Will progesterone mask a miscarriage?

[LacedBouquet]

Hi all, I’m wondering if anyone has any experience or advice on the use of progesterone during pregnancy.

I’ve had recurrent chemicals, never make it past 5 weeks. This month I started progesterone (400mg twice a day) on 3DPO and got my BFP at 10DPO. I’m currently 4 + 3 weeks pregnant.

I am very anxious and did get implantation bleeding while on the progesterone last week (I assumed I wouldn’t bleed at all), but all seemed fine and pregnancy tests kept getting darker.

My question is, will taking progesterone mask a miscarriage or will you still bleed & miscarry while taking it?

I don't know what the medical answer is, but when I had a MMC I was told to continue with the progesterone until my MVA could take place in case I started bleeding before then.

It increases the chance a miscarriage would happen without bleeding, but it's still not the most likely scenario, even on progesterone if the the pregnancy doesn't continue for any reason your still likely to bleed.

@Whataretheodds @LavenderSweetPea Thanks for the reply! I was hoping you’d still eventually bleed anyway. It’s a hard one because while taking it you don’t really get that ‘security’ in not bleeding.
I did get implantation bleeding on progesterone so my body is definitely capable of bleeding while on it

Some places won't prescribe it until a heartbeat has been seen

I personally had the same miscarriage experience with progesterone as without BUT I didn’t start progesterone until positive test ( a couple of days before period due). I seemed to start the miscarriage bleeding at 8-11 weeks no matter what.
TBH I credit the 3 babies I have to the progesterone, I only mc once with the progesterone, I hope it works well for you.

good luck

@Thirdsummerofourdiscontent thank you for this! 😊 So happy you’ve got your 3 babies.
Can I ask, why did you get progesterone?
I’ve had recurrent chemicals which we think is due to my short luteal phase of 8 days so I was hoping if I got past that initial stage things would be ok 🙏

@LacedBouquet congratulations on your pregnancy!
I have been on progesterone for both of my pregnancies and one unfortunately ended in a misscarriage and even though I did not bleed a lot of people still do even while taking progesterone. My understanding is that a lot of very early losses might happen due to chromosomal abnormalities and if that is the case unfortunately progesterone won’t be able to support the development of the embryo.
I know it’s a really worrying time and if possible I would ask the doctors to do a hcg test to see how that is progressing as that might reassure you of things heading the right direction. Wishing you all the best with your pregnancy ❤️

Thanks for replying @FrostedFlake So sorry about your loss but congrats on your successful pregnancy. Can I ask, how did you know you were having a miscarriage if didn't bleed? Just from the scan or did you still test?
I've stopped testing as it wasn't good for my anxiety, leaving it now until 6w. If positive at 6 weeks then I can phone EPU for a scan at 8 weeks.

@LacedBouquet we had been going through IVF and even though it was our very first positive test I just had a feeling that it wasn’t quite right and I wasn’t as excited as I should have been. Our tests were progressing and I got a dye steeled our HCG was just about doubling every two days but never going past that stage so the clinic kept an eye on it for a few weeks when eventually it started tapering off and coming down. It was a long and hard process.
hope this is the one for you and you get a happy and healthy baby ❤️

@FrostedFlake Sorry to hear that!
Thank you, I appreciate it 😊

@LacedBouquet I know what you mean about hoping if something does go wrong you will at least bleed so you know about it. I was exactly the same way! I will caution you though just in case you have this, constantly using progesterone vaginally can cause some irritation to your cervix so you might notice a small amount of bleeding/spotting from this. It's not dangerous to you or baby if that happens but it can be alarming for obvious reasons. Using the pessaries rectally should be an option as you are taking them for a short luteal phase (but speak to your prescriber if you are unsure)

Sorry @FrostedFlake , I meant to tag @LacedBouquet on the above!

@LavenderSweetPea I have actually always been using these ones rectally. The consultant who prescribed them to me actually recommended I did it rectally, not sure if it absorbs as well but definitely less mess.

For sure, it’s just this awful rollercoaster of emotions. I’m hoping it does mean the pregnancy is currently progressing if I haven’t bled 🙏🤞🏻

Oh that's good! I've got to use mine vaginally which is a massive pain, but I'm now 17 weeks which is so exciting! I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you xx

I was told by my consultant that its unlikely that you will bleed with a mc on progesterone. He said it will take 4 days of not taking it for the bleeding to start. For this reason, I didn't take it.

@LacedBouquet I got told by my clinic that progesterone will likely delay a miscarriage if you were to have one. Fingers crossed you have a healthy pregnancy 🍀

@LavenderSweetPea @abbmebtdab @wtawtaw thanks all! I’m just going to probably have to test again maybe every week xx