PMR Sudden nose bleed

[ayoung]

Sudden severe nose bleeds. Just for no reason, I feel a drop of blood trickle down my face. It drenched a hand full of Kleenex and kept on coming. Pinched my nose tightly and stopped after 5 mins. It happened twice that day and twice the next. Today was okay. Has anyone had this problem?

[Rose54]

Hi

Is your blood pressure OK ?

Don't know if its a old wife's tell but have heard high blood pressure can cause nose bleeds.

Also preds can cause thinning of the skin so can cause thinning of the nasal passage,

[SnazzyD]

Pred makes the small vessels prone to bleeding. If one of these in the nose ruptures it can be a weak spot for a few days so if you blow your nose, bend over (increases pressure), suddenly laugh, cough, it can reopen the clot that has formed. If it is persistent or very heavy it can be cauterised or packed to provide prolonged pressure on it. Worth getting your blood pressure checked too.

[ayoung in reply to SnazzyD]

Thank you for your reply.

[piglette]

It happened to me twice last year for no apparent reason, both times I was in bed. I have had no problems since.

[ayoung]

Hoping it does not happen again as I have never had a nose bleed in my lifetime.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Corticosteroids do make capillary walls more fragile so that could account for the nosebleed. Pred also tends to make some people bleed more. Once a blood vessel is damaged it really doesn't take much to dislodge the clot so repeated nose bleeds are not unusual.

[ayoung in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you for the great info. Sure made me aware of this. Never had a nose bleed in my 74 years.

[Telian in reply to PMRpro]

Very interesting...

I had a nose hemorrhage year before last but was on Acitretin, prescribed by dermatology. I was asleep at the time. Rushed to A&E and admitted, plugged nose for 24 hours then cortorised.

It took 12 months for the scab to stop bleeding and heal and used Naseptin and Bactroban even now that scab is constant but hardly bleeds. You and I had a conversation some time back re nasal dryness - I told you I used vaseline on a cotton bud to moisturise the nasal passages - it was two fold really as it was for the scab also.

Needless to say Acitretin was stopped as I was told it was the cause, and not the steroids. What do you think or could it be a mixture of the two? The scab still grows and bleeds slightly if I don't soften it with the vaseline, but thinking steroids has something to do with it now?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Telian]

There are also other things that cause such scabs in the nose - have you seen an ENT specialist?

[Telian in reply to PMRpro]

Yes, after the cortorisation GP referred me to ENT twice as was discharged each visit with creams so back to GP and he says its because I'm slow in healing!

[Purplecrow]

No nosebleeds, but several ruptured vessles in eyes. No known reason, just bloody eye. Doc said not to worry...but it looks pretty gruesome.

[Hidden in reply to Purplecrow]

I get those "red devil" eyes too. They seem to clear ok though in a day.

[piglette in reply to Purplecrow]

I had the red eye look recently, great for Halloween. It took at least a week to go away. It was just in one eye though.

[SheffieldJane]

No but my friend did and it turned out to be related to her blood pressure. My son also had unexplained copious nosebleeds that we put down to being hit in the face with a basket ball at school, causing damage.

[Robert17]

A bit late getting round to this post. I had a severe nose bleed 6 years ago just before I was diagnosed with PMR. I can't help feeling that what caused the nose bleed might have been one of the original triggers together with the sinus infection I had only just recovered from. Spent 2 days in hospital with a sausage up my nose. It was too high up for cauterization. Bleeding all over the floor at A&E was a very effective way of getting dealt with quickly but I wouldn't recommend it. I still have PMR (or is it Large Vessel Vasculitis?) but down to 2mgs with no adverse physical effects apart from fatigue. I don't know what damage the long term use of Prednisolone may have had though.