ljd88

Hi,

My father and sisters have Von Willebrand's. I was tested twice when I was a kid, and they said I was inconclusive. I think that means I tested normally, but they can't say for sure that I don't have it. Well, I'm 18 now. I had just a little bit of blood drawn the other day, but when the nurse went to pull away the gauze I was pressing on the spot, the blood started coming out. She had me press on it as hard as I could with my arm above my head for maybe five minutes before she could bandage it up. She said she could tell that I bruised easily, and a little bruise developed over the spot. Earlier this fall, I had blood drawn another time and got a flu shot. Both time I got a bruise right away, before the needle left my arm. The nurse (a different one) commented on my easy bruising. Besides that I've never really had any problems. My dentist says my gums bleed a lot but attributed that to me not flossing regularly (I don't!). It's not uncommon for my gums to bleed when I brush my teeth, but I've noticed it tends to work in cycles, a bit. I'll bleed daily when brushing my teeth for a while, and then go a long time without bleeding. I also got a bad blister after walking just a block and a half, but blood had soaked through my shoe. I held paper towel to it for a while, but it kept bleeding, so finally I just attached some wadded paper towel to my ankle with a rubber band (...I'm not always the most prepared!). Though the active bleeding stopped at some point, there was new blood on the paper towel every time I drew it away for hours that night. I have no idea whether that's normal. I think my periods are pretty regular, and I never had a problem with nosebleeds or serious bruising.

I'm wondering whether this sounds to you guys like normal bleeding or like it could be VWD?

I'm probably having my wisdom teeth pulled this summer. If I tell the guy that this blood clotting disorder runs in my family, will he run a bleeding time test or something to see whether I have it? I've always gone with the general assumption that I don't have it, but with two nurses who draw blood all day everyday commenting on my bleeding and bruising, I've had to reconsider. I don't think my parents would support a full workup, and they said they didn't think insurance would cover it. I just want to make sure I'll be safe for this dental procedure and any surgeries I may have in the future.

Thanks, all!