Living With von Willebrand Disease
Preventing bleeding and staying healthy are
important if you have von Willebrand disease (VWD). You should:
- Avoid over-the-counter medicines that can affect
blood clotting, including aspirin, ibuprofen, and other nonsteroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
- Always check with your doctor before taking any
medicines.
- Tell your doctor, dentist, and pharmacist if you
have VWD. Your dentist can talk to your doctor about whether you need medicine
before dental work to reduce bleeding. You also should tell people like your
employee health nurse, gym trainer, and sports coach about your condition.
- Consider wearing a medical ID bracelet or
necklace if you have a serious form of VWD (for example, type 3). In case of a
serious accident or injury, the health care team treating you will know that
you have VWD.
- Exercise regularly and maintain a healthy weight.
Exercise helps keep muscles flexible. It also helps prevent damage to muscles
and joints. Always stretch before exercising.
Some safe exercises or activities are swimming,
biking, and walking. Football, hockey, wrestling, and lifting heavy weights are
not safe activities if you have bleeding problems. Always check with your
doctor before starting any exercise program.
Since your parents, brothers and sisters, and
children may also have von Willebrand disease, you should consider telling them
about your diagnosis and suggesting that they get tested.
Pregnancy and von Willebrand Disease
Pregnancy can be a challenge for women who have VWD.
Although blood levels of von Willebrand factor and factor VIII tend to increase
during pregnancy, women with VWD can have bleeding complications during
delivery. They also are likely to have heavy bleeding for an extended period
after delivery.
However, there are things you can do to reduce the
chances of complications during pregnancy. Consult a hematologist and an
obstetrician who specialize in high-risk pregnancies before you become
pregnant.
Consider using a center that specializes in
high-risk obstetrics and has a hematologist on the staff for prenatal care and
delivery.
Before you have any invasive procedure, such as
amniocentesis, ask your doctor whether anything needs to be done to prevent
serious blood loss.
During your third trimester, you should have blood
tests to measure von Willebrand factor and factor VIII to help plan for
delivery.
You also should meet with an anesthesiologist to
review your choices for anesthesia and to discuss taking medicine to reduce
your bleeding risk.
With these precautions, most women with VWD can have
successful pregnancies.
Children and von Willebrand Disease
If your child has von Willebrand disease that's
severe enough to pose a significant risk of bleeding, anyone who is responsible
for him or her should be told about the condition.
For example, the school nurse, teacher, daycare
provider, coach, or any leader of afterschool activities should know,
particularly if your child has one of the more severe forms of VWD. This
information will help them handle the situation if your child has an injury.
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