difference is timing. You must have already ovulated by the time you had sex - unfortunately the MAP won’t work in that situation. Heavy bleeding and feeling emotional are both very normal for a miscarriage. I hope it all settles down for you soon

Thank you so much both. Still heavy but feeling slightly clearer headed today although still emotional and just very sad. X