GCA prednisolone and nosebleeds: Hello I am... - PMRGCAuk

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GCA prednisolone and nosebleeds

hbp01 profile image
9 Replies

Hello

I am currently on my first ski holiday since having GCA, and have had a very heavy nose bleed yesterday and today. I have never had nose bleeds on a ski trip before, and I was wondering if GCA and or Pred makes you suseptible to nose bleeds.

I was on 17mg Pred but increased to 20mg after nosebleed yesterday, and result from blood test last week with CPR 12. (but I have a cold)

I can't find anything in the Pred info.

I am sure you will have the answers !!±

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9 Replies
SnazzyD profile image
SnazzyD

Pred does make those small capillaries more fragile hence the issues with bruising and bleeds like nose and the conjunctiva. The nasal passages are full of them and if you have a cold as well, it’s a double whammy. Is the air very dry as well at altitude? If you flew, the nose would have had a good drying out then. Not a recipe for happy nasal mucosa! The problem I found was once there was a break, it was prone to recurrence.

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply toSnazzyD

Yes - meant to mention the dryness! Not that it's a problem here at the moment, about 65% at best ...

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador

Pred does tend to make blood vessels more delicate, especially the capillaries, the tiny ones. And having had one nosebleed, that place inside your nose is even more delicate and at risk of the clot being dislodged easily, cue next nosebleed.

Was the blood sample for that raised CPR taken when you had the cold? That is almost certainly why it was up.

Where are you skiing? Hope your weather is better than ours - you can probably see your feet up our mountain but that is about all!!

hbp01 profile image
hbp01 in reply toPMRpro

Hi

Blood test a week today and had just got cold and still have it now ! I had my nose cauterised about 40 years ago and only had nosebleeds very rarely and never heavy. But had a few heavy ones a few months before getting GCA.

I am skiing in La Thuile in Italy. Visibility not good at all, as I think you are in Italy and enjoy skiing I will tell you the full story of my day. I skied in ski lesson to La Rossiere and started nose bleed on chair lift on way back from La Rossiere village, at top instructor took me to the medic but couldn't stop bleeding so left me there and communed ski lesson. The medic shoved something up my nostril and said I couldn't ski back. So put me in the blood wagon skied it back to Italian side then transferred me to a skidoo with a rooky driver (I think) because he drove into some deep snow and turned the skidoo over on its side, luckily snow was deep otherwise our legs would have been caught underneath. Had to wait ages for another skidoo to come and get it back upright and continue back home !!!

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply tohbp01

I won't say what I think - skiing home would have been preferable!!! I had a ride on a skidoo after mangling my knee - no hope of being able to grip with my knees and he had no intention of taking it easy! I assume you mean the akia stretcher with handles for skier to hold and steer? That was a bit mean, they are really uncomfortable. When I broke my leg 30 years ago they couldn't use the akia because there was a compression in the way so I was loaded into a piste basher and motored up to the top to the gondola down to the ambulance. Interesting mode of transport ...

hbp01 profile image
hbp01 in reply toPMRpro

Skiing would have been good on a sunny day !! But instructor said I had to come back on the stretcher. I certainly sounds as though you have had ski accidents of your own !!

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply tohbp01

The broken leg was 30-odd years ago - the mangled knee less than 10 years ago. But I've lived here for years and skied 2 or 3 times a week, increases the chances!! The knee was really annoying - I started off on the first run of the day and realised it hadn't frozen overnight so the surface was greasy. There was a badly prepared join between 2 sweeps of the piste basher and I lost my balance - so easily done. The knee was all waggly - didn't hurt though and healed fine and was back skiing the next season. Was after the broken leg too, finished the season and had the metalwork out in March, back skiing the next year.

hbp01 profile image
hbp01 in reply toPMRpro

All sounds very painful, so glad you managed to continue skiing as so many don't after leg/knee issues !!

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply tohbp01

They do here!!! It was instructive though. I chose to have the leg sorted here -it was only day 4 of the holiday and would have spoiled it for everyone else, we were away for over 2 weeks altogether. The knee was involved as well but as soon as the surgery was done they started knee bending exercises to maintain the bend and I didn't get a cast so that could continue. Back in the UK, immediately given a cast, the old-fashioned white stuff and it weighed a TON. And just left. No physio offered when the cast was taken off. And the orthopod asked if I could still lift my foot - of course, I said and demostrated. So he blithely informed me most people couldn't after that sort of break - and seemed happy to accept that as the norm! They are very good with knee and hip replacements here too - and people go back to skiing. THAT is accepted as the norm.

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