Dye Stealers 1 week after suspected miscarriage

[Megaprest]

Hi,

I had what I believed to be a miscarriage a week ago today. I had heavy bleeding and some clots all day on Friday and then bled a little on Saturday & Sunday but it fully stopped on Monday this week. I would be 5 weeks today.

I went to urgent care and they just said I had to wait it out as this is my first pregnancy we just won’t know what’s happened and it was too early to scan. However since then I’ve had the darkest dye stealers and there is no sign of them getting lighter which I would expect now a week later? Because I’m early as well I would have thought the tests would be getting a lot lighter by now.

I should hopefully be able to go for an early scan next week but has anyone experienced this before? I haven’t had blood tests as the doctors are rubbish with me so don’t know my hcg levels.

At just 6 weeks pregnant, and having a MC, my hpt stayed really strong positive for a further 5 weeks. I hope when you are scanned all is ok, but HPT at this stage might not give you the answers/reassurance you are hoping for. I hope all turns out okay for you, being in limbo and the waiting to know is so hard.

Have you tried contacting your local EPU at the hospital? Mine let me self refer after my doctors said we don't do anything pregnancy related and they then got me in pretty quickly.

After a lot of bleeding and still getting strong tests, I do think you need a scan asap and blood tests taken to see what your hcg levels are doing. Occasionally the pregnancy can be ectopic if it is a miscarriage but your hcg levels aren't falling as expected. Hopefully nothing like this and it all works out well, but I'd definitely recommend advocating for yourself to get seen sooner and have a clearer picture of what's happening.

Hi,

I rang the EPU this morning and she said that if I’ve had no more bleeding and because I’ve not got any pain then I need to wait a few weeks before they would consider scanning me. But if I was to bleed in the next week or so then I can get back in touch and they will see me. They haven’t offered me a blood test or anything and she just said that tests can come back positive for weeks after a MC so just need to sit tight and wait to see if they become fainter in the next week or so, which is really annoying. No one really seems interested.

i have been worried about ectopic but because the bleeding has fully stopped and I’ve not had spotting or anything since Sunday they don’t seem too concerned.

I am sorry for your loss @Megaprest

Yes it takes weeks (I’ve had 6 losses and never had a negative pregnancy test back for weeks after.) IME it is quicker after surgical management as then they are sure it’s all gone.

Step away from the tests and just let your body heal.
FWIW after one of my surgeries I did get pregnant again 2 weeks later so basically I ovulated then in the middle of a new cycle which started the day I had my surgery.

@MaggieBsBoat yeah this is what I’ve been told, I will give it a couple of weeks and test again and hopefully the tests will have faded. I’ve just been so confused as before I bled my tests were a lot lighter than they are now!

Not to get your hopes up but maybe the bleeding could have been a SCH or something? Being in limbo is so hard. You can have a private scan from 6 weeks - is this an option for you next week?

Am I right in thinking the suspected miscarriage started at around 4 weeks, so roughly when your period was due? If that's the case and it was a loss earlier on (some people on here refer to these as chemical pregnancies) then you perhaps would expect the lines to be fading by now, but everyone's different of course.

I'd just keep a close eye on any stomach discomfort, bleeding or spotting and I'd edge on the side of caution and call them if that happens so you can get checked out. Similarly I'd keep an eye on the tests if you can, so you can process it if they do turn negative, or look to next steps if they continue to stay positive.

Hope all works out well for you.

@Lilac90 my cycle is every 20 days so I was due on a week before the bleeding I experienced - it was very period like though! I will keep an eye out for any symptoms - I still have nausea and very tired but I know this can also linger after a miscarriage

@LolaJ87 I could possibly get a private scan yes I’m going to look into it. Most of the places I’ve looked at say from 8 weeks though

Hi OP, I had surgical management and it took me 8 weeks to test negative! I had dye stealers for 3 weeks straight. I was advised to do a test in 3 weeks and if it was positive to go back to the epu. They did blood test and said hcg is going down but just taking a while and to test again in another 3 weeks. I hope your wait is not as long as mine was xx

Makes sense. If it was sadly a loss at 4 weeks, your tests will likely go negative sooner than those who have had losses at 6 weeks plus. I'd be inclined to use the cheap tests to see if the line does fade, or if you continue to get strong positives, I'd probably book a scan from 6 weeks (unless you have any concerning symptoms sooner) to see what's going on.

@Megaprest also not to get your hopes up, but just sharing my experience. I’m currently 20 weeks with baby 2, and I had bleeding start the same day I had a positive test. It continued for a week but my tests kept getting darker and heartbeat was seen at a 6 week scan with EPU. It was incredibly confusing and I just had to wait until 6 weeks to understand what was going on x

Unfortunately I've found the nhs very uncaring when it comes to miscarriage. If the pregnancy is gone and you're not showing risk signs, you're on your own, mental health be damned.

I'm sorry you're in the horrible limbo land. Hugs and hoping you soon have a smooth pregnancy

Update -

I have got a scan booked in for 30th, unfortunately won’t give me an earlier appointment ☹️ I started bleeding again on Monday it’s only light but no cramps or pain. Pregnancy tests are still very strong and no sign of fading

@Megaprest I'm so sorry you're going through this - that's an awful wait. It's so unfair.

This sounds just like me a few months ago. Personally I took the lines getting darker to be a good sign (by 20DPO I was getting dye stealers), and just held out hope that when they did a scan at 6 weeks all would be OK. My bleeding only lasted a week though, but I did continue to get cramps after that. As per my previous post, I'm now 20 weeks x

@DaisyEM did you get scanned by NHS at 6 weeks? They are so adamant I have to be 8 weeks before they look into anything and it’s driving me crazy I just want to know 😫 holding on hope with the strong positives!! Thinking I might have to go for a private scan

@Megaprest oh no! I'm so sorry I don't know why they would say that. Yes 6 weeks at EPU. I got a positive test at 10DPO, so that felt a long wait until 6 weeks, but to wait 8 weeks would have been agonising. I would go for a private scan at around 6 weeks as a further two weeks to wait is a long time. How far along do you think you might be? x

Seems bad that they won't scan you before 8 weeks, or at least do some blood tests to see what your hcg levels are doing.

Did you mention you're concerned it could possibly be ectopic? When I had bleeding that's what they wanted to rule out as they didn't want to miss it. Hopefully nothing like that but might prompt them to see you sooner.

@DaisyEM the first day of my last period was 8th October so I’d be 6 weeks now. I got a positive at roughly 8dpo - another app told me 7 weeks but that doesn’t make sense to me! I have a really short cycle roughly 20/21 days

I cannot believe they are making you wait until 8 weeks! Can you call your GP and explain the toll this is taking on your anxiety/mental health not knowing if you're pregnant or should be grieving? My EPU will scan from 6 weeks x

I believe the dating from LMP convention is based on a 28 day cycle. If you only have a 20 day cycle and ovulated half way through then you would be closer to 7 weeks by now.

@Megaprest if I were you I'd go for a private scan as soon as you can! I had bleeding a few more times early on, and at 10 weeks we were due to go away for the weekend and the day before I had more bleeding, so I booked a last minute scan literally an hour before and jumped in the car and went, as I didn't want to be away and worrying about the bleeding. I know they're expensive but the cost to me outweighed worrying about it, and for me I know I wouldn't want to wait another two weeks if I could find out now.

I do agree with others though, making you wait until 8 weeks seems so unfair and unnecessary x

These are my most recent tests

I would deffo get a private scan if epu won't see you x