Early miscarriage, towel, tampon, mooncup?

[MrsMopple]

What a week. On Monday I found out I was pregnant after 22 months of ttc dc2. On Wednesday evening I had a bit of bloody discharge (brown not red). Clutching at straws I thought it might be ok, but today I am bleeding quite a lot of bright red blood, so assume it is a miscarriage. (I actually posted about whether I should be worried that my positive line was very faint, maybe I knew in my heart something wasn't quite right). I hate using sanitary towels at the best of times, but feel that I shouldn;t be using a tampon, not exactly sure WHY, though. I was only 5 weeks, so there can't be much for my body to expel, but on the (admittedly miniscule) chance that this isn't a mc, would using a tampon be harmful?
Bought my mooncup ages ago, didn;t really get on with it very well, but fell it would be preferable to using a towel. Any advice, please?

Anyone?

Sorry to hear you are going through this.

technically, you shouldn't use a tampon - I think it is because your cervix is open, leaving your uterus open to infection whilst there is still bleeding areas IYKWIM.

I would stick with the towels until the bleeding stops.

strictly it is meant to be towel only as cervix can be a bit vulnerable as still open and tampon can make you more vulnerabe to infection but given how early it is I am not sure if this logic applies

Would go for a towel as risk of infection increased.

So sorry to hear this. I think that towels are the best thing in this situation, I'm afraid - I wanted to use a mooncup after a molar pregnancy earlier this year, but I think anything internal isn't recommended.

Have you contacted your GP or EPU? I'm sorry you're having to go through this.

Mrs Mopple so sorry that you are having these difficulties.

I am not sure about a mooncup either. I did ask about using a mooncup after I had given birth (so so sorry if that sounds insensitive, in your situation. )

Someone on here advised me that mooncups are only recommended for a "normal" period. So in the case of a mc I wouldn't risk using it.

Sorry to hear this, MrsM.

If it is a mc, then you should really be using a towel to stop the risk of infection while everything is expelled I spose, but as it's very early, that might not apply. The other side of this would be that lots of women have mcs when they're not trying and they just assume they're having heavy periods and would therefore use their normal method.

I think if it were me I'd use a towel to be on the safe side. Can't you use heavy-duty Always? they're not too bulky.

Thanks for your replies. I haven't got anything heavy duty in, just normal Always. I could nip out and get some nighttime ones, I suppose.
Habbibu - I contacted the GPs yesterday and was basically told it was a bit of a wait and see situation, but given that I'm bleeding quite a lot I think it's unlikely to be an implantation bleed, which was the other option the GP said it could be. I can't believe how upset I feel, if I hadn't been obsessively testing, I'd have just thought it was a long cycle this month

It's the loss of hope, as well as the loss of the baby that's so very hard. Be gentle with yourself, and I do hope you get better news soon.

Hi Mrs Mopple,

I'm not sure I have anything to add really, just wanted to let you know I am sorry you're going through this x

I had what I thought was a period before finding out about my ectopic and used my mooncup and tampons as usual. I remember being really worried about this when I did find out, but the EPU nurse just said to use towels from that point on. The risk of infection comes from the cervical os opening slightly to allow the m/c, and internal protection provides a stepping stone for bacteria.

I know towels can be horrible, particularly if you are unused to them, and I think you can be a lot more aware of how much you are losing, but it is def best to follow advice to prevent problems in the future.

Take good care of yourself, ask for medical help if you're at all worried and give yourself lots of time to process what's happened. Just because it's early doesn't make it any less real x

Meant to say, the Miscarriage Association are really good, have a look here

VKFAB x

Thank you all for your replies. I'm feeling a lot better now than I did last week (less tearful) and am now just looking forward to getting this blood loss over with to get ttc again. Thanks for the link VKFAB, will be going on there next.

Habbibu, I'm sorry to hear that you had a molar pregnancy - I was so caught up in my own situation, I didn't register that you had also had a loss. The fact that these were obviously just not meant to be doesn't really help in the end, does it?