Spotting vs. Bleeding? (when is it AF?)

Tia38 · 10-04-2005, 02:09 PM

Possibly a terribly naive question, but..... what's the difference between spotting and bleeding? After how many days and how heavy does it need to be to be considered AF?

I thought I used to know, but my cycle is (and has been) all out of whack (PCOS, met, and this month started BCP again) and so while I suspect I'm only spotting, I'm trying to figure out if it's possibly AF. Why does it matter? I'm TTC, so I need to count cycle days, and CD3 is particularly important.

Not to be graphic, but I prefer TMI to too little in this case. Any good rules of thumb? Any suggestions/help appreciated. Cheers, -Tia

deblynnc · 10-04-2005, 02:31 PM

Other ladies may have different ways to judge, but I usually go by the color and amount of blood. If it's bright red, I consider it AF, unless it is very small quantity. If a pantiliner gets you through the day, I consider it spotting, especially if it's brownish or mixed with mucous. I have very light AF's, usually, and use tampons. I consider the first day of flow to be when I need a lite days tampon, b/c the bleeding is too much for my pantiliner.

Hope this helps!

Lots of babydust your way!!!
Debbie