Lucy didn’t have a period for several months after her miscarriage surgery. Despite doctors reassuring her this was ‘normal’ she was convinced it wasn’t and used OvuSense to advocate for herself and seek treatment for a condition called Asherman’s Syndrome. Read more about her experience, below.
Lucy’s Experience
I was fortunate enough to fall pregnant very easily first time round but sadly discovered at my 12-week scan that my baby didn’t have a heartbeat and that I’d suffered a missed miscarriage. My body was unable to let go of the pregnancy naturally, so I was given medicine to help move the process along. Unfortunately, this wasn’t completely successful, and after weeks of pain I was left with no other option but to have my pregnancy removed surgically with a procedure called an Evacuation of Retained Products of Conception, or ERPC, which is also known as a Dilation and Curettage (D&C).
8 weeks on from my surgery and my periods hadn’t returned. I grew increasingly worried but was reassured by several doctors that this was fine and that my body would get back to normal soon enough. Despite this I was convinced that something was wrong and had started to suspect that I may have developed a condition called Asherman’s Syndrome. This is a condition caused by trauma to the uterus which causes scar tissue to form, preventing the endometrium from growing and in some cases (including my own) physically blocks periods.
I thought that Asherman’s may be a possibility because it seemed unusual to go from conceiving instantly to having no period whatsoever. On top of this I was also experiencing pain at the times when I expected my period to be due. I decided to take matters in my own hands and purchased OvuSense around 12 weeks after my miscarriage surgery to find out more about what was going on in my body.
Within just 10 days of using OvuSense the app had confirmed that I had ovulated, and my temperature climbed rapidly. 12 days later my temperature dropped dramatically, my stomach started to cramp, but no period arrived. This was a major red flag and I decided to seek the help of a specialist doctor.
I used OvuSense to visit this doctor during the middle of my cycle. He asked me to track one more cycle and return to him if I ovulated again, but no period arrived. He also performed a series of blood tests and prescribed me some medicine to rule out other causes. I went away and yet again OvuSense confirmed ovulation, yet still no period. At this point the specialist also suspected Asherman’s Syndrome and suggested I have a hysteroscopy, a surgery to diagnose and treat the condition.
In this surgery he discovered that my cervix was almost 100% scarred shut with scar tissue from my miscarriage surgery and as a result my periods were trapped in my uterus unable to escape. He said that it was very fortunate that I had been able to diagnose myself so quickly as the condition can worsen and become harder to treat over time and ultimately can leave a woman infertile.
I am so grateful to OvuSense for helping me to gather evidence to advocate for myself and convince my doctor that something wasn’t right. Whilst I’m still on the road to recovery I am hopeful that I will go on to have a baby, whereas this might not have been the case had I not diagnosed this condition as quickly as I did.
I think that all women should be made more aware of Asherman’s Syndrome and know the warning signs which are:
- Lighter periods or no periods in the months following any uterine surgery (if your periods were previously regular)
- Cyclical pain despite no bleeding
If you have either of these symptoms, then I highly recommend tracking your cycle with OvuSense to make sure everything is ok.