Miscarriage tissue won't pass!

[MrsBtheQueenB]

Hi All. Had an emergency scan after having bleeding. Sadly it was discovered that I had an 'empty sac' measuring 6 weeks, although I was 8 weeks & my dates are accurate as TTC. Despite this, I was told to come back in 2 weeks to check the 'status' of pregnancy.

2nd scan revealed pregnancy tissue still there & I was offered medical management. I opted to do this in hospital as I had a terrible experience with my 1st miscarriage. Spent 24 hours in hospital, took full course of medication with an extra 2 tablets & still no symptoms or passage of tissue. I only had a bit of diarrhea & felt slightly nauseous.

Had a 3rd scan which only confirmed sac was still present, but had detached & lowered. Hospital didn't give me another dose of medication & discharged me, as they said only small amount of tissue & it should just pass naturally & told me to do a pregnancy test in 3 weeks & if still 'positive' to come back (!)

I'm now in limbo as want this tissue to pass asap & have since noticed my bleeding has started to have a foul smell, which I hope isn't an infection.

Has anyone else had this long drawm out situation??

Hi, so sorry to hear about your loss. I had something similar last year - scanned after bleeding at 8 weeks, baby stopped growing at 6 weeks so classed as a missed miscarriage. I had surgical management and then 3 weeks after was still testing positive. Another scan showed pregnancy tissue was still present but they suggested waiting it out instead of any more intervention because it was a small amount. It did pass a couple of weeks later.

However because you’ve mentioned a smell I would go back to hospital because that is a sign of infection. I would contact your EPU again for advice x

Sorry for your loss. I hope you are managing ok at the minute.

I had a long drawn out one a few years ago. It had stopped at 6 weeks, I found out in a scan at 9 weeks. While waiting for a second scan with epu to confirm I started to naturally miscarry at 11.5weeks. They gave me a scan and said since I’ve started it should naturally happen. Well 3 weeks later I was still bleeding (weird stringy blood by this point only when I went to the toilet) and I still tested positive. So I had another scan and I had retained products. I opted for the surgery to have a finality to it and luckily that worked for me. That was at 16 weeks.

So 10 weeks in total, or rather 7 weeks of knowing it had ended until it was fully resolved.

If I ever go through it again I would jump straight to the surgery.

@Blue2020 so awful isn't it. Glad yours was resolved eventually. I was discouraged from taking the surgical route, as they said the tissue/product is minimal & could cause scarring which may hinder me in trying to conceive again 😳

I had my HCG monitored after my miscarriage. They did them after 48h and then every 7 days to make sure they were coming down. Once they were down to 20 I was told to wait a week then do a pregnancy test. Mine dropped as expected but my scan confirming miscarriage showed no signs of pregnancy. They said something about checking again if my numbers didn't go down as it could have been a pregnancy of unknown location but unlikely as i should have been 10 weeks. It went down as a missed miscarriage as initial HCG would have been consistent with 8 weeks which was when my all day nausea stopped and I was left with vomiting after eating.
It seems to be very variable from hospital to hospital. Talking to people since and in neighbouring hospitals women have had completely different experiences. I seem to be the only one that has had the weekly monitoring

Are there any other hospitals nearby you could try?

I'm so sorry for your loss, it's just heartbreaking. Sending you huge hugs.

I had a similar very long drawn out case as @Blue2020 recently and exactly the same I wish I'd had the surgery straight away. I only had 1cm of tissue left (so minimal like you) which was still attached to my blood supply so wouldn't shift. I was told it would pass naturally as everything else had but it didn't - surgery was easy peasy and wish I'd done it straight away rather than waiting. Scarring preventing you from conceiving again is a very minimal risk, which they are right to warn you about, but you'd be very unlucky, it's a very standard and quick procedure. Odd they advised you as such, I'd maybe ask a second opinion?

I would definitely get the foul smell checked asap though as infection could be much more dangerous.

Good luck and sending strength your way, it's a horrid time.

Thanks @ALM2207 , called EPU, they have told me to come in & they will do a swab & give antibiotics re 'foul smell'. Very frustrating, that none of this is helping to get rid of this 'stubborn tissue'. Will enquire about having D&C/surgery. Although, admittedly they did put me off as mentioned in my post earlier. I am essentially 11.5 weeks (NOT) pregnant...& counting! As obviously not yet over 😔

UPDATE: i went back to EPU, as I started to have a foul smell. They did an internal examination & were actually able to remove the tissue (it looked bigger than I envisaged). They took swabs for testing & have still given me antibiotics to treat any possible infection. I am just relieved this is all over & hope my body can resume quickly, so we can start our TTC journey again. Thanks all, sending love

I'm glad you went back and got seen. Hopefully this is the beginning of your next page in your journey x

I am so glad you got it sorted. This is why I always go for surgical now, it’s quick and painless. They said to me there was very, very minimal chance of scarring, so it’s not something I have ever been too worried about. The first one I had with a blighted ovum I passed naturally and was in so much pain and never wanted to go through that again!

@ALM2207 yes mine was like yours, still had a blood supply.

@MrsBtheQueenB to give a positive outcome I concieved again three months later and it resulted in my son. I hope you are managing ok after everything.

Glad yours has resolved now, the wait is awful! I MC’d at home but had tissue remaining for 8 weeks afterwards until I eventually had a D&C to remove it.

If it gives you some hope, I’m 16+5 now with my little girl who we conceived 2 months after the D&C. Best of luck xxx