Progesterone after recurrent miscarriages

[Sallyjo27]

I’ve had 3 miscarriages- 2 MMC at 7/8 weeks & 1 CP I had some slight bleeding in my first pregnancy but think it was after the heartbeat had stopped. Anyway I’ve had my appointment with a consultant and shes told me to take progesterone as soon as I get a bfp (currently ttc again). So my question is has anyone had recurrent miscarriages and then had a successful pregnancy with the use of progesterone? I thought it was only used for women who have had bleeding in early pregnancy? 🤷🏽‍♀️

I'm sorry to hear that. How do you know it is progesterone? I had an appointment with my GP who said that he wouldn't prescribe progesterone and strongly advised against taking baby aspirin!! He did do bloods today and I get my results back next week. I also have an appointment with professor Quenby on the 13th November so I'm going to ask her if she will prescribe it next time! Xx

Thanks @HalGem99 . I have a short luteal phase and light periods. My many hours of googling (🙄) seem to keep pointing to a progesterone issues and I'm convinced it is preventing me conceiving and caused my mc this week

I had a private blood test done yesterday to check my thyroid function as a thyroid issue can stop you producing the correct amount of progesterone I'm led to believe

Can you not get your GP to do all the basic blood tests. Mine has checked for lupus, clotting, thyroid, vitamin deficiency the works! Xx

@SS123456 if you look up thread you'll see the details for the clinic I used.

Sorry you're going through this

@HalGem99 no they won't help because I have a child already 😔

Thanks @Daffodil21 , where are they based?

@SS123456 they're based in Manchester but they do video appointments (I live nowhere near Manchester). I have to say, the initial phone call to book it did put me off a bit, but the appointment itself and the doc was really good.

I don't know your history but I've had 2 previous MCs so they were happy to prescribe based on that. Definitely worth a phone call though

Thank you ladies for all your information and I'm so sorry for all your losses. Just a rant but I'm so fed up of having to do so much research as a non medically trained person and chase and chase and chase.

I had my bloods taken about two and a half weeks ago at Tommy's Birmingham and have been told I need to wait till mid December for results. So fed up.

We've been trying for 2 years now and I just feel like it's never going to be us. Feel a bit sad today

I'm sorry to hear that. Why such a long wait? It's so frustrating! Xx

Thank you @Daffodil21 that is really helpful. I have 'only' had the one mc so I bet no one is going to be willing to help. I don't think I can allowing one or two more babies to slip away to 'justify' my need for help. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all 😔

Allow*

@SS123456 because it's private it's not like the NHS thresholds. Because you're paying you're likely to get what you ask for. I've had two, which isn't classed as 'recurrent' on the NHS but I was still prescribed everything. The main thing I wanted was progesterone and then everything else was a 'just in case' bonus. You're paying for the service so it's different. I refused to wait for a third before anything was done either

I had two early MC and now on progesterone. I have strong side effects that are similar to pregnancy symptoms and it’s really messing with me. AF is delayed now, I last tested two days ago and it was BFN. Shall I test again or can cyclogest delay periods? Does anyone have experience with this? My consultant didn’t mention it.

Can I just ask, for those who have had recurrent missed miscarriages, did you see a heartbeat in those pregnancies and if so, was this a red flag for your doctor? The reason I ask, is because I've had two MMCs and had my first telephone consultation with professor Quenby on Friday and I was expecting her to say these things happen and prescribe me progesterone but she didn't! She said she thinks there's something wrong because of having got to the heartbeat stage in both pregnancies and only being 32 at the time.

@HalGem99 hiya, I'm so sorry for your losses.
I had five miscarriages ages 30 - 32. I saw a heartbeat for three of them. Getting to about 7 - 10 weeks each time.
I tried progesterone for the 5th pregnancy, but it was a blighted ovum, didn't make a difference.
I turned up for fortnightly scans for my 6th pregnancy at a walk in EPU, didn't take anything as the research at the time said progesterone didn't help in unexplained recurrent miscarriage. My little girl is 20 months.
Fast forward, I got pregnant again and now the research says progesterone helps in recurrent miscarriage if you present with bleeding in a current pregnancy. I did and in was prescribed by my GP, who I had to show the research to and I'm now 25 weeks.
I hope that helps answer your question and I wish you all the luck in the world. xx

@HalGem99 I know we've spoken on another thread (hello again 👋)

I had progesterone for my third pregnancy where I saw a heartbeat. It didn't make any difference. Sorry to be negative but that's not always the answer

Thanks both. I'm just trying to work out why it was a red flag for me but other posts I've seen they were just told to try again or take progesterone or aspirin etc. I don't know when I'm next going to speak to professor Quenby again and I'm driving myself crazy! @SugarSW7 so there was no explanation for your miscarriages? Did you have any tests? Xx

@HalGem99 there was no reason for my miscarriages that they could find. I was tested after the second and third. They tested the baby after the third - a normal baby boy, they couldn't tell me why I lost him.
There often isn't an explanation and it's very unlikely to have five. I was unlucky, extremely. But, I'm glad I didn't give up. I never thought I'd have one, let alone be expecting another.

Hi,
I know this thread is a few months old but didn’t want to start a new post when there was something else already started. I had my appointment today after 3 mc. I will have bloods done and a 3D scan internally to look for structural abnormalities. We will have karyotyping.
Although the consultant said the foetus had no abnormalities when tested and she wouldn’t expect the bloods to come back with anything wrong. She said when I fall pregnant again they will start progesterone and I will have direct access to them so I do not need to go through GP. They will monitor very closely. I can also have a biopsy done but this is part of a study looking into the thickness of the endometrium. It’s quite a lot so I will think about that after the bloods and scan.
So sorry for all of your losses but it has been positive to hear of people’s future pregnancies. I hope everyone is doing well.

@Sallyjo27 hiya hun. Sottu about your mc. I mc 2 weeks ago but want ttc asap. What does the progesterone and aspirin do? Just looking for all options. Also would you recommend any supplements. I'm taking folic acid and vit d for now. Thanks

Sorry all I forgot to update. I went on to have another miscarriage- my 4th. I’ve now been prescribed clexane injections, steroids and progesterone and aspirin if/when I get pregnant again.
@Lizbb progesterone is known as “the pregnancy hormone” it helps you sustain a pregnancy so sometimes if your progesterone is low it can cause a miscarriage. Aspirin helps thin the blood and stops it from clotting. I’ve been told to only take aspirin from 6 weeks pregnant as it can affect implantation. There is conflicting evidence for and against this. I personally take omega 3 (not cod liver oil though as that contains high vitamin a) vit d and folate instead of folic acid incase of mThfr gene x

I should mention too I’ve had lots of bloods and scans etc my husband sperm analysis was really good too, no cause has been found.

@Sallyjo27 I'm so sorry to hear you had your 4th mc.

I just wanted to give you a glimmer of hope. I had 3 MCs and currently on my 4th pregnancy. I haven't given birth yet, and I'm only just in 2nd trimester (14 weeks) so I'm by no means counting my chickens yet. But this is the furthest we've got by far and all seems to be looking ok so far... I'm taking steroids so they seem to be doing their job. I'm pretty convinced they are the only reason I'm still pregnant. I'm starting to taper off them now and pretty terrified about doing so tbh!

Don't be daunted by the clexane - I used to hate needles and thought there's no way I could inject myself (I tried clexane in my last pregnancy) but you really do get used to it very quickly.

Just to add, all my bloods came back clear as well. The consultant actually congratulated me on how good they were, which just made me angry as she should have been questioning why this keeps happening when everything looks ok.

Just to warn you - there are side effects to the steroids (is it's pred). I gained a stone in weight by the time I had my booking app, and I have a moonface, which should go down now I'm tapering off. It's not pleasant but it's a small price to pay!

Wishing you all the best