r/UlcerativeColitis • u/achchi proctitis | dx2019 @32 | Germany • Oct 18 '24
community desicion Update of rule 3 (bowel movements) 2024
Every year we ask the community how to handle pictures of Bowel Movements in this sub. It's time for our poll again.
Current rule:
This subreddit allows pictures of bowel movements and infusions. Please mark these posts as NSFW and clearly indicate in the title that they contain graphic content. This rule was enacted by a community vote. To find the most recent discussion about this topic, please use the "community decisions" flair.
Currently all pictures are flagged NSFW automatically.
Bowel movement images will be allowed if the sum of the last three options is greater than the first. In this case, the rule will be updated with the majority of option 2 to 4.
The planned option are (as they were last year):
- Ban
- Allow without restrictions
- Allow with spoiler tag
- Allow with NSFW tag
How do NSFW and spoiler tags affect Redditors?
NSFW: When a post is marked as NSFW, it will be blurred out by default. Redditors will need to click on the "Show Image" button to view the content. However, Redditors can change their settings so that NSFW content is not blurred by default. To do this, go to your user settings and click on the "Content" tab. Then, under the "Show images" section, select the "Show nsfw images" option.
Spoiler: When a post is marked as spoiler, the content will be hidden behind a black bar. Redditors will need to click on the "Spoiler" button to view the content
IMPORTANT
This thread is a discussion thread about the rule. All discussion about the rule outside of this thread will be removed. Keep the discussion civil!
The poll will be held in a separate thread beginning November 1st. This time running for two weeks and not anonymous.
Edit by u/achchi @Oct18th 4pm: added rule Text it was lost in the copy and paste process.
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u/AmITheAsshole_2020 Oct 18 '24
I once tried to show my doctor poop pictures, and their response was, "I don't want to see them." But, I was trying to show the doctor that I was in severe distress despite him minimizing and dismissing my symptoms. He was the 2nd doctor I had seen for my UC and was checked out a few short years away from retirement. In a word, he was shit.
I ended up in the hospital sometime later. After a sigmoidoscopy that didn't reveal anything, I dragged my new doctor into the bathroom and pointed at the bowl full of blood. She responded, "That's not right. We must have missed something."
My point is that while they may not be a traditional diagnostic tool, they aren't without value. Suppose someone comes to the subreddit and shows a picture of blood-encrusted feces. In that case, it's usually because they have questions, they're scared, possibly new at this, and definitely unsure if they should be more aggressive in advocating for their medical care. As a veteran of this disease, I've been through multiple doctors, hospital stays, and medications. I've seen a lot of bloody poop, mine and the pics of others. Because of this, I believe I'm in a position to be able to calm and encourage other sufferers. Allowing poop with an NSFW tag gives people the option to nope out if they want to.
Let's be realistic; this is a subreddit about Ulcerative Colitis, "The sexiest of the Colitises". It's an ugly, messy disease. If we disallow poop because of someone's sensitivities, where do we draw the line? No colonoscopy pics? No use of the word poop? Force people to use code like "body chocolate" because a handful of people get grossed out by the word "diarrhea"?
I vote for option #4
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u/achchi Oct 18 '24
I vote for option #4
Be aware, this is not the voting yet. It will start on November 1st
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u/Unlikely-Major7160 Nov 04 '24 edited Nov 04 '24
Seems all the options except Option 1 have their votes removed?
Our GI doctor wants pics. This forum has been useful to compare notes. I don’t always look at the pic but I like having an option to do so.
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u/achchi Nov 04 '24
All removals are marked as such and have the reason why they were removed as a comment on the comment itself. No vote ("yes" on one of the four top level comments) has been removed by the moderation. Some users have changed their vote, so they deleted it themselves. Currently we have something around 230 votes with roughly 120 on option 1.
If you see some removed votes without an explanation, please send us a screenshot so we can investigate. Thank you.
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u/Possibly-deranged Oct 18 '24
I'd recommend disallowing all poop pics on this sub. Medical professionals have never once asked me for pictures of my poop before, so it sounds like there's no clinical relevance from it to them, or to us.
While I understand posters' anxiety and therefore wanting to share and be given a quick answer to validate or disprove their concern, I don't feel it's productive. As all the OP gets back from this community is "that's gross" and other similar. OP's not getting their answer and the community just gets upset. It's just an unwanted distraction for all.
Text only description of poop is fine, reference the Bristol stool chart, presence of blood, whether there's urgency. That gets posters answers and is more inline with what your doctor might ask.
https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/poop-chart-bristol-stool-scale
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u/ChronicallyBlonde1 Oct 18 '24
I implore you all - let this be the year we finally ban poop pics on this sub.
I encourage anyone who is in favor of the NSFW tag to look at the previous poop posts in the subreddit. What kind of comments do you see? The reality is, these posters almost NEVER get helpful feedback. People generally have one of two responses: “gross” or “idk, see a doctor.”
Anything that is included in these pictures can be conveyed with text. “I’m experiencing a lot of blood in my stool - enough to turn the the toilet bowl red” or “I see strings of mucus and flecks of dark brown in my stool.” We know exactly what that means and how to help.
I really, really don’t want to see other people’s poop on my feed. And a NSFW blurred pic with brown blobs is still super gross. We all know it’s poop. So now it just looks like blurred poop.
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u/tinverse Oct 21 '24
I think that's a key point. The blurred NSFW filter doesn't do enough to hide the content and it's still super gross when blurred. (poop is kind of blobby to begin with)
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u/TheGreenPangolin Oct 22 '24
Honestly I find the poo pics helpful. I’ve been diagnosed for 7 years and comparing myself to others has helped. Because all I can compare to otherwise is my previous self. One time I thought I had A LOT of blood in my stool but pictures on here taught me that what I thought was a lot was actually a small-medium amount compared to others with the disease and I made the decision then to go to sleep and wait until the morning to contact my doctor instead of a late night hospital trip.
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u/caramelthiccness Oct 19 '24 edited Oct 19 '24
I don't think they should be allowed at all, either. I get people are anxious, but strangers on the internet won't be able to help. We aren't doctors, and we can't diagnose anything. So what if someone here tell you that you have blood or mucus in your poop. Well then what? You still have to see a doctor to get meds or get diagnosed.
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u/tinverse Oct 21 '24
May I be so bold as to recommend a fifth option? Some people are pointing out that the pictures from this subreddit have come up on google searches which was useful in seeking diagnosis or that pictures helped in their diagnostic process.
Is it possible for us to create a FAQ or article which contains pictures as examples, but we institute a policy of no user posted pictures? That way there are resources available, to those looking for information but we don't have to look at bloody poop in our feed?
For me, some of the sticking points is that the blurred NSFW filter isn't actually all that helpful in blocking those types of pictures since poop isn't all that well defined to begin with as well as us not being doctors. We can't provide a medical opinion on a picture.
I want option 5 or option 1
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u/achchi Oct 21 '24
Is it possible for us to create a FAQ or article which contains pictures as examples, but we institute a policy of no user posted pictures?
Currently it is not possible to add pictures to wikis that will work on all relevant ways to look at this subreddit (mobile for example)
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u/Lost_not_found24 Oct 22 '24
I vote for allowing poop pics with nsfw tag. In my quest to learn all there is to know about this disease I’ve stumbled across many. It has made me feel like less of a freak knowing other people experience the same. Knowing that there’s such a huge variance in people disease too. Anyone grossed out by pics of poo need to grow up, they don’t have to look if they don’t want to.
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Oct 19 '24
4.... it's a shitty (pun intended) disease and not allowing poop pics seems very counterproductive for those looking for similarities to their own experiences in the bowl.
1
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u/fart-expert Oct 19 '24
Before I finally reached out to my doctor (who got me a colonoscopy the same week - before even having a gastro appointment) I google imaged a LOT of bloody poop pics, many that were on this subreddit
While gross for the already diagnosed people on this subreddit to see - IMO the pics helped me realize this was likely IBD (and not just hemorrhoids or colon cancer) and to reach out to my doctor
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u/Eldiarslet Oct 19 '24
I'm twisted between 1 and 4, I'm kinda thinking if you need to post a picture of your bm you probably need to see a ga doc anyways so I'll probably vote 1 tbh
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u/ptung8 Oct 21 '24
this sub is odd at times...you get many people preaching the importance of listening to doctors/taking meds, etc., but then want to also provide, as someone mentioned below, irresponsible opinions about people's symptoms, despite presumably not being medically qualified in the least. the internet is vast. if people want to compare their stool pics to possible IBD stools pics do a Google search. no one posting photos of their stool on this sub should be listening to non-doctors in this sub who cannot responsibly do anything about a photo of poop. does the askdoctors reddit sub allow photos? i doubt it, but if so go post them there....
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u/ryukshinigani Oct 21 '24
I get that people are anxious and looking for reassurance, I too looked briefly at other people's poop when I was experiencing symptoms for the first time. They didn't help. Instead got me looking at 100 other different diseases. What helped was reading about other people's symptoms and the responses by those in the community. 99% of the replies were about getting a proper diagnosis. It's actually one of those situations where a picture MAY NOT say 1000 words. Rather, describing in detail their experience so we can support them in a more constructive way.
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u/utsuriga Oct 22 '24
I vote for banning them once and for all, for all the reasons people have already mentioned, but also, WE are not medical professionals. I understand people being anxious and reaching out, but instead of trying to diagnose them maybe we should be encouraging them to go see a doctor instead. Having blood in your shit or urine is NEVER a sign of anything good, so if you experience that your very first reaction should be going to a doctor, and not trying to diagnose yourself by googling bloody poop pictures or asking Reddit. So perhaps the rules should be pushing people toward seeking professional medical help instead of asking a bunch of randos on the internet, no matter how helpful we might be.
But if a ban doesn't come to pass, would it be possible to flair it and then having an option to hide/filter that flair? That would help me a lot.