Can Prometrium stop inevitable bleeding/spotting?

SouthernGirl047 · July 2011

Hi ladies -

I have been on Prometrium for a week now, and I was just wondering if it was possible that maybe I would have spotted/bled if I wasn't on it. I feel like this pregnancy will turn out to be a healthy one, but I can't helping thinking, "what if". I have my first U/S tomorrow morning and I am super nervous! TIA.

ZZsmommy · July 2011

I don't think anyone can positively answer this....but I think it might possibly delay bleeding/spotting, but if a pregnancy is going to fail because of a genetic problem with the baby, it is going to fail and nothing can be done to stop it. I have heard that low progesterone, on the other hand, can cause a woman to miscarry an otherwise healthy baby. So, there is little harm in using supplements until the placenta can take over, especially if you have borderline or low progesterone levels. At least, that's what I gathered from my conversations with my OB after my miscarriage.

Good luck with the u/s tomorrow! I hope you get wonderful news.

SouthernGirl047 · July 2011

ZZsmommy:

I don't think anyone can positively answer this....but I think it might possibly delay bleeding/spotting, but if a pregnancy is going to fail because of a genetic problem with the baby, it is going to fail and nothing can be done to stop it. I have heard that low progesterone, on the other hand, can cause a woman to miscarry an otherwise healthy baby. So, there is little harm in using supplements until the placenta can take over, especially if you have borderline or low progesterone levels. At least, that's what I gathered from my conversations with my OB after my miscarriage.

Good luck with the u/s tomorrow! I hope you get wonderful news.

Thanks ZZsmommy,

My progesterone last mc was 3... by the time we realized it, it was too late to start prometrium. This pregnancy, we've been more proactive. My progesterone was higher, 8.5, but still not great. I know it's not fully known if low progesterone causes miscarriages, or just means an inevitable mc... but I'm sure willing to try prometrium just in case. Thanks for positive thoughts!

xnbride · July 2011

NO! If a pregnancy is not viable, no amount of prometrium will change the outcome. So if things seem like they are going well then they probably are. I have had these same fears and thoughts and through lots of personal experience and DrGoogle consults, I have come to the conclusion that the simple answer to this questions is NO. Try to relax as much as possible and just take it a day at a time.

ZZsmommy · July 2011

SouthernGirl047:
ZZsmommy:

I don't think anyone can positively answer this....but I think it might possibly delay bleeding/spotting, but if a pregnancy is going to fail because of a genetic problem with the baby, it is going to fail and nothing can be done to stop it. I have heard that low progesterone, on the other hand, can cause a woman to miscarry an otherwise healthy baby. So, there is little harm in using supplements until the placenta can take over, especially if you have borderline or low progesterone levels. At least, that's what I gathered from my conversations with my OB after my miscarriage.

Good luck with the u/s tomorrow! I hope you get wonderful news.

Thanks ZZsmommy,

My progesterone last mc was 3... by the time we realized it, it was too late to start prometrium. This pregnancy, we've been more proactive. My progesterone was higher, 8.5, but still not great. I know it's not fully known if low progesterone causes miscarriages, or just means an inevitable mc... but I'm sure willing to try prometrium just in case. Thanks for positive thoughts!

Definitely keep up those positive thoughts! When I started to miscarry, my doctor put me on progesterone supplements. I shared my bad news with the teachers in my building, and one of them shared with me that, when she was pregnant with her second child, around the same age as me (I'm 34, so not ancient, but not a super young mom, either), she woke up during the night to "a crime scene" - she had started bleeding and her sheets were soaked with blood. She freaked out, of course, and went straight to the ER. Her doctor tested her progesterone levels, found them low, said it is more common in women of "such age," started her on progesterone suppositories, and she went on to deliver a healthy baby girl. My story, on the other hand, didn't have a happy ending because I had a baby with a genetic defect that caused its heart to never start beating. No amount of progesterone supplements would have saved my baby. AND, I continued to bleed while I took the suppositories, and the blood got heavier as each day passed, despite taking the progesterone. But, there you have it, I know of one real-life 13 year old - sassy and driving her mother crazy - who wouldn't be here if it weren't for progesterone supplements. I will keep my fingers crossed for you that you will have the same outcome. Good Luck!

tdmd09 · July 2011

xnbride:
NO! If a pregnancy is not viable, no amount of prometrium will change the outcome. So if things seem like they are going well then they probably are. I have had these same fears and thoughts and through lots of personal experience and DrGoogle consults, I have come to the conclusion that the simple answer to this questions is NO. Try to relax as much as possible and just take it a day at a time.

This is kind of a chicken and the egg thing.

If you have a healthy pregnancy (normal development) and very low progesterone, theoretically you could miscarry the healthy pregnancy due to lack of progesterone to maintain it.

If you have a non viable pregnancy, no amount of progesterone will make it viable.

However, if you are spotting and bleeding, progesterone can make that stop, which might keep you from actively miscarrying. I think if I hadn't been put on progesterone when I had my m/c, I probably would have miscarried naturally because my level was low and I was spotting. I ended up needing a D&C because my body was still hanging onto the pregnancy, probably because my progesterone was elevated by the supplements.

Hope that makes a little more sense.

StaceyM06 · July 2011

tdmd09:
This is kind of a chicken and the egg thing.
If you have a healthy pregnancy (normal development) and very low progesterone, theoretically you could miscarry the healthy pregnancy due to lack of progesterone to maintain it.
If you have a non viable pregnancy, no amount of progesterone will make it viable.

All of this. This is exactly how my OB explained it right before my second loss. My betas were low and not rising appropriately and the progesterone supplements were likely preventing me bleeding and m/c naturally (my progesterone then was only 7.5). He recommended going off progesterone then and if I did not m/c naturally I would have to schedule a D&C. I went off it and m/c naturally 2 days later. Then he put me back on progesterone for this cycle at 3DPO. My strict instructions were to keep taking it until the time of my typical period and then take HPTs. If BFN, I needed to go off it because it might prevent my period. If BFP, I would continue the supplements through 10-11w. Obviously, the latter worked out this time! : ) GL to you!

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