Misoprostol medical management failed

[jengrosve]

Hi all,

I am having the absolute week from hell: had a private scan last Saturday and discovered that the foetus was measuring quite a while behind my dates. Started bleeding on Sunday and attended EPU on Monday afternoon. Dr there said she was very sorry but could see pregnancy product half way out of my cervix: she decided to remove it and then discovered that it was actually a blot clot.

The earliest they could get me in to confirm miscarriage with a scan was yesterday afternoon and I was then given the option of medical or surgical management. I opted for medical in the naïve belief that I would miscarry last night and recover today so I could go back to work on Monday. I’m the head of English at a secondary school currently in the middle of the CAG process and quite frankly, this couldn’t have come at a shitter time.

Anyway, nothing has happened. Pessary placed at 3:30pm yesterday, along with a diclofenac suppository for the pain. A slight increase in bleeding about 5 hours later and then some horrible stomach pain in the night. Definitely stomach and not abdominal though. Nothing else at all and the bleeding has now reduced to the light bleed I’ve had since last weekend.

What now? I honestly think that this not working has upset me as much as the miscarriage itself. Not only can I not carry a baby, I also can’t even miscarriage properly.

I have read that I’m not going to be offered a second round of misoprostol but I just want a D&C now. Does anyone have any experience of this? I’m desperate to hear what happened next.

Thank you.

Sorry I mean, ‘I’ve read that I will NOW be offered a second round of misoprostol‘

Hello, I’m so sorry for what you’ve been going through.

When I had medical management, I did pass some shortly afterwards but I also passed a lot a couple of days later. That took me by surprise as i wasn’t expecting it and was at the shops. I had to rush home as had a strong urge to push.

Can you call the EPU and ask for a scan to see what’s going on?

Hi, I’m a teacher too so totally understand the crap ness of the timing. Sorry for your miscarriage, it’s just a horrible experience, I hope you’re okay emotionally. I had a miscarriage at 8 weeks ish last year, which I think of as the miscarriage from hell because it felt like it would never end. Scan showed baby not growing, bled a few days later, so incredibly heavily I went into cervical shock. Stayed in over night and had the misoprostol, which did nothing at all. Went back a week or so later for another try, which also did nothing at all. Then more scans and more waiting then had a date for a surgical management but (as I didn’t want it) I decided to try a DIY miscarriage based on novels I’d read of an insanely hot bath, and that seemed to do the trick. When I went for the pre-op, I said that I had a feeling it was done and they scanned me and it was. It took 13 weeks to finally get a negative preg test and stop bleeding (like pp said sometimes huge clots that felt like they needed ‘delivering’). It was the most insanely protracted and awful experience ever.
In fairness even the medical staff said it was unusually drawn out, but I actually don’t think it’s that rare. A friend of mine had medical management recently that didn’t work and then surgery the next week.
I think you just tell them that that is what you want and turn down the option of a second go at the medical. I only tried the medical because I’ve had a tough time getting pregnant, ivf eventually, so didn’t want the risk of any damage, however minimal. But psychologically, I would definitely prefer for it just to be done quickly.
Really hope your experience is a bit smoother than mine and that you take the time you need to recover, even if it is a terrible time professionally. Offer to work from home or just do bits or have time off completely if you need it. Or say you’ll push through and have a week off after it’s all done. But look after yourself.

@Teakind thank you for this. I think I'm just going to have to be patient!

@AutumnVibes your experience sounds absolutely horrifying; I'm so sorry you had to go through that.

I originally decided on medical management for the same reason as you; I didn't want to take any risks re. infection or scarring etc but after the absolute crushing disappointment of nothing happening last night, I don't think I can bear to go through it again.

I'm lucky in as much as school are entirely not fussed about how much time I take off but I've got a shed load of marking to finish and then actual CAGs to put together by the end of the week after next. My new plan is to be back to work by Tuesday in time for moderation but not knowing what is going to happen over the next few days is just torturous.

I hope everything is going okay for you at school at the moment. Bring on half term!

You sound like a real trooper! Push for a swift surgical management and hopefully get back into the swing of things ASAP. Marking from home sounds more manageable then you can sack off trying to teach at the same time. Good luck.