Nosebleeds?

[washingtonmike]

Greetings all:

Had a new problem two days ago, was walking down the street and got a sudden and rather generous nosebleed. Nothing to provoke it that I know of and no advance warning.

On the humorous side I made a dash for the nearest wc, which was in a restaurant, only to find out the paper towel dispenser had been replaced by an electric blower and there was no tp as well AND I was sans handkerchief.

But, I made it back to the car and paper supplies I had stashed there. It subsided with packing and instructions from the doctor. One recurrence yesterday of short duration and, because I made a gentle blow to see if anything needed to come out, I probably started it.

I see that my platelet count is down 253, 175, 165 over the last 6 weeks or so. Might this be a contributing factor.

Any help or information is much appreciated.

Cheers, Mike

[Cathy]

Hi Mike

I do know that platelets help the blood to clot and also that chemotherapy treatment can reduce the platelet count but whether this might cause your nose to bleed unexpectedly (and at a clearly inconvenient time!) I couldn't say but one of the nurses on this site would be able to advise I'm sure as I have enquired about a low platelets count myself in the past.

If they don't reply to this thread perhaps you could try to email them?

Best wishes over there

Cathy xx

Edited July 18, 2013 by Cathy

[J_T]

Hi Mike, glad to see you have retained your sense of humour, it does help!

Ray didn't have an actual nosebleed but he did have a bit of spotting but it was fleeting. As Cathy says, might be an idea to contact the forum nurses for some advice.

Julia x

[PCUK Nurse Jeni]

Hi Mike,

Sorry that you are experiencing nosebleeds. Given the platelet levels that you have reported here, then this is not the cause of them, as they would need to be much lower than this, below 100. Even with platelet levels of below 100, it might still not be the reason for the nosebleeds - this tends to happen when they are below 50, generally, although depending on the person too. But, certainly not at 165.

5FU can cause nosebleeds, but usually not so vigorous. The other cause which springs to my mind is high blood pressure - have you had yours checked recently?

If this is normal, then it might be due to the 5FU, but do let the oncology team know of course. As long as it stops after the appropriate treatment/pressure, then it's not such a problem. The problem is when they don't stop!

Take care Mike,

Jeni.

[washingtonmike]

Thanks folks.

I did immediately call my oncologist's office. He was concerned, of course, and gave me instruction for treatment and so far it has not repeated. I'm guessing it was just a one-of-a-kind thing. I keep the area moistened with Vaseline and so far so good. Cheers, Mike