Nose Bleed

[netabrookie 0]

I just thought that I would mention this and hopefully save someone from having a very bad day. This story starts out around 9:30 am on Friday Feb. 22. I stayed up very late the night before and didn't get up until about 9:30 Friday morning and had to go straight to the bathroom to let nature call. As I stood and let the coffee (decaf) and soft drinks ( also caffeine free) start their journey back to mother earth I felt a trickle in my left nostril. I thought that it was just a runny nose until it turned into more than a trickle and then saw blood dripping into the toilet. I first grabbed some toilet paper to try to catch the mess but wound up with a soaked mess. After a few wash cloths soaked and it not letting up I decided it was time to go to the hospital. Once I arrived they took me straight back while my wife attended to the paper work. I had no idea what to expect and also had no idea how painful it was about to be. The nurse said they were going to have to "pack" my nose and it would feel like I had a tampon stuck in it. The packing turned out to be a device that they placed in my nose and then filled with air by using a syringe. The end of it was sticking out over my left eye and held in place with tape across my cheek. The device or "packing" hurt a little but it beat a steady stream of blood and I figured I could handle it with no problems. My wife and I made our way home and thought everything was fine and I just had to take it real easy for a few days and not get my bloood pressure up. We were wrong. I only got to be home less than an hour until it started again and so off to the hospital we went, again. By now I was getting fairly sore but had to have this taken care of. The second "packing" was a similar thing and seemed to be working but hurt like the devil as the lady doctor put it in. All fixed now or so I thought. I made it to the hospital parking lot before I started bleeding again. You could have easily tracked me through the lot and back through the emergency department because of the blood trail that I was leaving. I have always heard the old saying "the third times a charm" so I had high hopes. By now it was 7:00 pm and the shift change so I got a doctor with a shaved head instead or the attractive lady doctor and the beautiful blond nurse. This new doctor came up with another type of "packing" and proceeded to install it without anything to try and numb my poor nose. I have never felt anything quite like that. I have taken a lot of boxing gloves and a few bare fists to my snout but none of them came close to how bad this hurt. I thought I could deal with it as long as the bleeding stopped, but it did'nt and now it was really flowing. The only thing that I had going in my favor was that the lady doctor had given me some kind of pain killer through my IV that she said was stronger than morophine. I was groggy and stoned feeling but my nose was killing me. After realizing nothing was working the shaved head doctor called for an ambulance to take me for the hour or so ride to Wake Forest Medical Center in Winston-Salem N.C. I couldn't swallow because of the thing the last doctor put in me and was on the verge of drowning in my own blood because it was really flowing down my throat. I don't remember much of the ride except the EMT working with me and having to hook up something to the IV because he said my pressure was dropping very bad. After making it to Wake Forest, or us locals just call it Baptist hospital, I just remember a lot of attention and another pain killer. I do remember the fourth "packing" however. It looked like a tongue depressor made of very hard foam. I also remember the crunching and cracking sounds as one doctor held my head while the other inserted it. This time the blood seemed to stop and they kept me there for a few hours to be sure. I remember the doctor saying they would put me in a room to keep an eye on me if I wanted but I chose to just come home. I think it was just before daylight when we made it home and the big adventure was finally over. Now to my point to all of this....I didn't understand what had caused it. I don't put any drugs up my nose and try to keep my blood pressure in check. The doctors at Wake Forest seemed to think that it was aspirin. I have taken a baby aspirin everyday for a good while to help with the blood pressure. I have had some wicked headaches lately and had been taking ibuprofen and for a couple days before all of this and I have taken quite a few Goodie powders also. The doctors concluded that all of this added up and created a situation were my blood was flowing freely and there wasn't a very good way to make it stop. So just be careful and watch what you put into yourself because what you think is helping can silently be killing you. If I had been back in the mountains on one of my pack-in-and-fish adventures then I don't think that I would be sitting here typing all of this. I didn't mean to write a novel when this started, but I wouldn't want anyone to have to endure what I did. I'm not complaining about any treatment that I was given, just trying to warn anyone because the nose packing hurts, really after the fourth one...

Take Care, Tony

[Piker20 0]

Like you say, if you had been out in the wilderness........

Its never a good thing the nose packing. I'm normally the not beautiful blonde nurse one doing the packing. Its amazing what over the counter medicines can do to you when mixed and matched. Its also amazing what the addition of certain foods can do but thats a whole text book that one.

[mikechell 0]

Wow, Tony !!!
Did they even look into your nose to see where the bleeding was coming from. I ask, because there are several things that can cause continuous nose bleeds, and some of them are danger signs.

 

If you're on an insurance plan, go to an E.N.T. ... ear/nose/throat guy and tell him what happened ... let a specialist take a look.

[tidewaterfly 0]

WOW! Tony, sorry you had to go through all that, but like you said, in a different circumstance it could have been worse. Take care of yourself!

 

I also take aspirin regularly, and a few years ago had to have some surgery. The doctor asked if I also took ibuprofen. Told me to be careful about mixing them as they both thin the blood. Also said that NSAIDs can counteract the good that the aspirin may do, so if I had to take them, do so at least an hour apart.

 

I think I would follow Mike's advise & see a specialist if I was you. Better to know for sure now if there's anything else going on, rather than later & find out again the hard way!

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

I'm with Mike on this one I understand the thinned blood causing them to have a hard time stopping the bleeding but it seems to me they didn't try to find a cause and I'm no doctor but a shot of novicane and a cauterizer stops bleeding without the pain

Also becareful with ibuprofen and other NSAIDs as they do incredible damage to the liver kidneys and digestive tract

[mybadhabit 0]

It is surprising that they didn't cauterize the bleeding points with silver nitrate, I think that's what the ENT used on me when he removed polyps from my sinuses years ago. I'd had them scraped and had my septum repaired and went in on a follow up and he found the polyps and just pulled them out with some kind of tool then did the cauterizing in the office with what I believe was silver nitrate on a stick. That was the final time I saw this doc, he put me thru hell during and after my surgery for my sleep apnea, but that's another story. I know I get dehydration headaches and nosebleeds when I don't get enough fluids, but your case sounds way more severe than anything I've ever heard of Tony,. That must have been a rather scary thing about the 2nd or 3rd time, let alone the long ride to the other hospital. Glad they got it figured out for you.

 

Blane

[shoebop 0]

Scary stuff Tony! You don't want a repeat of that!

[BrookTroutAngler 0]

Yes, over the counter drugs do a lot more than just what they are intended for.

 

200 doses of acetaminophen (Tylenol) doubles your lifetime chances of kidney failure, however slim they are to start with.

 

Aspirin and ibuprofen as you found out aren't much better under some conditions.

 

I also wonder why they didn't try to cauterize the blood vessel. Unless it was in a location that could not be reached by a small cauterization tool.

 

Glad to hear in the end you are OK.

[netabrookie 0]

Thanks for the concern. I am supposed to see a specialist tomorrow. The doctor at Wake Forest said the bleeding was coming from way back in my nose and mentioned something about cauterizing it but I guess he was leaving it up to the specialist. I was so tired and hungry and screwy headed from the pain medicine that a lot of the details are a bit fuzzy. Thanks again for caring about a dumb old fart like me and thanks for the advice too. Take Care, Tony

[mikechell 0]

Ummm ... just to be on the safe side ... if you're wife thinks you're built like my wife does me ... you might want to schedule with a proctologist. Bleeding hemorrhoids are dangerous, too.

[netabrookie 0]

Well, I'm confused again? I am very tired and feel like a mule kicked me in the face and I know that I'm not the brightest light bulb in the pack either, but I thought that we were talking about the other end of me. If you know something that I don't about a connection between a nose bleed and then bleeding hemorrhoids ( I didn't even know how to spell it so I wrote what you wrote) then please tell. Am I to expect soaked undies next? As far as my build and my wife's opinion of it, I don't think she minds too bad. I put on a few inches around the mid section because of all the taking it easy because of the hernia but thats behind me and I'm watching the weight go fairly quickly. If this is about weight and blood pressure then I sort of understand but most of my pressure issues is due to stress and worry. I worry about everything and am always afraid that I have said the wrong thing and just can't let it go. I can't sleep good and only cat nap sometimes if I have been upset because I don't want to hurt or bother anyone. I worry about work also. I am always afraid that a customer wont like something about their vehicle even thnough I am the pickiest SOB that I have ever seen when it comes to body work and paint. Maybe, if I can just get some sleep then I will figure out exactly what you are talking about. I have considered just shutting the lid on this computer and never opening it again and then I won't say the wrong things and be considered a jerk.

[Rocco 0]

Same thing hapened to a friend of mine. His doctors said it was exended use of an antihistamine inhaler that dried out the major blood vessel just above the nose, Damn near could not pump new blood in fast enough to replace the loss. The packings diod not wok for him either. They eventually went in surgically with a segment of vein/artry? from his leg to replace the brittle segment and all turned out well.

 

Rocco

[mikechell 0]

Sorry, Tony. I was joking ... along the "Cranial-Rectal inversion" lines.

 

From your last reply ... I think you need to seriously speak with your doctor. Sleep problems are known to cause all kinds of other symptoms. There are some VERY good non-addictive sleep aids to help you get a good night's sleep. This can make all the difference to everything else in your life.

 

Check it out with your doctor.

 

Geeze ... I sound like a commercial.

[Piker20 0]

Did you guys know that we fellas produce a specific hormone after 'seeding' that makes us drowsy. Prolactin is the big one and its been shown we produce twice the hormone if the seeding is with someone else as opposed to solo. So tell the wife she's your best cure for a good nights sleep. And its cheaper than pills.

[netabrookie 0]

Mike, I thought you already knew that it is very easy to confuse me. Im a 15 watt bulb that was mistakenly put in a 100 watt package. I don't mean to be a butt-head. I have been having a string of very bad luck lately. I came back from town Thursday evening and my car started sounding like a wood chipper that you had thrown an anvil in. My friend has a crashed one like mine so now I guess its engine swap time and I really hate grease. I just got an order from J Stockard and have been so anxious to try the larva lace and liquid lace but my left eye is watering so bad that I can't see to tie. I guess the real kicker is that my appointment to get this thing out of my nose was put off until tomorrow morning at 8:45 but the weather is calling for freezing rain and very slick conditions. I guess I could go this evening and camp out in the grove of trees beside the doctors office. I may even get to use some of the liquid or larva lace if I do need a new vein in my nose if I can just talk the doc into using it. Wow, after reading over what I just wrote...if I can just find the beat and maybe make a rhyme or two then I may have a hit country song. Piker, how does a man comment on "seeding"? Maybe thats why I slept so much when I was a teenager. The wife had better look out because I consider your advice "professional help" but I had better wait for a while. If I get all excited now I might cause the bleeding to start again and die while I am trying to get my sleeping medicine because I'm too stupid to quit until the job is finished. I just happened to realize that I haven't mentioned the worst thing yet...I have had to fall back on my "beast" since my little Saturn croaked. The beast is an '88 Chevy Caprice 4 door. Peeling clear all over the top, deck and hood but its low miles and runs good. It only takes a quarter tank of gas to go to town and back and the Saturn would have went 3 or 4 times on a quarter tank. At least if I feel like splurging then I can open it up down a straight and hear a thing of the past....a 4 barrel carb singing to me...as long as I keep it somewhere near the speed limit that is....

All joking aside, thanks everyone for everything.

Take Care, Tony