bloody nose

[AliciaB]

Last Tuesday, May 15 I had chemotherapy round #3 out of 6. As with my previous rounnds now is the time I get bloody nose mucous and small bloody noses. Any suggestions on how to handle this? I am already taking clariton daily.

[rhondalea]

I think my chemo was different from yours but we do share the "bloody nose factor": taxanes. At first, I though it was caused by Herceptin, but after a month or so off Taxol, my nose did stop bleeding. It took longer for the "drippy faucet effect" to go away. (I've found that for me, Zyrtec works better for that purpose than Claritin.) Saline nasal spray and tissues make both more manageable.

Hang in there.

[Hopeful]

Alicia,

I have just been dealing with two people close to me having bloody nose problems that never had them before. One is my best friend, a 10 year bc survivor who lives in the north and had an exceptionally long and dry winter, the other, my SO who has terrible allergies and takes an antihistamine regularly at this time of year. Our ENT friend said that dry nasal passages were the culprit. Could be the Claritan is working against you rather than for you with this. All the docs involved with my friends say to use the saline nose drops or spray regularly, to prevent the drying and cracking of the nasal membranes that lead to these awful nosebleeds.

Best of luck to you with your treatment,

Hopeful

[AliciaB]

Thanks for suggestions. I took some saline this morning. How often do you use it?
Rhondalea- I am taking taxotere, carboplatin and herceptin for chemotherapy.
Hopeful- I do normally get a runny nose this time of year, but never with the bloody mucous. In fact, I have not seen this much bloody "snot" since I was 5 years old and had to have my nose cauterized ie burned ( sorry cant spell on smart phone)

[rhondalea]

You can use plain saline as often as you like. I didn't have a particular schedule, but the least little nose irritation found me reaching for the bottle. Sometimes, I would just soak a couple of cotton balls in saline and stuff them in my nostrils. Not pretty, but it felt pretty good.

I figured you were having TCH instead of ACTH (which is what I had), but taxanes in any form are evil to the nose (and in my case, at least, to the gums--mine bled a lot).

[Kellennea]

Alicia - I had a runny and sometimes bloody nose while on TCH, the bleeding was random but the runny nose/eyes lasted well into 3 months after chemo ended. I hope you find some relief!

[Vicki revised]

I had bloody noses constantly while on TCH. It seemed to get worse when my nose hair fell out. I used a cool mist humidifier and rx nose spray--flonase. Zyrtec was taken to help with neulasta side effects (which worked!).

[AliciaB]

Day 2 of using saline solution. It's working great! Love this forum.

[KDR]

When I went into the emergency room--and stayed three days--for a nosebleed that would'nt stop, they packed my face and after the packing was removed, used Afrin. Afrin stops bleeding, Also remember to keep your head bowed to the front but above your knees if it gets really bad. The old method of holding your head back...is...well, old. Squeeze the nose right where cartilage meets and keep the pressure on.

Right now it seems you are having the "usual" or "mininal" bleeding that is easily controlled.

Keep the conditions of your house moist (humidifier in winter) and use petroleum jelly in your nostrils along with saline spray.

Best
Karen

[rhondalea]

Petroleum jelly made my nose feel better until I did further reading. Here are two links, one from Mayo (somewhat reassuring), the other from the People's Pharmacy (somewhat less so). I can't find the original articles that made me cap the jar, because I can't remember the original search terms I used, but there's a lot of information out there if you google "lipoid pneumonia."

http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2010/02/17/is-petroleum-jelly-in-the-nose-safe/

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/petroleum-jelly/an00947


As an aside (which is to say that it slipped my mind earlier), after all the bleeding was over and only the dripping remained, I developed a small sore inside my nose that simply refused to heal. I finally gave up and saw my internist. One swab later, it turned out I had MRSA in my nose. Five days of twice-daily Bactroban Nasal, and my nose is giving me no trouble at all.

Given that at least 30% of the population is carrying non-symptomatic MRSA in their nasal passages and all cancer patients have had our immune systems compromised, it might be helpful to have that checked.

[KDR]

Thank you, Rhondalea, for posting this. I certainly will bring it up to my doctors at next visit. They will probably tell me that the benefit far outweighs the risk. I'll report back!
Take care,
Karen

[Vicki revised]

I forgot I used Bactroban ointment as well. My ENT rx it for a chronic sinus infection the month before my dx.

Both my hubby and son have MRSA in their nasal passages that flare up every few months. I threw out my trusted and true vaseline as well which I used to remove my eye makeup since I was 15. Dr Oz turned me to baby shampoo which is cheap and non-iritating.

[rhondalea]

Karen, will you please post back after you ask them? I have used vaseline-in-the-nose at different times over the years (having nothing to do with cancer), and "lipoid pneumonia" was a shock to me. If there's a possibility it's not totally verboten, I'd really like to know. (I look a lot more normal without cotton balls stuffed up my nostrils.)

Vickie, I take off eye makeup with Pond's cold cream (the light formulation with aloe), but baby shampoo is a handy, dandy idea. Thanks.

[KDR]

Rhondalea,
Traveling. Just got your message. I'm going to call them. When I do, I'll post.
Karen