Teary Eyes and Nose Bleed during Chemo

YES - I totally had that issue. PLUS - all your nose hair falls out, so you might be blowing your nose much more often…

Consider humidifying… Try to keep your fluids way up… Drink hot tea (you'll then also breathe in the steam from the tea - that helps - plus mint and/or ginger helps with tummy ick).

When I started chemo, I was also using a nasal spray for fall allergies… Had to stop that because the side effect from chemo plus the side effect from the nasal spray meant STOOOOPID dry nasal passages….

Hope that helps… Talk to your health care team - they might have some good ideas… As long as it's just a little blood and not a full on nose bleed… you should be okay. But if you end up with a nose bleed that won't stop, CALL your nurses line asap and get advice.

Good luck!

hi there,

I had the same issue with nose bleeds while on chemo. What I found helped was having a humidifier in my bedroom at night and using a lubricating nasal spray to keep my nasal passages moist. I found that helped tremendously. I found the dry winter air aggravated the bleeds but I started chemo in July and they started before the cold got here.

Persephone, welcome to Breastcancer.org. You've already had such useful advice thanks to other members' experiences. The information in the Nosebleeds section of the main Breastcancer.org has some background and suggestions too, although more about full-blown nosebleeds.

Best wishes with your chemo!

• The Mods

ladies how long after taxotere was it until the tears stopped?

My eyes 'ran' at least 1/2 the time on both A/C and Taxol.  I was told to try different OTC eye moisturizer to find the one that worked best for me - I forget which one did.  I never had any nose bleeds on either of them either, but definately the 'plumbing' flowed.  Without any warning, several times a day it was like a spigot was turned on and totally clear 'water' would gush out for a while and then stop as quickly as it started - sometimes a minute or 2, sometimes longer.  Dr had no suggestions other than to be sure I also a lot of tissues handy or with me if I went out.  Actually, when I went out, I carried Viva paper towels as they are quite soft and more absorbant.  Allergies were/are not an issue for me.  Dr did say if more than just a speck or 2 of blood even showed up to call the Center or head to ER if it was a lot.  Our bodies are under a lot of stress during Chemo and 'things' can happen quickly so checking was better than ignoring.  Others Drs may say something different but that's what I was told by mine.

What I've used for MANY years to take blood stains out of clothes/material is to make a wet paste out of Adolph's Meat Tenderizer (Original, not flavored or the other generic versions), rub it in and let it soak overnight.  Then wash as usual.  Sometimes if a heavystain or very dried before getting the Adolph's on, might have to do another soak before drying the material.  (Also good for getting 'baby drool/poop' out of their clothes.)   I've also had fairly good results of getting blood stains, baby 'drool' and 'poop'  out, is to soak overnight in somewhat concentrated OxyClean (I usually use 2 or 3 scoops in 1 - 1 1/2 gal. water depending on how much I had to soak or how soiled they were).   I have tried some of the Generic versions of OxyClean but they never worked as good as the Original

oh, btw. I hope i am not repeating what has been said but very dry eyes make for rivers of tears and yucky stuff. I have punctum plugs in my eyes for severe dryness. My eye dr inserted them. Nothing to it. Fit in tear duct and i don't even know they are there. Amy

There is a combination of two reasons for nosebleeds during chemo - chemotherapeutic agents irritate all of the soft tissue in the body - like inside your nasal passages - and your platelet count drops during chemo.  Platelets are the clotting factors in your blood.  When you combine the tendency to bleed from irritation with a reduced ability to clot, you will have frequent nosebleeds.  Platelets are the blood cell in the body with the shortest lifespan, they are reproduced in five days - so your platelet counts will vary widely - that is often why there is no rhyme or reason to when nosebleeds happen.  For those on Herceptin, the runny nose side effect may exacerbate this as well because you are blowing, or wiping your nose.

Taxanes, particularly Taxotere, seems to cause tearing - "Taxo-tears".  I did not see relief from this until about 8 weeks PFC, and this is actually caused by dry eyes.  Use a lubricating eye drop (not the kind that gets the red out), but if you are not helped by this it is important to have your eye doctor check your tear ducts, as scarring can cause issues.  Some people do need stents in the ducts to help with this.