slow dropping hcg

[Dee28]

Hi girls, wondering if anyone can share a relevant experience...due to low HCG and nothing showing on any scans, last tuesday/wednesday i was classed as pregnant of unknown location and to come off all progesterone meds in the hope i miscarry naturally, i was 5w4d at this point. I started bleeding on Friday and its just tapered off to some light spotting. I had an ultrasound and blood test yesterday and whilst the ultrasound still showed nothing anywhere and a now thin lining my HCG hadn't dropped as much as the epu would have expected after a week and a bleed.

Last Tuesday it was 227, this Tuesday it's dropped to 107. The worry has been that what had started to develop was in my tube and I'm to go back next Tuesday for another blood test...methotrexate keeps being mentioned...I really don't want that. So has anyone got any experience of slow declining HCG to make me feel less anxious? I think the epu thought I'd pretty much be at <5 given my levels were so low to start with and the bleed and everything xx

 

[Nomi76]

Sorry to hear what you are going through. My situation was different than yours (I experienced a ruptured ectopic and surgery for removal of tube) and it took around 6-7 weeks for my HCG levels to come back to less than 5. That may give you a guideline, but I'm sure there are ladies on here that can give you more accurate info based on your situation. Take care of yourself.

 

[Bethyboo87]

Oh god, it's so cruel. I'm so sorry to hear how this is dragging out for. I don't have any experience of this though, I'm sorry. Look after yourself xx

 

[Lou1103]

Similar happened to me hun. I was 5+3 and started bleeding, they sent me for a scan but couldn't see anything so treated it as pregnancy outside of the womb. My hcg was rising but only by around 50% every 48 hours.
They thought it was ectopic and were going to reasses me on the friday but the day before (i was 6+5) the baby came out. I took it in with me and they said it was too formed to have been ectopic.
I was terrified of having to have that medication as i was in denial and thought they were wrong.

After that my hcg dropped VERY slowly and i didn't get my next period until 2 months after baby came out.

I wasn't on progesterone at the time. I am pregnant again and on progesterone and think its happening again. Progesterone has its pros and cons one of which is that it can 'hold on' to a pregnancy. I hope you get some answers soon xxx

 

[Lou1103]

Around 6 weeks my hcg was around 800 from memory xxx

 

[Dee28]

Gosh Lou, what a shitty experience, I hope you're not about to go through another loss. All this waiting is just awful, it's driving me mad, my levels never went very high which is why they expected a bigger drop...I just don't want the methotrexate

 

[Lou1103]

Are you in any pain? The thing they said to me is that if i wasnt in pain they could take their time with it because i really didn't want that either.
I don't understand, if your levels are already dropping it seems like your body is already on its way so why would you need the medication?
Ask them if they can give you a bit more time.

I don't mean to sound insensitive but have they said whether or not your body could have absorbed the pregnancy? I'm sure i read that happens sometimes if it is ectopic (and sometimes even if it isn't ectopic)

Thank you hun. I have a scan tomorrow so i should know. Xxx

 

[Dee28]

I'm not in any ectopic pain if you know what i mean. I generally have very painful periods as i have endo and a dodgily located ovary so the bleeding was like a worse version of my normal AF, today i have some crampy, almost stretching type pains low on both sides but its nothing that is causing me alarm at the moment. They didn't mention the absorbing possibility although I've thought about it, would that make levels drop slower do you think? They are happy to take their time as my levels are dropping and are so low but i hate the thought of lots of waiting and still ending up with the methotrexate but i guess at the moment all i can do is wait.

I have everything crossed for you tomorrow xx

 

[Lou1103]

It does sound odd because if you miscarried during that heavy af you would still have hcg in your system. I know its taking a while but that happened with me too (after a mmc at 10+4 mc'd at 12 weeks and 2 weeks later i had a negative pregnancy test). And they can't say whether or not you did mc if they didn't see anything in the first place if you know what i mean.

All they did with me was rescan 2-3 weeks later as i was still bleeding and levels were high enough to say 2-3 weeks on a digi. But they didn't see anything they just said test again in2 weeks and let us know if it isn't negative.

If i were you i would make it clear that you really want to avoid taking those meds. It's so confusing anyway but so much more stressful when you don't understand what's happening.

Thanks hun i'm dreading it but least i don't have to wait long. Plus my scan is with a consultant so hopefully she will be more helpful with regards to the future xxx

 

[Dee28]

There seems to be a lot of waiting to see with such early losses

That's good you're being scanned by a consultant, it should give reassurances either way I hope xxx

 

[Lou1103]

Yeah me too. Sorry you're going through this, hope i was able to help a little xxx

 

[kanga86]

Hi Dee, so sorry for your loss my experience was slightly different but still very drawn out. I found out at 11wks baby hadn't grown passed 5-6weeks, it took a further 2 weeks after this for my body to let go as my epu wouldn't do anything to help until they could confirm baby hadn't grown as only the yolk sac was seen at first. I mc'ed on 30th June and continued to bleed on and off until the 26th Aug when the finally did a erpc op. My hcg just before the op was around 27 and was still enough to cause issues for me. So from finding out about the mc to it being over inc post op bleed was almost 12 weeks!

Sorry to hear what your going through aswell Lou, hope tomorrow goes aswell as it can xx

 

[Lou1103]

Kanga that sounds awful hun

Thank you xxx

 

[Dee28]

Oh gosh kanga how awful. I'm just sorry we have to endure this heartache, I'm hoping beyond hope my ordeal doesn't last that long xx

 

[Cosmogirl7]

Hi dee, I always found the most frustrating part of having a miscarriage is when you just want to move on and try again but my body took so long to get back to normal. Each time it's taken me at least 3 weeks to get a negative pg test after D&C then another 4 weeks after that before I get a period. Maybe your body is just a bit slower at getting rid of all the hcg.

Really hope things sort themselves out for you soon xxx