How long is too long to bleed?

[chalky3]

I'm looking for some advice about the length of time taken for the bleeding to stop following a miscarriage.

Six weeks ago I started bleeding which was how I found out I was pregnant. After numerous phonecalls to the midwife, GP and EPU I was eventually seen at the EPU two weeks later. Scans showed nothing initially so a miscarriage was diagnosed and blood tests carried out to confirm it. However, my HCG levels rose slightly resulting in more blood tests which also showed a slight rise. The possibility of an ectopic pregnancy was discussed but this was ruled out following examination and my lack of pain. The midwives and docs at the EPU were baffled so carried out another scan a week after the first one. This showed an embryo at about 4 weeks, though I was still bleeding. I returned to the EPU for another scan two weeks later (last week) for another scan which showed that there was no longer anything there. More blood tests showed that my HCG levels have significantly dropped and a missed miscarriage was diagnosed (quite how they missed it I don't know!) I'm going back to the EPU tomorrow for more blood tests as they are required to track HCG levels until they are

I am sorry for your loss.

I have never had a natural m/c but I have had 2 mmc's. I had ERPC's. I was always warned that going down a natural m/c route was slightly risky in that sometimes not everything is expelled and you have to have an ERPC anyway.

I would say that after the amount of time you have been bleeding, I would request an ERPC just to get everything cleared out so you can start to physically and emotionally heal.

Sorry I don't have more practical advice!

Hi,

I'm so sorry for your loss. Its a rotton thing to go through and worse when you feel you are not following the "normal" course of a miscarriage. I found this website really useful as it shows "typical" recovery stages and helps you know what to expect.

www.pregnancyloss.info/recovery.htm

I have just discovered that my long weeks of bleeding on and off is being caused by a partial molar pregnancy, very nasty thing which is detected by monitoring your Hcg levels. Its super important that you keep an eye on them. Did your HCG levels rise according to a normal pregnancy? They should double every two days, check this chart:
www.pregnancyloss.info/hcg_levels.htm

Having too much HCG is a sign of molar pregnancy, if you did have this you would need to get treated asap or you will really upset your chances for being able to try again soon for another baby.

Best of luck to you. xxxx

Oh chalky I'm so sorry for your loss and the fact that it's been handled so badly. I'm afraid you seem to be having a somewhat similar experience to my own.

I too thought I had retained products as I bled for what seemed like forever after my mc, but my HCG levels were at zero and all tests were negative. After 11 weeks of non-stop bleeding, I saw my GP and requested a scan which showed nothing was left over, but I was still bleeding. No one could help me and I was so fed up, I put myself on the pill for a bit to try and trick my body into sorting itself out. It did work and my cycles appeared to get back into some sort of routine after that, but 9 months down the line I'm having to seek fertility help because I am still not ovulating.

I'm hoping the reason for your troubles is that the pregnancy hormones are still in your system and as soon as that gets back to normal then so will you. I realise my case is a little unusual, but I guess what I'm saying is, don't be scared to push for all the tests under the sun if it would help put your mind at ease. I wish I had been a little more forceful, because miscarriage is hard enough without all the shite that some people have to endure afterwards. Everyone is given the 7-10 days speech for the length of bleeding after a mc, but I don't know why they continue to do this because it seems that less people fit this protocol than don't. I can only assume they do this so as not to scare you, but I found it far more scary being unprepared.

Sorry for the depressing post, but I hope it has helped on some level and I wish you a very swift recovery. x

my continued bleeding appeared to be as a result of a mild infection, as four days after starting anti-biotics it stopped. It took for the GP to come to this conclusion - the hospital kept saying 'oh' when I told them I was still bleeding (I bled for 32 days).

I bled for 8 weeks the first time. My husband and I were 18 and 19 and we didnt really know that was an excessive time. I didnt have the internet access and no one at the doctors ever asked. I did however have to keep going in for blood tests for the first couple of weeks to make sure it wasnt ectopic but when they realised it wasnt after a couple of weeks I just got left to it. No one told me that it was meant to stop after however long or gave me a leaflet or anything.

My second miscarriage was last week and it started on the saturday and it stopped the friday just gone.

(I have had a successful pregnancy though and have a child so there has been positives)

I bled for around seven weeks after a very late mc, I asked my GP whether I should go on holiday (to Spain), he said yes. I ended up having an ERPC in Valencia.