How do you know if your having a really bad period or an early miscarriage?

[Karina]

I feel a bit dumb posting and I'm really sorry if I have posted in wrong place or offend anyone.
My period has been regular as clockwork (27 day cycle) since it returned after having my daughter. Anyways, we havent been particulalrly careful with contraception lately, and I know we DTD around the time I ovulated and had ewcm. My period didnt come when I expected it to, my breasts became tender and full, I felt really queasy.. all the same as when I was first pregnant with my daughter (i never get symptoms like this before my period, and I've never had period pain). We went shopping, and as we were walking through the store I all of a sudden had a huge amount of pain low down in my tummy. I've never had this before, and I was in so much pain that I felt dizzy and had trouble walking. Luckily we were right near the toilets so I just told DH I had to go and off I went. TMI warning here: I sat down on the loo and checked in my undies and (so gross) but there was soo much bright red blood, with lots of clots and little stringy bits. I've never had this before. I counted and I would have been up to day 41 of my cycle. I didnt test at all in the 2 weeks as I just never had the opportunity (DH hanging around too much and I didnt want him to know, and we had been so busy cleaning up the house in preparation for some small renovations). So I had this really heavy bleeding and bad cramping (both unusual for me) for 3 days, it has eased off now. Still bleeding now, but not as much.
What could this be? A late/painful period or an early miscarriage, or?

[Janie]

Karina, I hate to say it, but it sounds to me like an early m/c. I had a very similar thing happen early this year, but I had seen a very faint BFP.

I'm sorry hun, I hope you're feeling okay about it. Even when it's unexpected, it is a difficult time, and your hormones can make you feel even worse. Be kind to yourself, and know that we're here if you need to chat

Oh, and please don't worry about offending anyone, we're all here to give and receive support.