Nose Bleeds....big ones

Thanx for getting back to me! I am currently not on anything because rheumy says I have MS and neuro says sjogrens and they want me on different meds. All bloodwork positive for SS. Have you ever been doing nothing and just had it explode though ? It was a crazy amount but not enough to make me feel light headed . COuld be common I am just not sure. 

Finally after another hour I just got my second one stopped. ALmost went to the emergency room but they said they would just put cloth up my nose lol. Calling the DR in the a.m. So dry it is hard to swallow. So frustrating!

Whatever the root cause - & sometimes it's indicative of low vitamin K - nosebleeds often just happen in the way yours did, one second you're normal and the very next second blood is gushing out.

Thank you for your response Just think I must be really dry. Humidifier going full steam 

How scary for you! Oddly enough, I'd been thinking of asking on here about nosebleeds, as I've had two in the last year and this is a new thing for me. Just like yours, mine suddenly started out of nowhere, with blood pumping out quite liberally, though not as bad as yours.

I couldn't manage to stop either by the recommended method - pinching your nose hard at the point where the cartilage joins the bone, and holding for 5 minutes without interruption. Like you, that just resulted in some of the blood running down my throat. Even after pinching for 15 minutes without releasing the pressure once, it still didn't even slow down. I admit I cheated at that point...

I worked as a nurse on a casualty (ER) dept many years ago. You're quite right - they would have packed your nose at the ER. This is a rather unpleasant procedure where a thin gauze strip is pushed as far back in your nose as possible, using angled forceps. (It used to give me the creeps just doing it!) Realising I had some narrow, soft gauze bandages in the bathroom cabinet, I decided to improvise with eyebrow tweezers - but keeping the points well wrapped up in the gauze. OK, I admit this is one of those "don't try this at home" moments, but it worked! The first time I tried it I removed the improvised pack after about two hours, only to have the floodgates open again. So after that I left it in for 24 hours. Uncomfortable but effective.

I agree about the dryness too. My nose is often very sore and dry, and filled with crusts these days. (But I hadn't been trying to remove the crusts or even blowing my nose when the bleeding started.) This is mainly on the left side, and has coincided with a long period where I've been suffering from dry eyes - also especially on the left side. I think this would make sense, as the tears we produce all the time drain down through the nose.

On a related topic, I've just discovered some new lubricating eyedrops, which are fantastic. It's a Polish(!) brand, but available in UK and all over continental Europe. My ophthalmologist recommended the product. They're more expensive than the normal synthetic tears, and not reimbursed by our health service, but I only have to use them a couple of times a day, whereas I was putting the bog standard ones in half a dozen times and still not getting any relief. I'd better not give the brand here but they contain trehalose and sodium hyaluronate. Highly recommended.

Hi Lily

Sorry to hear about your nosebleeds. I've had my nose packed after sinus/septum surgery & cannot imagine trying to do that to myself ,,, much less the removal process, lol.

About your eye drops: do you know the ingredients of your old ones? I switched to something OTC with active ingredients of polypropylene and polypropylene glycol about 5 months ago because I'd reached the same point which you reached.

Hi aitarg,

I've just looked it up. The old product contained dextran and hypromellose. It used to irritate my left eye a bit too (that's the drier one at the moment). I could feel stinging in the inner canthus. The new drops don't seem to sting at all.

Going back to the nose-packing incident - I certainly didn't get as far up as they would have done in your post-op nasal pack, so it wasn't all that difficult. Ditto for getting it out again - just pull very gently.

Still, I'd never be able to put anything in to a point where it might help. My lungs have been such a problem (not Sjogren's related) that I've been in the ER several times & hospitalized once. Every time they have to hold my head still while they do nasal flu swabs. But then, I was almost 40 before I was able to keep my eyelids open for eye exam drops - from childhood on it was a 2 person job with one using 2 hands to hold open each eyelid while the other tried to get the drops in. Fortunately I was able to do that on my own by the time the eye dryness got bad.

Just call me A Big Texas Wimp.

Oh, you're not alone there aitarg. I still have problems putting in my own eye drops now! But in fairness, I think that's partly because I have unusually small eyes. Totally dreading the day my cataracts ripen. Still, I've had them for more than 20 years now and they've hardly advanced at all in that time, so maybe I'll get away with it if I don't live too long!

Hello Kathy,lily, airtag, well after posting when I believe the 2nd one hppened and shutting down my computer, it happenend again, and as silly as I felt going to the Emergengr room for a nose bleed I knoew these were really bad.. Needless to say, I ws pushed in front of everyone else, had 3 painful mathods tried to stop the bleeding and on the ambulance ride to the surgeon( Needed immediate surgery-Posterial nosebleed!) It broke through the 3 set of ballons and I got to hear the gut tell the driver to light it up ( the sirens) and we floored it. Choking in my own blood wasnt fun and I feel so SORRY for any of you who has went throught this. This is my super short version of my "nosebleed" but the worst was going to the 2 nd ER and the look of horror on nurses faces lol. Thank goodness it over for now. I had an artery bleed and 3 other hole , 1 they couldn't get to. WIll probably happen again and most likely due to SS drs said.

SOOOO, no matter what others may think, if you even have a DOUBT, got to the ER. They said if i had waited too long and was alone, it could've have been the worst outcome.

Feeling better now I am home and so glad I have you all to vent with Thank you for listening!

hope this makes sense, had general anesthisia and still a bit srrange

Oh TJ, it all made sense. Poor you! But for your future, when you say it will probably happen again, do you mean a bad nosebleed or this nightmare arterial bleeding?

I'm glad you're home okay now. Sending you healing thoughts and prayers.

TJ, what an awful experience, you must have been terrified! Thank goodness you did go to the ER. My two experiences were nothing remotely like yours, and I'd certainly call an ambulance if my DIY nasal packing didn't work. I guess I'm lucky I live in a city where there are hospitals all over and we have similar over-capacity in our ambulance services. Last time I needed to call one (not for a nosebleed) they were here in under five minutes.

Like aitarg, I can't quite make out from your post whether they've fixed the major damage or whether there's a danger of a bleed of this magnitude happening again. I hope you're getting ENT follow-up. Are they going to do an MRI scan to look for possible aneurysms behind your nose?

If it's any reassurance at all, this kind of bleed is incredibly rare. In my 14 months of working on Casualty in a busy London hospital I saw heavy nosebleeds most days, often more than one per shift. Bleeding from the mouth was common as well as out of the tear ducts, but I never once saw one that was seriously life-threatening like yours, and that couldn't be stopped in a few hours. No wonder the nurses looked so horrified.

I hope you're able to take it easy for a few days, having gone through such a shock - both in the medical and emotional sense.

Hello Lily and airtag I am resting and in a bit of pain but wanted to get back to you. I am having a follow up tomorrow and discussing more of the situation. Evidently when I was young and hit by a drunk driver my nose broke but noone noticed. Now, i am told there is a good chance of this bleed happening again and they will have to rebrreak my nose to try and stop the bleeding if it does happen again. I had 4 holes,3 which were fixed, but one they couldn't get too because of that. I will be hpefully all good soon but need to rest ab it. Every bone in my face hurts right now. Hope to be back to myself in a couple of days though. THANK YOU for checking up on me and talk soon

Glad you're recovering. I hope you're going to insist on something being done about this when you go for your follow-up. They can't expect you to wait till you have another serious bleed before they act! I would have thought an MRI would give them a better idea of exactly where the damage is, so they could do planned surgery rather than waiting for the next emergency.

I can imagine how much your face is hurting right now. I know from experience that the pain of nasal injuries goes on for a long time. I fell and broke my nose (though not seriously) 25 years ago and I remember my whole face went on aching for months after my nose had gone back to normal, especially when I was tired.

Take care of yourself and get well soon. And don't forget to let us know how the follow-up went.

Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers, TJ. It's astounding how theseoft-forgotten injuries come back to haunt us. I don't recall my nose being broken though I've known since my first sinus surgery that it happened so I'm not aware of that level of pain, btw I've had sinus surgery twice. While recovering from the first one in hospital, I said that I couldn't believe that removing a bony growth & widening drain holes plus trying to fix my deviated septum could be so much more painful than a 12" abdominal incision surgery. A nurse replied that any surgery inside or on our skull is at 10 times more painful than surgery anywhere else on the body.

We can all chuckle the next time we see a character in a movie or tv show bouncing cheerfully off the bed and carrying on 2 minutes after skull surgery!

exactly! lol

Thank you so much aitarg!!! I needed a good laugh

Hello Liliy, basically that's what he said to me and yes  it was frustrating. I have my appt at 10:15 tomorrow and I will bring all of that up. I can't see myself doing that until after I can blow my nose lol. Heh heh, this is the worst part I think. Torture not being allowed to blow Thank you for being here!

I would like to tell about a very positive thing that happened while there ...as I had my I think 3rd plug device up my nose and they told me I needed surgery, I realized I took my bf's jeep and had both sets of keys to my rover. They wouldn't let me drive home obviously (I was only not even 5 minutes away) and I had his phone. So, while ambulance was getting ready to take me to other hosp where ENT surgeon was, the receptionist at the ER asked me about my house and said she knew my neighbors ( a cop) and was off in 30 minutes. 

She took all my key sets and drove to my house and woke up my bf to let him know I was having surgery, THEN drove him back up to get his jeep. AMAZING! With all my whining abut myself.... I wanted t be able to tell that story of kindness! As soon as I am up to it I will be thanking her again and with a gft basket Above and beyond ...what a sweet person!

OMG, I forgot about not being able to blow one's nose. True torture, but stick with it.

Hi.  I don't know how I missed your response 3 days ago.  I am sorry you had such a horrible experience. I hope you never have to go through that again!  How did they repair the holes?

Hi Kathy, I think they cauterized them. Not sure. One hole wasn't able to be fixed. I am doing much better, still on pain pills, and praying I never go through this again

I pray that you never go through it again too!  

Thank you so much and I pray noone has t go through this. We already have enough to deal with. Hope your day is wonderful !