Pulmonary Embolism Support Group

By far the most common form of pulmonary embolism is a thromboembolism, which occurs when a blood clot, generally a venous thrombus, becomes dislodged from its site of formation and embolizes to the arterial blood supply of one of the lungs. Symptoms may include difficulty breathing, pain during breathing, and more rarely circulatory instability and death.

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Bloody Noses

Ferr
Ferr
Ok this has been a pretty rotten last couple of weeks. If any of you read my last journal entry you knew I had a bloody nose and had to have my poor little nose cauterized, twice. It actually worked. Then today all hell broke loose. I got up and started getting ready for work, when all of a sudden my nose started gushing blood from both nostrils. I'm talking total hemorrhage here. I actually soaked 1 towel before I was able to get to the phone to call 911 (I was home alone) By the time I soaked through the second towel the exploding headache and dizziness started. I grabbed all my meds stuck them in my robe pocket, grabbed a clean jogging suit (one not covered in blood and slumped down by the front door and awaited the ambulance.) My dog actually let them in the door. I totally soaked the third towel by the time I got to the ER. All this happened over a period of 1/2 hour. After getting to the ER, blood tests showed my INR was a perfect 2.9, the CT scan showed nothing and the bleeding stopped as fast as it started. The ER doctor can't find the source of the bleed anywhere, and recommended I go see an ENT to have my sinus cavities better examined. I still have a slight headache and a little dizziness but, I'm back home and plan to go to work tomorrow. Have any of you experienced any unprovoked nose bleeds while on coumadin? I have to say this is a first for me even after being on coumadin since 2005. I honestly didn't know you could get that much blood out of a nose bleed. It actually scared me and I don't scare easily. I have to say I'm a little concerned about the headache too and plan on talking to one of the neuro-surgeons about it while at work tomorrow.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Ferr,
Sorry to hear this..sounds like a very scary experience. Glad to hear you got thru it safely. Hopefully, they will find that it was caused by some minor sinus issue.

Robert
deleted_user
deleted_user
I have not experienced any nosebleeds at all since I've been on Warfarin (Jan 2010). However, when my mom was on Coumadin, a few years ago, she had a couple of episodes with nosebleeds. However, in both cases, her INR was too high. If your bloodwork was fine, maybe it is a good idea to check other possible causes. Hope you get some answers! *hugs*
deleted_user
deleted_user
I've had a quite a few nosebleeds but it's always been when my INR has been too high. I hope they can figure out a reason for it. Hugs.
lakotajo2
lakotajo2
I am so sorry! I hope you find some answers.
Jo
ultratodd
ultratodd
Hi Ferr,

Yes I've had a couple of minor nose bleeds while on coumadin. Mine started while I was running pretty hard and disappeared almost as quickly as they started. My guess is they were started by high BP while running. I doubt that it was from dry sinuses as my nose runs as much as the rest of me. :-) My INR was 2.5 when I had it checked. I wasn't bothered too much by it but just asked my running buddy to let me know if it got bad. I hadn't noticed the blood and had to ask him to check because I'm so used to my nose running. If it had, I would have taken a trip to the ER.

I hope it's nothing serious.

Todd
Ferr
Ferr
Thanks my friends, I have an appointment with an ENT on Thursday the 19th to see whats up. In the meantime the ER doc gave me something to spray in my nose in case it happens again. Its suppose to help stop the bleeding. To me it just looks like Afrin, but what the hey, what do I know. Dang and I didn't even get the enjoyment of picking my nose, blowing it to hard or running to cause this.
Thanks again
Hugs
Ferr
rmb
rmb
Geez Ferr, this sounds nuts.

I've not had any bleeding like this, even when my INR has been high. I've been over 6 and have not had an issue. I wonder if you have a polyp or something or ruptured some kind of blood vessel. I know when the AC is on and it's allergy season, I sometimes get a bloody nose, even when I wasn't on warfarin. But nothing like you describe. Hope you get it figured out. Let us know what you find out.
LauraLu
LauraLu
I get unprovoked nosebleeds too, but nothing like what you've described. No headache to go with it. But I never had a nosebleed before warfarin so it was pretty startling for me and I scheduled an INR for the next day. My INR was actually LOW, like 1.9 if I recall.
But you know what was high? My blood pressure.
I'm not sure if that was the culprit, or part of the culprit, but anyhow, I've since got the BP in check, and have not had anymore bleeds (now watch, tonight I'll have a gusher - that's they way my luck rolls!)
deleted_user
deleted_user
I have had a lot of nosebleeds since taking Warfarin. I agree with the high BP comments, especially since you mention the headache and dizziness. Although I am on meds to control my BP and HR and still have nosebleeds, nothing as bad as you have had. I hope they find an answer for you soon.
Ferr
Ferr
I too am on BP medication but when I took my BP it was only 134/84 so nothing really high. The headache can only be described as the great exploding head. And honestly the only reason i called 911 was because of the dizziness, normally i would have just driven myself to the ER, Guess I'm turning into a big baby as I get older.
I'll keep you all posted.
LauraLu
LauraLu
No, you're not. You're a wise woman to call 911 - a "thunderclap" headache or "the worst headacke ever" combined with a major nosebleed puts you in no condition to be driving - for your own safety as well as everyone elses. Brain bleeds are nothin to fool with, as you well know - and that type of headache is often times a precurser. If it were me, I would have totally freaked out, so your reaction was calm, cool and collected in my book!
Ferr
Ferr
Read the great advice that Kioski posted from Dr Oz. Think if it happens again I may try that. Had another nose bleed yesterday but got it stopped and went on to work. My nose kind of just trickled all night at work and as long as I just kind of sniffed my nose I was able to keep it a secret so they couldn't send me home. I hate the taste of blood though, Sorry I know TMI.
Anyway have one more 10 hour shift then i get to go see the ENT.
Ferr
Ferr
OK sorry it's taken me so long to update and let you all know I'm fine. I went to the ENT last week and he couldn't find the source of the bleeds. Said with as much blood as I lost it was more than likely a ruptured artery somewhere way up in my sinuses. He told me to take it easy (No work) for about 4-5 days, no bending over, no blowing my nose which of course is running terribly right now, He also said if the bleeds start again they will have to put me out to do a scope up my nose to find the source of the bleeding which will require a hospital stay and coming off the coumadin, Bridging to lovenox etc, etc, etc. He said in a perfect world he would just take me off the coumadin, Let me heal and be done with it, but Since I don't live in that perfect world his hands are kind of tied. Anyway, I'm fine and doing well and plan to return to work on Tuesday.
Thanks for all your concern, love you guys a lot.
Hugs
Ferr
Ferr
Ferr
OH and by the way the headaches were caused from the fact that my pharmacist switched me to generic warfarin without me knowing it. When I called to question the shape of my coumadin tablets he told me oh its because we have a new supplier. I looked the tablets up on line and found out they are generic warfarin and the buffers in them give me hellacious headaches.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Ferr..
Glad to hear you are feeling better.

Would have been nice of someone to tell you they switched your medicine huh?. Here you are thinking you are having a stroke or brain hemorrhage and its because you inadvertently have different medicine.

Frustrating...
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