It makes me SO mad...

When I see people giving out medical advice on these boards when they are NOT doctors. I was just reading that someone is bleeding during their pregnancy and two girls going back and forth on whether its normal or not normal. I remember prior to my miscarriage always reading the famous "brown blood is old blood" theory. If I told you that i ONLY saw one strand of brown discharge, nothing more, nothing less and I lost the baby. Just bc you are pregnant or a parent doesnt give you right to play a DRs role. The ONLY response should be to seek medical advice.
Adding: that bc of that theory I wasnt all to concerned that anything had happened. I might have not called actually.

Message edited 1/30/2011 10:31:17 AM.

Re: It makes me SO mad...

Yeah, I agree with you. I think most people just try to share their experiences to make others feel better. When I started spotting brown blood I googled and drove myself nuts!! I just wanted someone to tell me it was going to be ok. I knew deep inside that it wasn't. I did go to the dr. but even they couldn't give me any real answers until we did some bloodwork.

Re: It makes me SO mad...

i wouldnt say it was normal... but it is fairly common to see blood during pregnancy... in fact everyone i spoke to about my spotting IRL said they had spotting or bleeding during their pregnancy also...

i think it was just the wrong word usage... i wouldnt say they were giving out medical advice...

Re: It makes me SO mad...

the point of these boards is to get peoples opinions and experiences. if she didnt want that then she wouldnt have posted. as far as it being "medical advice" that's twofold. #1 is yeah, you PROB should go with your instinct and what your doctor says over anything you read anywhere on the internet. #2 if you are on these boards a lot you know there is A LOT more positive results of the "medical advice" given here than there are negative. people have found doctors they love from these boards. people have gone for follow up testing which WAS NOT recommended for them by their own doctors, because of these boards. i think we all know that these boards can cause both unnecessary panic and unnecessary lack thereof.

as far as early bleeding in pregnancy - it is normal in the eyes of MANY (not all) doctors. the girls giving the advice that it is normal are only saying that from their own experiences with their doctors - just as the ones that are saying its not normal are giving that advice based on what they were told and/or experienced.

unfortunately it is true - spotting in pregnancy is QUITE common and normal. the real question is whether or not it's a telltale sign of an underlying problem. when it comes down to it, the american pregnancy associated states that "Studies show that anywhere from 20-30% of women experience some degree of bleeding in early pregnancy. Approximately half of pregnant women who bleed do not have miscarriages. Approximately 15-20% of all pregnancies result in a miscarriage." if 2-3 of 10 pregnant woman experience bleeding in early pregnancy, IMO that seems pretty common. its what you make of the bleeding that matters more than a disagreement as to whether or not its common. point being - you can bleed heavy and have it mean nothing - or you can not spot at all and have a miscarriage.

i think when it comes down to it people just share their experiences. its in no way meant as medical advice, and IMO most people on this board will take what they read and speak to a doctor about their concerns... at least i HOPE!

Message edited 2/1/2011 11:12:49 PM.

Re: It makes me SO mad...

I might have seen the thread you are speaking of.

there was one girl stating that NO blood is normal and another was saying that blood is normal.

everyone is different and so is every pregnancy... I even responded on the thread that it could go either way. sometimes it's normal and all is OK (remember there is a lot of stretching and growing going on in there and blood can form in pockets due to that... that to me would be considered normal bleeding) and other times it's not OK.

My mc was slightly similar to yours in that I had no bleeding at all... and I lost the baby at like 10 weeks or so.
this time around i'm 18.5 weeks... and I spotted at 8 weeks... and then full on bled red blood at 12 weeks followed by spotting for about a week after that. with all that spotting and red blood bleeding (which the reasons for them were unfounded)... all is OK.

I'm with you... I think if you don't know the actual answer then you shouldn't say anything. That first girl saying that NO blood is normal.... she could really put fear into a preggo and thus added unnecessary stress. I get that it might be what her doctor told her... but that's a really severe statement to make, even for a doctor. It just sounds scary and when you look at the sheer number of preggo's who do bleed for no reason, yet all is OK... it's hard to say it's not normal because it's far too common. Now there def could be bleeding that isn't normal and is due to a cause. You never know which side you fall and and thus should always mention it to your doctor and look into it.

I think all in all... if you are posting for options or answers to questions... you have to take all the answers with a grain of salt. Not everyone on here knows everything, no matter how much they insist on it.

Message edited 2/2/2011 5:06:02 AM.

Re: It makes me SO mad...

Re: It makes me SO mad...

Re: It makes me SO mad...

Message edited 2/2/2011 11:27:04 AM.

Re: It makes me SO mad...

I think a lot of people are looking for reassurance and not actual medical advice. It takes longer to create a post and wait for responses than call your dr. For example people always say if there is no cramping it's ok. I did not have cramping until I passed everything. But I never want to be a Debbie downer and post that.

Re: It makes me SO mad...

I think when people post that they have bleeding they are primarily looking for reassurance that it will be fine! I had bleeding while I was pregnant (which was not the cause of my loss) .. but got flooded with responses from people.. and FMs... all who told me that they had similar experiences and it was FINE! Honestly, that really helped me get through the night!!

I agree you shouldn't come on here for medical advice... but if it helps someone get through the night in one piece.. I'm all for it. Even if ultimately for that person the end result is a loss.. I still say it helped to at least have some hope for those final hours. That's my feeling anyway. However.. I think you should ALWAYS call your doctor if you are pregnant and experience bleeding.. cramping.. or any reason to believe that something is wrong!

Relying on LIF for reassurance is one thing, but not actual medical advice!

Re: It makes me SO mad...

In general I agree experiences are nice to hear BUT not when someone is saying I am bleeding what do you think. IMO...the ONLY answer should be go to your dr. To me its the same as someone saying they cant breathe...no one says "I had that once, its probably just asthma". I am going to agree to disagree and move on.
Like I said I heard brown blood was fine...for me it wasnt.

Re: It makes me SO mad...

I'll be honest some of the reassuring replies I received while I was miscarrying gave me false hope, but it was also due to webmd and all kinds of googling I was doing on what was considered "normal" bleeding during pregnancy. people who reply should be cautious with their words but at the same time everyone does geniunely hope for the best and that it's a false alarm, unfortunately it doesn't always work out that way