3 miscarriages in a row, all before 6 weeks

[positivevibes32]

Hello all,
I’ve just had my 3rd miscarriage within 9 months. I can get pregnant very easily it seems! but they don’t stick!
The first was at 6 weeks, second at 5+2 and the most recent at 6+1.
On all occasions each scan has never shown a heartbeat. We could see the sac area but not much beyond that.
They all started with brown/pink spotting and have all passed naturally without any intervention.
I don’t have any children and i’m 31. Naturally i’m really scared and now know I can get tested but feel so overwhelmed and also know a lot of the time nothing comes back.
Has anyone been in a similar situation before, where pregnancies don’t progress and has had a successful outcome? xx

Most likely due to low progesterone (easy fix) or something genetic. You need to ask for further bloods to begin with. So sorry for your losses

If you can afford to, it’s worth getting bloods done privately. NHS tests are limited in what they look for and ultimately treat.

Firstly I am so sorry you've been going through this. I experienced 5 losses in total. Still to this day not sure why, I was on lymecycline which is an acne medication at the time which doctors thought may have contributed but still not 100%. It's so tough and so scary and I send you all the love and positive energy in the world.

As reassurance, i eventually fell pregnant with twins and by some miracle they both stuck. They are 6 now. You are strong and so is your body. Please don't be hard on yourself and please don't blame yourself. Try and continue to eat healthy, perhaps take folic acid daily and keep going lovely! You've got all our support!!

Hi I have been in exactly the same position as you, three heart breaking loses, as you know after the 3rd you can get testing in my case it was me I had a blood disorder called antiphospholipid antibody syndrome. It's where my body was attacking my pregnancies thinking they were foreign bodies. We now have two beautiful healthy girls all thanks to a daily injection of fragmin to thin my blood down and a daily baby aspirin. I really wish you luck and find out why.

My friend has this and it turned out she had Hughes syndrome (anti phospholipid). She had to inject herself each day with anti blood clotters for the pregnancy to stick which it did successfully. See if you can get bloods done

Exactly the same situation. 3 losses all at a similar stage. Pregnancy loss clinic did genetic testing and nothing was found. Was put on aspirin, progesterone suppositories and high dose folic acid and the next two pregnancies were successful.
Best of luck the third one really affected me psychologically so mind yourself.

@switswoo81 can i asked what dosage your folic acid was? Im in similar position.

I am so sorry to hear about your losses @positivevibes32 I had 5 losses all before 7 weeks last year. I was referred to the recurrent miscarriage clinic and prescribed aspirin and progesterone which worked for my next pregnancy and am 25 weeks pregnant. Before my referral I did see a private consultant who prescribed me progesterone so that could be an option too if you are able to. I wish you all the best

I had three miscarriages in a row when trying for my second baby. All of mine were around the 6 week mark. I had a series of tests and the only thing my consultant could find wrong was that my thyroid function was borderline low. I was put on a low dose of thyroxine, fell pregnant after a couple of months and carried to term. I would request a blood test to check your thyroid.

@Frazzled2108 hi, I'm in a similar situation unfortunately miscarried twice abd NHS just sent me home saying try again. You mentioned "pregnancy loss clinic" - please can you tell me more, what is this? Is it NHS or private.
I'd like to also get tested and understand the cause and get treatment. Thank you

@Frazzled2108 hi, I'm in a similar situation unfortunately miscarried twice abd NHS just sent me home saying try again. You mentioned "pregnancy loss clinic" - please can you tell me more, what is this? Is it NHS or private.
I'd like to also get tested and understand the cause and get treatment. Thank you

I had exactly this situation. Nothing found on testing after 3rd miscarriage. I wasn’t offered progesterone (I don’t know if my tests showed I didn’t need it or if it wasn’t something they did back then). Went on to have successful pregnancies. Like you, I also got pregnant easily with early miscarriages (including 1 missed miscarriage). I found it a stressful and lonely time and I did struggle during my first successful pregnancy and didn’t quite believe I would have a baby until they were actually born. I was very emotional after they were born - my midwife said it wasn’t unusual in my circumstances to feel that way. In subsequent successful pregnancies, I told myself to just accept I would only ever enjoy my pregnancies in retrospect. I didn’t tell anyone I was pregnant other than OH until I had 20 week abnormality scan. I’m sure people thought I was but never mentioned it till I did.
All the best.

thank you everyone for your advice. it’s reassuring to know there still may be a few causes and treatments to help. The fact these keep happening at the same time to me is telling me it’s not just bad luck.

@Amyjones86 How did you go about seeing someone private? was it quicker than NHS testing?

@switswoo81 when did you start taking the asprin and progesterone? was it from ovulation or positive test?

xx

It is definitely worth investigating. However, with regard to your comment about feeling it cannot just be bad luck, a significant number of miscarriages happen at around 6 weeks as the circulatory system activates and needs all the other systems to be working. In times gone by, women would not know they were pregnant and had an early miscarriage, they would just know that their period had been later than normal. It doesn’t make it any less upsetting but early miscarriages are statically more likely than later miscarriages to an issue in the individual ovum rather than women. It is worth getting checked out after 3 by an obstetrician. I do still remember how upsetting and all consuming it was. I had reassurance scans in my subsequent pregnancies. All the best with the investigations.

@Flowerlover010 apologies I can't remember. I just remember.it had to be ordered from the chemist and it was the highest dose possible.the clinic said it was their trio they always tried even if it wasn't the folic acid If you know what I mean.
@positivevibes32 the medication was taken from the day I found out I was pregnancy. The pregnancy loss clinic instructed me to test from 10 days post ovulation and to call as soon as I got a line . I then started on the medication the next day . I had no losses at all once I took the medication.

I am reluctant to mention this as I believe it was the medication but I had also begun fertility acupuncture after the third loss a huge part of this was just for myself and the therapy/talking part of it. I did continue it until 12 weeks pregnant and it relaxed me personally. The pregnancy loss clinic encouraged it just to complement the drugs.

I'm so sorry you're going through this. It's really tough. Definitely check for Antiphospholipid Syndrome. I had 6 losses in a row between 6-8 weeks due to this and it is easily medicated. I believe they do two blood tests 12 weeks apart outside of pregnancy to confirm. I too fell pregnant really easily but just couldn't carry. We were diagnosed on the NHS but ended up under the care of Dr Gorgy at the London Fertility Academy - would highly recommend. The treatment is really not that bad and I'm now 38 weeks with number 3! Best of luck x

Hi @positivevibes32 Yes it was a lot quicker. I had an 8 week wait for my recurrent miscarriage appointment on the NHS, so I saw a private consultant during this time in case the NHS appointment got delayed (it did). I saw a consultant at Nuffield Health in Brentwood and was seen the following week after making the appointment, I had a scan and was then prescribed progesterone within 2 weeks of contacting them for the appointment. I'm glad I had the private progesterone as it took me a few days to get an additional progesterone prescription from the NHS when I had run out of the NHS issued ones. Good luck!

Sorry you've been through this. Baby aspirin 72-80mg may help along with progesterone pessaries. Baby aspirin you can buy over the counter. Failing that you will need a series of test called 'immune testing'. For the NHS to do anything their criteria is 3 miscarriages. Good luck.

thanks everyone for your replies. i managed to get a private referral whilst waiting for my NHS appointment. Sending love to anyone else going through this also xx

I also have antiphospholipid. 3 miscarriages before diagnosis. I was diagnosed at Leeds recurrent miscarriage clinic, who supported me through my next 3 pregnancies. The hospital managing my third miscarriage referred me to the clinic but if yours hasn’t get your GP to do this. Get the ball rolling now as there can be a wait - however I have found that once the referral process has started the clinics will try to assist should you become pregnant again while waiting.

I started 150mg aspirin immediately and will take that every night for life to prevent clots from the platelet clumping APS causes. From a positive test I have blood thinning injections. I also have 5mg folic acid - recommended if your BMI is over 35. My first pregnancy under the clinic was successful, the second was not. Progesterone was added to my meds and baby 2 arrived last week.

@DancingShinyFlamingo I disagree with your comments regarding early miscarriage. It doesn’t matter that people wouldn’t have known about them in days gone by - modern science has moved on from the 80s where you needed 3 missed periods before you could get a pregnancy test - APS has only been recognised since then and women like me and others on this thread would have simply carried on having miscarriages with no known cause.
Problems with individual eggs are more likely if you’ve had just one miscarriage. After one miscarriage the odds of another are small - 14-20%. Some of these may again be due to problems with the egg. Of these women who have had 2 miscarriages though, between 25 and 30% of them will have a third - and after 3 the likelihood of another increase again. Less than 1% of women will experience recurrent miscarriage- the reason they are more likely to have further miscarriages is because 2 or more miscarriages is more indicative of an underlying issue than a random lightning strike. I think it’s important to recognise that.

Hi @positivevibes32 I know this thread is a few months old but just checking in on how you have been getting on? Going through v similar situation myself.

hey! so i fell pregnant straight after my 3rd mc with no cycle in between. I was fully accepting of a mc happening again tbh however i got to 7.5 weeks and went for a scan and had a heartbeat (couldn’t believe it). At 8 weeks I started taking progesterone and a daily mini asprin but totally my choice, i wasn’t told to do this. I also can’t say if this is why i’ve gotten further this time as i never got to heartbeat previously and this time i did without changing anything. By some miracle I’m 16 weeks now, still very very anxious and scared but holding on to every bit of hope this is my rainbow baby.

I hope you find the support and help you need ❤xxx

@positivevibes32 great to hear!! Thank you for sharing. Wishing you all the best in the coming months.

just thought i’d jump back on this thread and say my daughter was born today nice and healthy.

still unsure why i had 3 early miscarriages but hope this gives some positivity for anyone going through something similar if they find this thread ❤

How lovely, congratulations @positivevibes32