Hcg levels question... I think it's almost over

lebongo

I have a question about hcg levels....

Background: Monday (11/14) was my 8wk appt (I was 8w2d) and that was when I naturally m/c. They took my blood Monday and again on Thursday (11/17). On Mon my levels were 4471 and on Thurs they were 479. On Friday I had a feeling like I was done bleeding - and today there has hardly been a anything, and what's there is brownish. So I think I'm done with the actual m/c... we have more bloodwork scheduled for Dec 2 and will continue to check until my levels are 0.

Questions: 1) when you're about 8wk pg, what are normal hcg levels?

2) if some people have tens of thousands and I only had 4471... maybe the baby stopped growing earlier and I just happened to natually m/c at 8wks?

3) do levels drop at a consistent rate, or do they slow down as they get closer to 0?

tcuhoneyb

That's nice that they are continuing to measure your hcg levels. My levels at 8wk, 2d were greater than 22,000 but on sono the baby only measured 6 weeks with no heart beat. The next week I went for another ultrasound and the fetal pole and yolk sac were still growing but no heart beat. I chose to have a D&C on 11/17 because the doctor said that it could take 4-6 weeks to have a natural miscarriage. I do not know the level you are supposed to be at 8 weeks but my doctor said my levels were consistent with an 8 week pregnancy. It is possible that the baby stopped growing before the 8 weeks and that's why your levels were lower or it could be that the placenta had already detached from the wall and the levels started to drop. My doctor told me that your hcg levels half every 12 hours until they are 0. So for example, in 12 hours after my 22,000 they would be 11,000 and then 12 more hours they would be 5,500 and so on until they are 0. I plan to take a pregnancy test at home in about 4 weeks to make sure it is negative, then I will know my levels are 0. Hope this helps and I am so sorry for your loss.

lebongo

Thanks, that does help... I started spotting Sunday evening. I had cramping most of the morning and by 11am the pain got worse and the bleeding turned red. At 1 the blood was still red and it was the most pain I can remember ever feeling... it was like flood gates opened about 2:30 when I got to my doc for my appt. (sorry, tmi) 

I am wondering if you're right and the placenta had detached early causing my numbers to drop, but the only thing that isn't lining up is that the ball of tissue with a black speck (what I think was the eye) was the size of a quarter which I thought would be equivalent to 8w growth.

I'm not sure, but I'm glad my numbers are dropping and I hope I never have to look forward to reaching 0 again.

SB524

This is a really good beta chart that I have bookmarked for reference: https://www.inciid.org/article.php?cat=newlypreg&id=241

When I lost my pregnancy a week ago at 5w4d, my beta was 4300. It dropped in half the day after they removed the pregnancy but since then it's been persistent and I had to have a shot to help lower it. I really hope yours drops quickly and like you said, you never have to wait for it to be 0 again!

SunnyCanadian

When I went in for the 1st ultrasound at 8w2d and found out I had a missed m/c (no heartbeat and baby stopped growing at 6w2d), I was immediately sent for bloodwork to check my hcg levels. They were 38000.

Exactly a week later, I was sent for more bloodwork. My hcg had dropped to 28000.

I had absolutely no bleeding in between, or during my entire pregnancy.

Since you miscarried before they could do an ultrasound (if I understood correctly), I do agree that your baby probably stopped developing way before your 8w appt. which is why your hcg levels were so low.

And I'm glad you asked question #3. because when I asked my doctor and the nurses at the early loss pregnancy clinic, they said it varied from person to person. Thank you to the person who posted that link!