To wonder why they ask for last period date in A&e

[User70]

I've recently been to A&e when I was being triaged the doctor asked when my last period was. I would have thought if you thought you were pregnant you would inform them.

It's not applied to men

Oh come on it’s pretty obvious why....

And I say that as someone who was in pain whilst I went through lengthy questioning then they decided to test anyway.

I would far rather a test was given as standard without the need to chat about it first!

I think it's fairly obvious why they don't insist on men having pregnancy test !
If a lady had a hysterectomy, a pregnancy test would not be requested either ....again, for obvious reasons.
However, the pill, condoms and the coil are not 100% effective all of the time, so a test is needed in this situation .

They also don't take risks by allowing the "I've never had sex" or "I haven't had sex in years " to be taken at face value cos people lie ...... believe it or not they do .
Not all but some and therefore a blanket rule for all is safest practice .

I have never actually taken a pregnancy test but had numerous x-rays/CT/MRI. Most recent was broken ankle last year. My local hospital trust seem to have a lax policy.

I’ve also had xrays after broken hip (aged ‘about 25) - I break easily. Routine question about whether I was pregnant, then they got on with it. It was on the last X-ray that a radiographer offered me a guard to protect my ovaries. I’ve just looked it up - called gonad shield, and looks like I should have had help to position it. Fine if they didn’t use it, but for the last X-ray - that just made me feel crap.

When dd was 15 and having a tooth out under general , she had to do a pregnancy test

Why should it be applied to men? What would be the point in that?

The reasons why it is applied to women of potential child bearing age are obvious.

I never know! I only ever paid attention when ttc. If I was asked today I would say vaguely 2 or 4 weeks ago. More than a week. How is that helpful

I usually confuse them utterly by saying I have my period now, as I've had for the past 4 months, which is why I'm here.

I have a serious chronic illness so unfortunately have been to a&e quite often over the years (only when vital, it does without saying). There is no occasion I've not been asked if I might be pregnant and I have always had urine taken and tested before almost any scan or medication is supplied. They certainly do it if your symptoms are abdominal pain or it might be anything that requires an x-ray, MRI, or potential surgery.

As others have pointed out, no contraception is 100% effective so whether you're on it or using it is moot really. Date of the last period is a helpful gauge. I assume when taking the hippocratic oath to do no harm, an unborn baby forms part of that.

You can refuse to answer or have urine dipped but why go to a&e if you're going to do this, they won't proceed with treatment, at least not without consent forms signed. I just don'rt get the problem or confusion, it's a bit of wee and a question about a bodily function that forms quite a large part of womens health...

I'm on desogestrel and don't have many periods, I would have no idea when my last one was. A few months ago probably, I don't think I've had one this year.

I find when you're being admitted, or investigated further, you can have 3-4 doctors coming to take your history. I get so annoyed being questioned that I make up any old bullshit and suggest they read the extensive history I gave to their previous two colleagues.
Surgeons are the fucking world's worst for this. I just say 'No' 'nope' 'nope' by the time the surgeon rocks up as I've been through this (in one case 4 times in the preceding days).

So you've an A&E doc. Then they refer you to be seen by a medical team and you see one of those, you're then admitted, then the medical consultant comes around, decides to transfer you to the surgical team, so then you've one of them dudes come around, then the actual surgeon before surgery by which point you are too in pain to care and they could actually disembowel me if they felt like it.

I'm a very cantankerous patient when being interrogated in pain.

Why bother taking fucking notes if nobody ever reads the damned things!!! Gosh, this is bringing back horrors of pancreatitis. And then pneumonia. I DON'T FUCKING KNOW ANYTHING ANYMORE JUST MAKE ME FUCKING BETTER YOU CLEAN SHAVEN BRAT!!!!!

On another note, I recall a next door neighbour from my street (male) coming around one morning (a year older than me) and asking me whether I had had a bowel movement - I told him I couldn't remember

Can you tell I hate hate hate fucking passionately hate hospitals?

The surgeon on one occasion had the temerity to give me a lecture before surgery about not having included a PE in my history I gave him. I'd told 4 doctors prior to him, which was no doubt written in the extensive file he had in front of him. When I told him that I'd already told several doctors he shouts at me - I'M THE IMPORTANT ONE!!!
I suppose I can see his point, but you gotta see our point as patients too - which is probably why they test for things that are simple to test for. You can get doctor interrogation apathy.

Plus, when you're on morphine, you tend to A not remember or B not care.

I'm used to the question about pregnancy now. Recently I've launched into a long tale of woe how 'well it started in November last year - and I still have my period - WHICH IS WHY I'M HERE YOU TWIT!!! (in my head)'.

And my absolute favourite - 'Why did you take an overdose?' Usually followed by a feral scream from me. Or else I tell them it seemed like a bit of fun at the time - I dunno - you tell me. They usually hop, skip and jump out of the cubicle at that point. SECURITY!! WE'VE A MAD ONE HERE!!

I don't even know know when my lady period was. I don't keep track.

Lady period?
Last

They made me do a test before an x-ray even though I told them there was no chance I could be pregnant. What a waste of time and resources! I wasn't happy.

Me too. It had been years since I had had sex or any kind of sexual contact, but it ended up easier to do the test than argue - I'm still annoyed.

Doctors spend a whole year studying 'taking patients history' or something. Clearly my surgeons didn't take that class!!! They learn about taking history from a parent about a baby, and about taking a history from an elderly patient with dementia etc. They don't seem to learn that sending 5 fucking doctors around to a patient in the course of 4 days will mean the the patient will presume that they don't need to start from the beginning again!

How many people who aren't actively trying for a baby know the date of their last period? (Unless it was in the last week or so.)

I track mine with my FitBit. Not because I'm TTC - I'd have a hell of a job, since DH has had a vasectomy - but because I'm perimenopausal so I'm keeping an eye on any changes. So assuming I was well enough to whip my phone out and check the app, I'd be able to tell them to the day.

Would have no objection to taking a pregnancy test though if it's hospital policy.

It's part of taking a full medical history. Many women find out they are having an ectopic pregnancy in A and E, they have not missed a period and have no idea they are pregnant.

Also lots of other things associated with, not just pregnancy, but other gynae issues eg ovarian cysts.

Also not everyone has a regular cycle. It doesn't happen as often these days but I'm not the only person with a relative who was a 'change of life' baby.

SingaSong12

Don't feel bad radiographers know a lot about how radiation enters the body and how it sort of bounces around inside.

I had my foot X-rayed and the radiographer put a lead apron over me, I asked about it, she said she wouldn't normally bother but as I worked in the cath lab (alongside her) she knew I had more exposure.

In case you are not aware you are pregnant and then they send you for X Rays which could harm your baby.

@BlueMerchant it is not a waste of time or money, especially for the Radiographer who is accountable for their actions!

Also asking for date of lmp can be a roundabout way of asking a possibly vulnerable patient about the possibility of being pregnant too. There are girls/women who don't know they've been raped either as they're very young and innocent or they've been drug raped inc by current and ex partners. There are sadly some seriously sick bastards out there.

Not all girls/women have regular periods, that can be a symptom for many things other than pregnancy

not all track their periods

times of stress people can both miss their period and not notice they've missed it because they're preoccupied with whatever's stressing them

medications can mess with periods or need to be started at a certain point in the woman's cycle

Patients forget ALL sorts when you're trying to get a history off them especially when they're worried about the reason they're there or the reason they think they're there. Totally normal for patients to forget important meds their on, serious medical conditions (inc diabetes, heart conditions etc) so procedures have developed over the years to try and cover as many bases as possible.

And they lie too. ALL THE TIME sometimes about the most ridiculous things, I once had one lie about having had chicken pox as a child! Why? They didn't want to draw attention to a small scar caused by it, pure vanity, utterly ridiculous!!

But sometimes understandably so eg if they're being asked if they're pregnant in an emergency scenario in the presence of the husband they haven't slept with for 6 months when they know they could be pregnant by the om.

There's a spot on episode of "only fools" where del is experiencing pains and he's worried sick, but when he goes to the Drs & his old GP has moved on, he makes out he's a teetotal, non-smoking, healthy eating fitness guru and because this means the dr can't figure out what's wrong he ends up in hospital, whereupon his previous Gp who knows him and his true lifestyle was able to quickly DX an easily treated minor condition.

"No watchers of House?

"Everybody lies" " yep!!

"This is true of anything a patient might say. Why presume they're lying?" Because so very many DO! And NOT being thorough and careful can have devastating, long lasting even fatal consequences.

"and you would not believe the number of people who discount the possibility or pregnancy purely because they don’t want to be pregnant." Exactly!

"I wonder if they ask lesbians or nuns?" Lesbians and nuns can be victims of rape and have even been known to have sex with men on occasion.

"There's a spot on episode of "only fools" where del is experiencing pains and he's worried sick, but when he goes to the Drs & his old GP has moved on, he makes out he's a teetotal, non-smoking, healthy eating fitness guru and because this means the dr can't figure out what's wrong he ends up in hospital, whereupon his previous Gp who knows him and his true lifestyle was able to quickly DX an easily treated minor condition. "

Is this the one where the doctor tells him to strip to the waist and he strips his bottom half rather than top half?