Progesterone & Bleeding

[SJD87]

Please can I ask, for those of you who have or are so far having a successful pregnancy after taking progesterone pessaries due to early pregnancy bleeding and having suffered miscarriages before, how long did it take for your bleeding to stop once you started on the progesterone?

I’ve had 3 mc’s and going through a 4th mc as I write this. Bleeding started at 5w3d (it always starts between 5-6 weeks) but this time GP has prescribed Cyclogest on the first day of the bleed (Monday). My bleeding remained relatively medium to heavy-ish with some small
clots and seems now to be getting lighter (Thursday).

I have a scan at EPU booked on Monday which will be 6w3d and I am not holding out much hope as all my pregnancy symptoms have gone, but I’d still like to understand what others have been through.

I don't have any advise but I'm watching with interest.

I have had previous miscarriages and am currently 5 weeks 6 days pregnant. On Monday I had a light bleed followed by spotting, tuesday was just light spotting, yesterday I had a light bleed but heavier than Mondays. Today most of the day has been clear but now this evening I've started with the brown spotting again.

My GP refused to prescribe progesterone. I have a scan Monday and the epu have confirmed that if pregnancy is still there and in the right place they will prescribe.

I had ordered some progesterone cream to use in the meantime but it's not arriving until tomorrow. So I'm not sure if it's going to be too late for me too. My bleeding started Monday so might be too late. Will use progesterone cream from ovulation next cycle though if this doesn't work out.

Good luck. X

I will also be 6 weeks 3 days on Monday. How strange. We are going through almost the same.

Have you tested again? I've been testing and they're still strong. Breasts still sore too, x

Thank you x I’m sorry your GP won’t prescribe progesterone. My EPU told me the GP needed to prescribe it in my trust and so I literally forced an appointment on Monday (when the bleeding started) showed him the Tommy’s article about the PRISM trial and he hadn’t even heard of it, but luckily he said I’ve got nothing to lose (no pun intended) and so gave it to me. Unfortunately my bleeding hasn’t stopped, although it has got lighter, but I know in my heart that this one has also gone, but hopefully next time when I get a positive again (it took me two years to get this one) then I can start taking it straight away.

I tested on Tuesday by the digital showed only 1-2 weeks and the lines test was faint which is why I know in my heart that this one has gone, but won’t know until I know on Monday. No other pregnancy symptoms unfortunately.

Ah that's probably what I should have done. I feel like it's too late now. I didn't find out about any of this until this week. Next time I will know more.

I really hope that the progesterone you've got helps to save the pregnancy. Keeping my fingers crossed that you'll get happy news on Monday. Xx

I had a very small amount of spotting at six weeks and started taking progesterone within a couple of hours of noticing. The bleeding stopped immediately.

But the follow up scan a couple of weeks later showed a missed miscarriage. I stopped taking the progesterone that day when I had the scan and the bleeding started a couple of days later. So it's just a normal miscarriage now, not missed.

I think this is a good thing, as it means my body is doing what is needed naturally without me needing a D&C or medication. I was told about half of the cases of bleeding in early pregnancy are due to unviable pregnancy and so in those cases progesterone can't stop miscarriage. Unfortunately this is likely what has happened to me as I have had so many tests that say I am healthy and I also had a successful pregnancy relatively recently. It is heartbreaking and I am devastated. I am sorry anyone has to do deal with it.

I am sorry you're going through this and hope you get your rainbow baby soon.

Im currently 26 weeks after 12 miscarriages in a row. I bled a lot up to 14 weeks and was on progesterone, aspirin and heparin. I am fairly certain that progesterone can only be prescribed under supervision of a gynaecologist by a gp. My gp needed to get my consultant to sign off my prescription from 12-16 weeks before prescribing it. In my case the progesterone didn’t stop the bleeding but I have a blood clotting disorder (hence the blood thinners) so don’t expect my experience to be like yours - 12 miscarriages is extreme, i have my fingers crossed for you. You should be referred to the reoccurring miscarriage clinic after 3 miscarriages so I’d push the go for this.

Hi ladies,

sorry to jump on the post, I hope your all ok, I have no responses as I’m in the same boat just slightly different sailing;

I’ve had 5 previous losses, I was prescribed aspirin to take daily and cyclogest to take as soon as I got a BFP which I got on Tuesday. I started the pessaries straight away, tonight after using the toilet I wiped and there was pink discharge. I’m only 4+2 so very early. I’ve rang the hospital and going for blood work in the morning. Anyone have something similar with a positive outcome? Xx

Hi, congratulations on your BFP. I hope it works out for you this time. Can I ask what weeks your previous losses were?

At 3 weeks 5 days I had implantation bleeding which was just orange when I wiped. It cleared up. But now at 5 weeks I've had some bleeds which I won't find out what they are until my scan on Monday. I will keep you updated. X

I hope everything works out for you. Congratulations, My previous losses have been bleeding before 5 weeks and 6 weeks. X

Hi ladies, little update, I had hcg done and it’s 33, my cervix is still closed but I had my BFP 4 days ago so hcg seems pretty low, shall I prepare for the worst?

I’d be 4 weeks +3

Usually, I would say yes, prepare for the worst.
But Ive seen some truly miraculous things recently, so maybe keep tracking hCG?

One lady on another board had a 23, then 24, then 45... And then a week later it was in the 400s!

So just keep tracking it and hoping for the best, while keeping yourself grounded that it might not evolve.

I’ve had 5 losses. No living children. I’m prepared for the worst tbh I go back on Monday for repeat bloods

Do you have the cheap little strip tests? I always take a strip test each morning to watch the line progress. If the line doesn't darken and stays faint then that usually signals chemical for me. X

Your HCG may have only been a 5 when you got first BFP. In which case 33 is fine. It has to start somewhere doesn't it. X

My update is that my spotting has stopped. It was slowing down already but I actually had some progesterone cream arrive in the post yesterday so I used it and since I've not had any spotting:

Won't know if baby is actually ok until my scan on Monday though.

Will come back and update x

I didn’t think they’d pick up that little, I used the clear blue digital advance monitor I’m a ball of anxiety, I’ve had no more pink spotting apart from that tiny bit last night at 7pm. X

I hope your scan comes back with a little bean thriving! Good news your spotting has stopped! X

Not quite the question you asked but I'm currently 20w in 3rd pregnancy.
Previously had 2 first trimester miscarriages. In the 2nd I had a bleed, was prescribed progesterone, but foetus didn't make it past 9weeks.
This time I took progesterone as soon as i had a positive test, a couple of days before period was due. GP had said she would prescribe when I had a positive test (I had told her about PRISM and the updated NICE guidelines.)so until I was able to collect that prescription I used some I had left from pregnancy 2.

Obviously this one isn't out of the woods yet, and I won't know if progesterone has been the difference between 1st trimester MC and getting this far.

Hi there, my bleeding has stopped but sadly I’ve got negative tests now and so I’m 99.9% sure the pregnancy has miscarried. I’m still going to go for the scan on Monday but, even with the progesterone, I don’t this pregnancy was meant to be. No pregnancy symptoms anymore. I hope your scan goes well on Monday 😊 Unfortunately this has been my 4th miscarriage. I’ve been referred to Professor Quenby and so hopefully I will find out soon why this keeps happening, but I don’t think I can go through this again and so I think I need to come to terms that this isn’t meant to be for me, but I do hope things work out for everyone else ❤️

Wow, 20 weeks is amazing 😊 I’ve heard the progesterone is fab, but like any medical intervention it’s only going to work if that’s what the body needs (medical professional here) i.e in my instance I thank my progesterone levels are fine (so it’s turned out from tests so far) and so I think I’m miscarrying for another reason, possibly because of scar tissue but hopefully I’ll find out soon. Best of luck to you for the remainder of your pregnancy 😊

Agree with this, my scientific medical brain knows that most pregnancies that are lost are because they are unviable irrespective of what medical interventions there may be. But even though I know this, it doesn’t stop my heart from breaking every time 😥 I am also sorry for your losses and I also hope that you too get your rainbow baby soon ❤️

@SJD87 im so sorry to hear that. There’s nothing no one says to make it easier, I’ve been there many times and I’ve felt that way. We had an ivf app booked for Thursday but I put it back when I found out I was pregnant again. It’s a hard journey. Ivf I felt would give me a lot of answers as they look into things more when private. I wish you lots of strength on your journey xx

I'm so sorry. I wonder if you could use the progesterone from BFP next time and maybe that might help? Have you been advised to take baby aspirin?

I have my scan tomorrow too so will come back and update. The progesterone cream seems to have stopped my spotting completely. X