how can I tell If Ive had a miscarriage, or just a heavy period?

Question

My period is a few weeks late I woke up to go to the toilet, before I got there I felt wet and blood fell out on to the carpet. I reached the toilet, I thinking it was a heavy period with being late and felt what I thought was period pain. the next thing what I thought was a big clot fell out and splashed blood and water from the toilet right up to my nightgown. I put a big clump of tissue there whilest looking for tampax. A few minutes later I removed the tissue to see what looked like clumps of blood and pieces of like clear skin. At this point I began to wonder as I thought maybe it could of been part of the sack the baby should of been in, but Id already flushed the toilet. I am 39 and have a daughter of 19. I kept on bleeding badly for most of the day, the pain has eased and im only loosing a normal amount of blood now. I was just about to send this when I just felt all warm and wet, Ive looked down and I have leaked through my jeans again.

Answer 1

if youre in the uk try NHS direct you need to know if your were pregnant if you have Rh-ve blood group as you will need anti d injection Go to A and E - now I realise that at 39 and the mother of a teenager you will feel a little foolish saying I dont know if I was pregnant or not but believe me hun they have heard worse do it as soon as you can
periods do tend to get heavier as you get older and clots are not that unusual but better to be safe than sorry

Answer 2

Bleeding from the vagina, with or without abdominal pain, nearly always heralds miscarriage. An early miscarriage may cause no more discomfort than a menstrual period without menstrual cramps. In some instances vaginal bleeding does not mean that a miscarriage will inevitably occur, but there’s no way of you knowing, so you should always consult your doctor.

As far as a doctor is concerned, any bleeding in the first 24 weeks is pregnancy is considered to be threatened abortion until proved otherwise.

The bleeding may be light or heavy, accompanied by the passage of mucus or not; there may be a small amount of backache and discomfort in the lower part of the abdomen.

Doctors have come up with no better cause for a threatened abortion in the early stages of pregnancy than “hormone imbalance” or a “hormone insufficiency” which doesn’t suppress the next period, if bleeding of this type occurs and hormone levels remain low then abortion will almost certainly follow.

There is no specific treatment for a threatened miscarriage. Doctors used to suggest complete bed rest, but this does not make any difference to the eventual outcome; unfortunately, if miscarriage is going to occur, it will happen whether you rest or not.

If, however, the bleeding stops and the pregnancy continues normally, you might be advised to refrain from penetrative sexual intercourse and strenuous exercise until the foetal movements haven been felt, which happens at about 20 weeks with a first baby and 18 weeks with second and subsequent babies.

Inevitable Abortion:

If the bleeding does not stop and if abdominal pain appears or worsens, which usually means that the uterus is contracting to expel the foetus, most medical experts agree that efforts should not be made to try to salvage the pregnancy.

If the abortion is incomplete, you will need surgical attention. Examination of the products of conception doesn’t always reveal that a part has been left behind in the uterus, but this becomes obvious when bleeding persists after the miscarriage has taken place.

However, it’s important to have the uterus cleaned out to avoid further haemorrhage and pelvic infection. This involves admission to hospital for one day for an ERPC (evacuation of the retained products of conception) under a general anaesthetic. During this operation any abnormal material is removed form the uterus.

Types Of Miscarriage

Threatened Abortion:

An abortion is possible but not inevitable; there is bleeding from the vagina, rarely accompanied by pain.

Inevitable Abortion:

Vaginal bleeding is accompanied by pain due to the uterus contracting. If on internal examination the cervix is dilated, an abortion is bound to occur.

Missed Abortion:

The foetus is no longer alive but is still in the uterus. The uterus will expel the foetus eventually.

Complete Abortion:

The foetus and placenta have been expelled from the uterus.

Incomplete Abortion:

The foetus has been lost but some of the products of conception are still in the uterus and will have to be removed surgically.

Recurrent Abortion:

An abortion has occurred on more than one occasion, for different reasons and at different stages of the pregnancy.

Habitual Abortion:

Three or more miscarriages have occurred at the same time and possibly for the same reason in each pregnancy. High temperature and abdominal pain following the abortion indicate infection.

Answer 3

Get thee to a doctor RIGHT NOW! It is possible that you are having a miscarriage....and you shouldn't just ignore it. You may need a D&C so that all product of conception is removed from your body...otherwise you can get an infection.

The only person that can tell you if you were pregnant is a doctor who can test your blood for beta HCG hormone.

You're a grown woman and should know better than to be on here asking strangers for advice over something so important. Run, don't walk to a doctor now.

Answer 4

I would go the A&E right now. They can tell if you have had a misscarriage by doing a simple pregnancy test as the pregnancy hormone stays in ur body for a few days after. I had a scare just like this and went straight to the hospital and luckily it wasn't a misscarriage. Dont feel embarrassed or worry about over reacting like i did, thats what they are there for, go get it checked out now. Good luck xxx

Answer 5

Uh, a little tmi (jk), but it is possible you had a miscarriage given what you described. You probably want to go see your doctor if you're bleeding very heavily just to make sure you don't need a D&C if there's some tissue retained in your uterus. The doctor can give you a pregnancy test, which will still show high levels of HCG if you were pregnant, that way you'll know for sure.

Answer 6

Oh dear. Just to be safe, I would def go to your ob-gyn and get checked out. It's quite possible that it's just a really heavy period, but since mine have never been so heavy as to let out large clots [they are actually sometimes normal, most people do get them] I would get checked. You never know.

It just might have been extra lining from your uterus that never made it's way out, or more might have happened to come off this time than normal. Has it happened before? If so, nothing to worry about.

But either way, make an appt. with your ob-gyn or you can always call and ask if they'll know or if they think you should get checked out.

Answer 7

This sounds like a miscarriage to me, you should go to a doctor and get checked, you may need a d & c
Why didnt you do a pregnancy test if your period was so late?

Answer 8

You should seriously go see a doctor if you feel that you had a chance of a miscarriage.

Answer 9

i would go to the hospital incase i havnt experienced miscarriage so i wouldnt know maybe somone else on ere can help..but go to the hospital anyway..
good luck just hope it was a heavy period....

Answer 10

Sound a bit like it. Sorry. You really ought to see a doctor hun. Good luck! x