8th pregnancy loss...any advice? Recurrent miscarriage / PUL / ectopic

[Steadman80]

Morning everyone,

Just going through my 8th pregnancy loss. Not had any successful pregnancies, all seem to end around 6/7 weeks, have seen a heartbeat once which resulted in a missed miscarriage around 10 weeks. I seem to get pregnant ok but can never keep hold of it. They just put in down to my poor AMH, I’m 39 and was last measured at something like 3.2. I don’t really want to go down donor eggs just yet. I’ve had NK cell testing which came back slightly raised and go on prednisolone and progesterone when I get a positive test. I’ve also had two rounds of IVF but respond poorly. Pregnancy tissue sent away previously came back with normal chromosomes. Just wondered if anyone had any advice? Thanks in advance xx

[Hidden]

Sorry for your loss. Has the clinic not recommended anything to help baby stay? I have had 1 MMC last week and will be on different protocol for frozen..doc said will be on lubion. I know people who tried heparin and it has worked for them.

[Steadman80 in reply to Hidden]

I’ve tried lubrion injections too. They were expensive not that I was bothered about the cost but they didn’t help either. The majority of my pregnancies have been natural only one was IVF. Maybe I should ask to try heparin next time although all my bloods were ok xx

[Hidden in reply to Steadman80]

Oh ok well if I'm right I have read people with raised NK cells go on heparin and it's worked for them.. sorry to say this but I thought poor amh means not so good eggs.. so it could be down to that also? It could be that you have not so many good ones and unfortunately getting the bad ones fertilised.. I think if you go down pgs route that might help? Xx

[Steadman80 in reply to Hidden]

I think low AMH is low number but surely they can’t all be bad. I’ve heard on women get pregnant with levels much less than mine. I’m definitely not going down an IVF route again. I have had two cycles on maximum drugs with poor response. I don’t want to put all that stress on my body again. I’ll ask about the heparin. Many thanks x

[Hidden]

So so sorry for your losses. It is incredibly hard and does not get any easier each time. Have you been tested for blood clotting? Or lupus? Any of the blood tests? On my last round I took baby aspirin right from before the start. I read that older blood can be thicker (I.e. in older people) and that one of the reasons for early loss can be simply due to lack of blood reaching the baby. But best to check you dont have abnormally thin blood for your age before you start anything like that. I.e. get tested and receive medical advice. Definitely one worth asking about though. Xx

[Steadman80 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Camillage,

Ah i remember speaking to you last time I was on. Was just reading up on you, congrats on your baby, this is wonderful!

I’ve had all the thrombo bloods taken and they were all ok and tested for lupus too. The thing with the aspirin is that I got conflicting advice. The miscarriage specialists at Coventry say not to take it until after 7 weeks. The one time I took it on a positive test was the furthest I got but it did end in a MMC. I will ask him again when I see him. I may well have to consider donor eggs, but I just wanted to try for a bit longer. Although I don’t know how many more losses I can cope with. Many thanks xx

[Hidden in reply to Steadman80]

I am so sorry what a terrible thing to go through.

Just to I too have had recurrent MC but my consultant said not to take aspirin until a confirmed pregnancy in the womb because if you take it and end up with an ectopic it could cause catastrophic bleeding - same with the blood thinners I am on as well, they won't give them to me until (hopefully if I get pregnant again) there is evidence of a pregnancy in the right place if you see what I mean.. so definitely check with a consultant rather than just going on it.

Hi Camillage! Hope you are enjoying motherhood xx

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I am very much so. I just really wish for you all to get here too. It is hard to see people going on to success, but uplifting at the same time as you can see there is hope. Big hugs and baby dust to you xx

[Sammy246]

I'm so sorry to hear about your losses. It's the most difficult thing a women goes through. A colleague that I worked with who had a number of miscarriage was recommended to take aspirin and she carried the baby full term. Not sure if you've already tried this xxx

[Babyquest]

Hi Steph8080

I know what you are going through. My AMH in 1.3 and I have had 5 miscarriages in a row. The fourth one was a missed mc which resulted in d&c at 11 weeks. Baby was found to have chromosomal abnormality so the doctors have put my losses down to poor egg quality due to low AMH.

Like you I respond poorly to highest dose IVF so if I were to go the PGS routs it would take possible 7 or 8 cycles to get enough to send for PGS. My NK cells are also slightly elevated so have been on steroid before.

I am now pregnant again. Very early. This time I am on 75mg aspirin. clexane injection once daily. I think heparin is pretty much the same as clexane. High dose folic acid. But no steroid yet due to covid and immunosuppressant issues. It was suggested I could try intralipids too but haven’t done so yet.

I really have no advice. Just to say that I’m pushing the donor egg option down the road too. I haven’t accepted that I’m there yet.

You’re not alone and I’m so sorry you’re going through this.

[Steadman80 in reply to Babyquest]

Ah thanks so much for taking the time to reply. It’s a horrible thing to go through isn’t it. I’m going to ask about the clexane. Did you thrombo bloods come back abnormal is that why you are on it or just because of the miscarriages?

The only other thing I tried too, I forgot to mention this is that my consultant put me on letrozole (a bit like clomid) for days 2-6 when I was trying and both times I got caught pregnant, don’t know if that will help anyone.

Many congrats with your pregnancy. Please keep me updated. I really really hope this one is stays for you 🙏 xx

[Babyquest in reply to Steadman80]

Thanks. I’m only about 4 weeks so it’s extremely early and hard to keep hopes up.

In relation to your question about clexane I actually have no idea why I’m on it this time. It’s the first time I’ve been prescribed it. I can only guess that it helps with clotting alongside the aspirin. I think my thrombo bloods were ok.

[Babyquest in reply to Babyquest]

I should also say that I’m in Ireland so they may prescribe slightly differently here

[Steadman80 in reply to Babyquest]

Can I ask what dose of clexane? Is it 40mg once a day?

[Babyquest in reply to Steadman80]

No Im only on 20mg once a day. Again not sure why

[Steadman80 in reply to Babyquest]

Ah thanks - this is really helpful. Just reading your posts - my doctor gave me prednisolone, slightly freaking out that I’ve been taking it but I’ve been self isolating since I was put on it.

I understand how hard it is. I just try and take each day at a time xx

[Babyquest in reply to Steadman80]

Interesting. My ivf clinic wouldn’t let me take it but when I saw a public consultant at the local maternity hospital this week for blood test he wasn’t so hesitant. Waiting to see hcg levels before he prescribes though.

[Steadman80 in reply to Babyquest]

I only took it to help me ovulate so not when I was pregnant. Not that I thought I had a problem ovulating. I had it from day 2-6 then I went for an interval scan to check on follicles, then was given the go ahead to try that month. There is a risk of multiple births so they have to scan first to make sure you don’t have too many follicles I think. It worked well for me both times. Not sure about taking it when pregnant xx

[Babyquest in reply to Steadman80]

Ah I see!

Steph I really hope things turn around for you. I really do believe that our time will come though. Our bodies are just so damn complex

[Steadman80 in reply to Babyquest]

Thank you. I’m going to keep going for now. I’ve got everything crossed for you. When do you have your HCG monitored?

[Babyquest in reply to Steadman80]

I had a blood test on Tuesday. Then 48 hours later which was yesterday. Haven’t got either result yet. Just hoping the numbers doubled whatever they are.

[Steadman80 in reply to Babyquest]

Gosh it’s a long time to wait. Mine call me after a few hours on the same day! I have everything crossed for you

[Babyquest in reply to Steadman80]

I know. I guess the lab workers are slim on the ground at the moment. My bloods are probably not urgent either

[Steadman80 in reply to Babyquest]

Oh ignore that you mean the prednisolone!! They were ok because I was isolating xx

[Babyquest in reply to Steadman80]

Oh ok. Perfect. That makes sense x

[Lilly12255]

Hi Steph, have you had your Thyroid THS tested?

[Steadman80 in reply to Lilly12255]

Is that just the normal thyroid tests? Xx

[Lilly12255]

It’s called Thyroid functions test and you should have had a TSH level measured in mIU/L. Do you have your level?

[Steadman80 in reply to Lilly12255]

I’ve had them done and told they were normal. Not sure of the level though

[Lilly12255]

You should enquire about the exact levels because what they call normal is too high for fertility. I found out too late. I have had a miscarriage from it. And then it got worse. NoW hypothyroidism. If you just had the miscarriage you could buy a test to do home and get it checked that way to eliminate this potential cause.

[Hidden in reply to Lilly12255]

Hi I have just had a mc where do you get this test from? Xx

[Minella121]

Steph, I literally just joined healthunlocked and the first post I saw was yours. I believe in fate might sound weird. I was exactly in your boat a few years ago and then I stumbled across the concept of having too many NK killer cells in your uterus which attacks the embryo. I took a leap of faith and investigated this privately and progressed with treatment. Please google dr Hassan Shahata or Doctor Gorgy. Any questions please let me know. I eventually fell and stayed pregnant beyond 7 weeks and have twins. I can’t fully remember all of my treatment but I did some of the more controversial stuff - IVIG, humira and Lit therapy (and the normal clexane etc)

[Steadman80 in reply to Minella121]

Ah thank you so much. I will have a good look into this xx

[Zebedee1971]

I've just read this after seeing your most recent post. PLEASE see doctor hassan Shehata for a further opinion on nk cells, I think he can do more for you with this - progesterone and steroids aren't enough, you need more to keep the pregnancy. He'll take your blood, put it into a pregnancy type state, then test the drugs on your blood to see if the drugs calm the blood cells down... I am 100% sure its not your eggs, you wouldn't even get to 6 weeks if it was all chromosomal, (most trisomy abnormalities would end the pregnancy much earlier) and you said you've had tissue come back nornal... It's not your embryos, it's your body. You need a second opinion. Please contact him x