Nosebleed

[hollymae]

Hi members seeking help as usual. I just had a severe nosebleed requiring hospital admission and very painful procedures. They were blaming my anticoagulant (I have been on it without any problems for 8 years) but I had my booster 48 hours before is this significant. I have never had a nosebleed before. I would be grateful for any comments

Hollymae

[beetle]

Hi Hollymae. I’m sorry you have experienced this. I have been down that road a couple of times and found the nasal packing they use a very painful experience too. In my case it isn’t blood thinners but very low platelets. I’m really not sure how long it is safe to leave a nose bleeding in the hope it will stop on its own before resorting to calling for help. Maybe someone else here might be prepared to give some guidance on that issue? Best wishes. Jan

[jointpain in reply to beetle]

My wife had a terrible nose bleed nearly three months ago, her consultant suggested the GP, the GP suggested an ambulance, due to her MF. She had woken at 3am with the bleed, the bleeding would not stop, the ambulance arrived at midday, an hour and a half after phoning. We knew the cause would be very high platelets, as the consultant had stopped the hydroxycarbamide a week prior. My wife was in A and E until the following morning having a balloon but into her nose to pack the sinuses to stem the blood, she was then ambulanced to another Welsh hospital and put into a busy waiting room in A and E for twelve hours before getting a bed. So she had waited 35 hours in total for a bed. The second hospital removed the balloon after it had been in for 40+ hours and at my request dosed her up with hydroxycarbamide after finding out her platelets were close to a million. The consultant at the second hospital suggested she had blood tests more frequently. Which was not acted upon by her consultant.

Her nose has not bled again since. But her consultant had asked her to take more hydroxycarbamide than she is happy with, as one tablet every other day has worked fine until this year when he has been messing with the dosage.

So please be aware high platelet count is just as bad as high doses of anti coagulation. Which by the way my wife is not on.

Her consultant has agreed that the bleeding was caused by too high a platelet count, after saying it was "just one of those things" and not related to MF.

[Rachelthepotter]

Hi. I’ve Had a couple of really nasty nosebleeds and if you’re driving on your own it can be quite a terrifying experience. In my case what worked was reducing the anticoagulant to 2.5 mg twice a day rather than 5 mg twice a day (sorry, can’t remember the name of the stuff – a bit of brain fog this morning) And then seeing a good ENT surgeon for a nose cautery , as there was a visible blood vessel that was causing the trouble.. I stress the good ENT surgeon, because the first one I had was quite useless. The nose bleeds came back very quickly. Take care.