Miscarriage - Lodi, CA

I know it has been a while since you posted and I hope my response isn't too late.
I have had multiple miscarriage, one of which was @ 16 weeks. I also hate taking drugs.
The medication they are prescribing causes uterine contractions to expell the last of the tissue. Aloe Vera Juice will do the same thing with out side effects. You can get it at Wal-mart or most other pharmacies.
Hope this is helpful.
P.

I miscarried 3 times last year, so I've had it all.
Is the pill called Misoprostol? I took that the last time around because the baby had died 2 weeks before and I hd no symptoms of miscarriage because I was on progesterone therapy.
The pill only worked partially - I had to have a mini D & C to remove the rest. However - in your case it may be the push your body needs to get things cleared out.
the cramps hurt - so ask for a prescription pain med - motrin won't even put a dent in it.
Keep an eye out for fever and if you go from slow - dark brown blood to very heavy fresh blood - get checked immediately - I had an infection from the left over stuff and that's how I ended up with the proceedure.
I am so sorry for your loss - I know exactly how you feel. It really sucks and people don't know what to say to you. You'll be told to be grateful for your child - as if wanting another baby somehow means you feel kiddo #1 isn't "enough." You'll feel a little crazy from the hormones until you get a normal period again and then you should feel like the gloomy clouds are lifting.
It does get better - give yourself time for grief - you did lose more than a fetus, you lost the potential of 2 beautiful babies. I've got some books on the topic if you want them, I'll mail them to you.
Take care of your self and hug your family as much as you can - it's the best therapy - plus a little fudge chunk ice cream.

Hi L.,
I haven't read any of your other responses so please excuse if this is repetitive. First, my sincere prayers for your swift physical, psychological and mental recovery. I've never been in your position, so I don't pretend to understand, but in trying to imagine, I'm so sorry for you. My mother had 2 miscarriages and I remember her sadness. Please grieve any way and however long you need to, and don't let anyone make you feel bad for needing to do that. The pill is call misoprostol (generically), and basically, although it is used for other things entirely as well, it will cause you to go into "labor". You will have contractions and bleeding and hopefully expunge anything that is left in your uterus. It has about an 84% success rate, as opposed to a D&C which has a 97% success rate. It can take up to a week or so to complete, so 48 hours is a very conservative number. This is your body, so you have the right to say whether you want the pill or a D&C. The D&C procedure comes with it's own risks such as the failure rate and the pain etc., but the benefits are a better success rate and faster closure for you (theoretically). You may not be in the best mental state right now, so you may want to discuss this with your husband, and again with you OB or even your best friend just for a sounding board. Whatever you choose, just be as informed as possible, and then allow yourself time to grieve. Then pick yourself up, knowing that you are not alone, and continue to live life to the fullest. Know that miscarriages usually happen because something was wrong with the fetus that made it incompatable with life, and that is the body's way of taking care of that before things get any farther along. Take care, God bless, and I will be praying for you.

Hello L.,

I am so sorry for your loss.

I had a miscarriage too, and was told the same thing about taking MISOPROSTOL. It was NOT SAFE for me to take.

I bled so much that I ended-up in an ambulance when my husband found me passed out and not breathing. I ended-up having to have a dnc any way to stop the bleeding.

Later my family Doctor, (not the one who gave me the misoprostal) told me that she never would have let me take it. Apparently, it has caused similar problems, even death, for others.

I have a history of crazy, heavy long periods, so it probably had to do partly with my sensitivity to bleeding, but I would warn against taking this medication.

I went on to have a beautiful, healthy baby girl almost exactly a year later.

I hope that if you do decide to take it that you go to your doctor at the first sign that you are bleeding too much and also have someone home with you when you take it.

Take care,

H.

I am sorry for your loss. I don't know about the pill, but after I had a miscarriage I found that I needed closure too. I went to the park and released a balloon into the sky with a prayer and many tears. I felt I needed to acknowledge my loss with some kind of gesture. My thoughts are with you.

Hi L.!

I am so sorry for your loss. Life afterward is tough enough emotionally, but then to handle your body at the same time is even more difficult.

I honestly believe that you would "save yourself" further damage by just taking the pill. You could put yourself in jeopardy by NOT passing everything. Let the pill do it's work, so I don't have to worry about you :O)

Even though your body needs 48hrs of recovering from this pill, it's your heart that will need longer. Try not to be too h*** o* yourself for a little while. Your hormones are "going back" to not being pregnant, so you need time to adjust. But, please try to make sure that you get up, put makeup on, and get your top half all dressed. This can help you from getting too depressed.

I'm not sure if you are a faithful person, but try to remember that God never brings us to something we are not strong enough to handle. For whatever reason, this is the best for you. Thankfully, you have your little one to help keep you distracted.

Believe it or not, one day, this won't be the thing that you think about all day long. You won't ever forget it, but one day, it will not consume your emotions.

Hang in there............

~N. :o)

I am so sorry for what you are going through. I had a miscarriage at 11 weeks 6 days. I did have to take some pill because I kept bleeding a lot but I'm not sure what it was called either. It was fine though. I did still bleed for what seemed like forever but it eventually stopped. However what I really wanted to comment on was your hope for "closure". My miscarriage is one of the hardest things I have ever been through and I had a hard time with it for quite some time. I got pregnant again about 6 months later and I don't think it was til then that I really started feeling better. And I was so scared the whole pregnancy. Now that I have my baby girl I am fine with it and she is worth everything I had to go through but just be patient with yourself and don't feel like you should be over it already. It takes time. I hope you feel better soon. Good luck trying again! S.

I haven't had your experience, but I wanted to pass on a great big hug! It will be ok honey. Do what you feel is best for you. You could try drinking chamomile tea and bathing in products that have chamomile in them... they can cause the uterus to contract... come to think of it.. so can juniper berry. Do some research on these two herbs if you are curious... it might be another option. (((((L.))))) (that's a cyber hug if you're not a chat junkie like i am! )

Hi L.,

You should get the full name of the drug and look it up online. Look at "side etfects" and "clinical trials" also rare side effects.

If it were me i would let my body finish it's work. I had a miscarriage when the baby was 7 weeks, and it took care of itself. You will most likely bleed a little more as you have more tissue because they were twins. I had a full term pregnancy after that, and then another miscarriage. I had a full term pregnancy the month after my second miscarriage!
If i had taken any medications to induce uterine contractions- I think there could have been a possibility that the pregnancy would have never implanted or if he had, he would have been expelled. Who knows how long those drugs hang out inside your body.

I did look up Misoprostol, one of the drugs they use for inducing uterine contractions. Heres what this kind of drug said about itself:

*80% of radioactivity in the urine after taking it orally.

*inhibits gastric acid secretretion (gastric acid helps us digest our food and keeps infections out of our gi tract, reducing it opens up the gi tract like a target to infection.)

* post menopausal bleeding

* hyperstimulation of uterus which can lead to tetany and impairment, impairment of blood flow, uterine rupture, SEVERE BLEEDING, shock, or death.

* Produced pre and post implantation losses in mice,..findings represent possibility of general ADVERSE AFFECT ON FERTILITY in females (and males who take this drug for ulcers).

ALL drugs have side effects and react in and on the body in numerous ways. More people die from drugs given out by doctors than all illegal street drugs combined.

See if your body can do it by itself. Give it a little time. After you stop bleeding, just watch for signs of infection ( bad smell, discharge) but i'm sure you will be ok.

Hi L.,

(My daughter's middle name is L.. :)

I have no experience with the pill. I had a somewhat similar experience before I got pregnant with my daughter. I had a miscarriage - sort of. Apparently my fetus became "inviable" at about six weeks, but I knew nothing about it until 11 weeks, when I started bleeding a little. We figured out through ultrasound what was happening. (I was very, very sad, too. I can relate.) But my body had not passed the tissue. The doctors gave me a few days and then wanted to do a D and C, which I REALLY REALLY didn't want.

So I went to my accupuncturist and asked her to help my body pass the tissue. It was an extremely intense experience, but it worked and my body was able to do what it needed to do without drugs or surgical intervention.

If you are in the San Francisco area, I highly recommend my accupuncturist Anju Gurnani.

Best wishes to you,

E.

Hi L.,
I'm so sorry to hear about the miscarriage of your twins. I am a mother of triplets, but before them I miscarried at 6 weeks as well. I did not have to take a pill, but I did get a shot of methotrexate. Not sure if this is the same thing in a pill for that you are doing. It was not too bad. The bleeding was slight, and my body reabsorbed most of the tissue. I had minimal cramping, but emotionally I was a wreck as we had been trying to get pg for a year. My doctor did say that we couldn't try again for 3 months, as this drug depletes your folic acid. I hope everything works out for you. If you have any further questions, let me know.
S.

Hello L.,
I had a miscarriage last October and understand some of your feelings. I was lucky enough to pass everything after a couple days so I didn't take that pill. However, I just wanted to lend you some support and let you know I'm here for you if you want to message me! Try to keep your chin up and enjoy your 27 month old!
Best of luck,
C.
PS. IF I were in your shoes, I would take the pill and just get it all over with. I was doing blood work to make sure the baby was all gone and I had to call the doctor 4 times to find out if everything was gone. Once I got the answer (4 weeks after the miscarriage) everything was a lot easier because it was done.

L.,
I'm really sorry to hear of your loss. I've never been in your position before but I will pray that God will wrap his loving arms around you and bring you a bit of comfort through this aweful time.
Blessings,
L.

I am so sorry to hear about your miscarriage. Last January I miscarried twins, one at a time at about 8 weeks. It was devastating and took time and faith to heal, it hurts. I had to do that pill because I miscarried the first one, but the second one had no heart beat and they gave me a couple of weeks to do it on my own and then they made me do that. It was extremely painful and lots of bleeding for a few days.It was terrible and ofcourse makes you even more emotional. I wish I had better things to say but if you do end up taking it, take very strong painkillers with it. Again, so sorry for your loss.

Hello,
I'm really sorry for your loss. I know this is a hard time for you but it will get better. Slowly everyday it get better and before you know it you won't be thinking about it anymore. I had a miscarriage in the summer and I did take the pills that they gave me. To be honest with you I hated it! It was horrible cramping to the point were I couldn't move. I have a toddler girl and I had to send her to my mothers house for a few days because I couldn't even pick her up or anything. Also, the bleeding is sooo much! I don't mean to be so blunt but it was like passing a few cups full of blood and clots evertime I used the bathroom. And I could leave the house cause I never knew when I was gonna pass more. For me it was different though cause after using the pill I still didn't pass threw everything so I had to do a d&c anyways, which was worse then the pill! But like I said this was my experience not everyone is the same. I do advice, however, that you take it over the weekend or whenever your husband can be home so you can have his help. And I hope that if you do take it it will get everything and you can just be done with it. I know how that feels, I miscarried in june and it wasn't over for a month. But like I said once its all finally over it will start to be better. And then you'll realize a few months later that you pregnant again and everthing is fine! Miscarriages usaully only happen once to most women and 50% of women have had one, so your not alone. Good luck getting threw this :)

Dear L.,
I have no experience with the medication you are talking about.
I just wanted to pass on my support. I'm so glad you reached out to this community for advice and support and I hope you find the answers you are looking for. In the meantime, be gentle with yourself. Love your husband. Love your toddler. And let them love you back.
Take good care.
C.

Hey L., is J. here....I was at 8 weeks and didnt' have a D&C.....I didn't take that pill, but IMO, I'd take it and be done with it....I don't think I could take goign back into the OBGYN and having her try and clean me out again....I hate even having to say that...you lie there feeling imcomplete...if anything, the pill is probably a hormmone that is really going to kick your body into gear to shed a couple layers of lining...Really sorry this happened...HUGS to you.