will the bleeding ever stop?

[Jakey87]

hi all, as most of you probably already know i had medical management of mc the first week in april, after waiting 9 weeks for it to happen naturally i couldnt cope any more and had the tablets and pessaries, i had a horrible experience at hospital and not going into too much detail i ended up bleeding too much and was pinned to a bed and had the sac removed by a doctor without painkillers and the room was like a blood bath. that was the first week in april and i bled quite heavily for almost 3 weeks after, i then had very light bleeding/spotting for 2 weeks then what i thought was a preiod (very heavy and painfull) which lasted 2 weeks and then light bleeding/spotting again untill yesterday no bleeding at all, i thought it was all over but today i am bleeding again, only light but im starting to get a bit worried, iv bled constantly for almost 9 weeks now and my G.P seems to think this is normal and said my body would deal with it in its own time, he took blood to check my iron levels and told me to eat liver (yak) im just wondering if any of you have experienced this??? how are we suposed to even attemp to recover mentaly while the physical process feels like it will never end and every time you go to the loo your reminded again and again your baby is gone? im realy starting to wonder if that doctor at the hosp did any damage and if all this bleeding could cause problems in the future? any ideas? sorry for the rant and long post x

oh jakey this sounds really awful. i haven't followed your story and wnoder how far along you were with the pregnancy? i guess it's relevant, because if you were only a few weeks pregnant, this does sound far too much bleeding. I also think you should be offered a scan and a possible ERPC if the scan shows any further products. this is FAR too long for it to be dragging out. you were very brave to wait as long as you did for your natural miscarriage but it can be an awful experience. there was a lady on this board a few months ago who had a similar experience to you - the bleeding went on for weeks and weeks - so it is not unknown but it doesn't sound right to me. i would seek a second opinion from another GP or return to your own GP and say you're really concerned and reaching the end of your tether.

Jakey,

You poor love xx I too had a medical management after waiting for things to happen. It didn't really work for me, I bled but nothing came out like products etc. I bled for 8 weeks - nearly 9. I was beside myself like you are - worrying if it was -all ok, if I had any permenant damage etc.When I say beld for 8 weeks - like you, it was constant.My hosptial refused to do any surgery for me - even after 2 scans showing retained products. Eventually - only 10days ago i stopped bleeding. My dr gave me progesterone tablets for a week. It fools your body into thinking its having a period, makes you stop bleeding, then when you stop taking them, you do have a heavier bleed as your uterus sheds the last bits. The tablets didnt stop me bleeding but did lighten it. Please be assured you will stop bleeding. Your body like mine, refuses to be rushed into anything I hope this helps you a bit. Askme anything else if I can help I will xxx

Jakey, so sorry to her of your troubles. I had a partial mc six weeks ago followed by a heavy bleed which started 12 days ago and is still going very strong. I have looked it up all over google and apparently it can last a long time and be quite intermittent, but is different for everyone. If you feel concerned, see your medical people again.

I hope you reach an end to this soon.

It is very difficult to recover while your bod is still rightint itself, so sending you lots of love and understanding.

Really, really sorry to hear about your mc Jakey.

I had an mc in Jan this year and bled for 10 weeks - opted for 'conservative management', but gynae nurses (didn't ever to see a consultant ) never told me there was a possibility a natural mc could mean bleeding for so long or I would've had ERPOC. By Feb I wanted an ERPOC but scan showed that what was left was too small (aparently it had to be 25mm or larger to have the proceedure).If it's any consolation all, the mc felt like it would never end but did eventually.

Has your GP or EPU been taking blood to check hormone levels to see if they're falling? Could be worth asking your GP if they'll send off a weekly blood test to check.

Don't blame you for skipping the liver Jakey (blurgh!), but maybe try Floradix if you want to top your iron levels - multivitamin tablets with iron make me vomit(sorry TMI!) - but Floradix is vegetarian liquid iron supplement and doesn't make me feel ill. So sorry you've had to go through all this and hoping that it stops really soon. xx

hi all thanks for replies, i was 5weeks 4 days preg when the scan showed no heart beat my G.P thought i was further on thats how i ended up with an early scan. by the time i had medical management 9 weeks later the sac mesured 8+6 as even though baby had stopped growing everything else continued to progress which seemed so unfair at the time.
because the doctor at the hospital removed the sac whole i was told i didnt need any follow up appointments unless i waited longer than 8 weeks for a natural period, i did not have a scan to check for retained products and the only blood test iv had since medical management was last week when my doc wanted to check my iron levels due to prolonged bleeding. i told doc what was happening with continuous bleeding and he didnt seem too concerned, he said my body will deal with things one step at a time, i asked for a scan and was told it was not needed as the medical forms from the hospital said all retained p.o.c removed. im at a loose end now as my G.P is the only doctor iv seen since and he dose not seem to be taking me seriously, it could take up to six weeks to change doctors and i dont want to wait that long for this to be over, i rang the midwife who told me she did not deal with mc aftercare and to contact my G.P again but i cant get another apointment till next week. batteryhen i will ask about progesterone tablets, but if its anything like finding out when i can re-start the pill i will have a fight on my hands, doc says just let my body do what comes natural but at the moment my body dose not seem to be able to do anything right .CharlieTango can you buy Floradix over the counter? i may give that a go if my iron levels come back low. thanx ladies for all the replies and so sorry for your losses x

Jakey I feel for you, I think the care after miscarriage seems so often to be rubbish. My GP is like yours, he has the view that the body will sort itself out in the end however long it takes. I miscarried naturally nearly 6 weeks ago at 9 weeks pregant and am still prone to bleeding. I've had one blood free week in that time, but apart from that have been spotting or bleeding all the time, sometimes heavy sometimes barely anything. I find it incredibly frustrating that things aren't going back to normal and it must be worse for you after even more weeks. I feel as if it will just go on and on.
My GP doesn't want to see me again unless I'm still bleeding after 12 weeks or I get extreme pain, so it is frustrating.
Is there another doctor you can see at your surgery? I've decided I'll ask to see a different doctor if bleeding hasn't stopped in 2 more weeks.

Jakey,

When I told my Dr that the progesterone hadn't stopped me bleeding - she wanted to put me on the combined pill for 3 months. I was horrified, but could see the reasoning behind it - it builds up the lining of the uterus so when you do bleed again - hopefully it will expel all what is left. However, I held off - gave myself a time limit of how long I would wait before i started the pill (think I gave myself 3 days) and luckily it stopped.

Do ask about progesterone tablets though, its not a contraceptive, just tricks your body. RE IRON - yuk to liver, but broccoli is full of iron

Good luck xx

just an update that might help - I'm on day 13 of bleeding (mostly heavy, and a little respite on Friday, then heavy again, then a little respite today) and doctor told me today that if it doesn't stop within five days I should have another scan, and they will look at why. So I'm guessing they think it's reasonable to have bled this long.

Floradix is available over teh counter, btw, I find it really good during my AF visit to pump up my vits and iron levels.

Sorry to hear your GP is not very supportive Jakey. Is it possible to see another GP at the same surgery? The GP I saw at mine was quite brusque but concered about the treatment I was getting at the EPU and willing to back me up if I wanted to go back in for further investigations. Psychologically this really helped me not feel like I was making a fuss about nothing; he also recommended I see another GP at the same practice who'd specialised in gynae before becoming a GP.

I feel so disappointed that you're not getting support from the professionals - we shouldn't have to fight for basic consistent care like this. There are such gaping holes in mc aftercare - 5 mins on the mc threads shows what a total lottery it all is. Just a thought but would it be worth putting a call NHS Direct? Are they meant to get someone with experience in that problem to call you back? Haven't used them for a while but may be worth getting an opinion from them??

Hairy Triangle is spot on - you can get Floradix over the counter from chemists/health food shops, get the liquid supplement and they also do a yeast/gluten free version called Floravital. Sorry I am a Floradix bore . You could always eat 4 dried figs if you want to top up your iron levels - they've got more iron than 2 slices of roast beef (unfortunately lamb's liver came top of the pile - still won't make me eat it!). The FSA website also says dark chocolate is another source of iron, which is a good excuse to indulge.

Hope you get some answers/peace of mind soon. xx

iv tried to make an apointment with another G.P but the next available apointment at my practice is with my own G.P next week, im seriously considering just walking into the practice an demanding to be seen by someone who knows what their doing, but feel i may just make things worse. all of this is realy getting me down now, i cant concentrate on anything and im dreding going back to work if im still bleeding as i do home care for people with disabilities and its somtimes quite heavy work and wont be able to go to the loo as often as i need to iykwim. im gona give the figs and dark chocolate a go lol perfect excuse to break my healthy diet which my doc said would get me back on track and didnt work. il see what my iron levels are like when i get the results on friday and if their low il get some floradix/floravital over the counter. batteryhen im glad you didnt have to go on the combined pill, unlike you i do want to start the pill again to get my cycle sorted, im not ttc again as due to my brothers death and the stress of making all the arrangements me and my partner split before i found out i was expecting, the mc and my emotions caused a majour wedge between us and now there is no going back, even if we had managed to work things out i think it would be too soon for me to ttc again and remain sane. CharlieTango il give NHS direct a ring if i get no joy with my doc next week to see if there are other options. anyway rant over with thank you all for the replys x

Jakey I'm so saddened to read this. I too had really crap aftercare after my mc. I bled continuously for 11 weeks but no one could give me any reason for it, despite internals, ultrasounds and transvaginal scans. I was basically told everything looked normal and to wait it out. I know just what you mean about not being able to recover emotionally until the physical part is done with and I put myself back on the pill for a while as I just couldn't handle waiting/ continually bleeding any longer. I now seem to be infertile nearly 8 months down the line and have basically just been told to wait it out. There seems to be no room for women who don't fit into the 7-10 days allotted recovery time according to the NHS's protocol and a lot of GPs seem a little bit clueless.

I would definitely make another appointment and tell your GP how emotionally distressing you are finding all this. You are within your rights to ask to be referred to a specialist if your doctor still won't do anything but tell you to wait. It's important to stress that you've had a particularly rough time of things in other aspects of your personal life too. I completely understand the feeling of creating a fuss, but no one should have to put up with this. I've only just built up the courage to make another appt after months of trying to be patient, but this is your life and there is no reason why treatment for a mc should be any less important than other health issues you may have.

I find it baffling how any woman post mc could ever entertain the thought of eating liver, even if she liked it before!!! I'm with CharlieTango in terms of being a Floradix bore. Wonderful stuff and isn't nearly as hideous as liver or iron tablets! Let us know how you get on.

Jakey I was told yesterday at hospital that if the bleeding continues over three weeks then you should see a GP or hospital doctor, and they will advise you. I know how horrible it is and I would like to send you a great big virtual hug.

You MUST make a fuss - they are there to help you physically and emotionally, and we all pay them to do so - I'd even go so far as to say over egg the pudding fuss wise if you can (although it sounds like you have plenty of woes which they should take seriously without the need for over-egging).

I'd even say go to A&E or demand a referal to a specialist, sounds like you are having a rotten time of it. x