Guest guest Posted December 16, 2002 Report Share Posted December 16, 2002 Tina, 1) If it's minor blood steaks in mucus, the bleeding might be a mucus plug that broke off and brought a little blood with it (like a fresh scab being knocked off a wound). If the air in your home is dry right now, then this is drying and irritating to the mucus membranes. Some people see flecks or streaks of blood when mucus membranes are too dry. Even people without CF get blood-streaked snot if the air in their home is too dry in winter. You can combat the dry air by getting an ultrasonic humidifier. But you must be sure to clean and replace the water daily to avoid bacteria. I keep small bowls of water on top of my radiators to moisturize the air. I add a couple drops of eucalyptus essential oil to the water -- keeps bacteria down and helps open stuffy noses. 2) Have you recently painted any rooms in your home? What about new carpeting or new furniture? What about at school -- paint or new carpeting or desks? What about arts and craft supplies such as paint or glue with a strong odor? Chemical fumes from paint, carpets and new furniture can sometimes cause bleeding. 3) One man with CF told me he bleeds whenever his copper levels get too high. Though it's rare, if you see the unexplained bleeding again then you might have doctors check copper levels. Then you can adjust the foods your son eats. Kim Mom of (23 with asthma and cf) and (20 asthma no cf) My 6 year old was coughing small amounts of blood for 2 days last week. The pediatrician sent us to ER where they did a sputum and throat culture. The cultures have come back normal. The pulm. Dr thought it was going to grow and that would be the reason for the blood. But now what. I'm glad there is no infection, but what could the blood be from? It stopped after 2 days on another antibiotic. Tina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2002 Report Share Posted December 16, 2002 Tina, 1) If it's minor blood steaks in mucus, the bleeding might be a mucus plug that broke off and brought a little blood with it (like a fresh scab being knocked off a wound). If the air in your home is dry right now, then this is drying and irritating to the mucus membranes. Some people see flecks or streaks of blood when mucus membranes are too dry. Even people without CF get blood-streaked snot if the air in their home is too dry in winter. You can combat the dry air by getting an ultrasonic humidifier. But you must be sure to clean and replace the water daily to avoid bacteria. I keep small bowls of water on top of my radiators to moisturize the air. I add a couple drops of eucalyptus essential oil to the water -- keeps bacteria down and helps open stuffy noses. 2) Have you recently painted any rooms in your home? What about new carpeting or new furniture? What about at school -- paint or new carpeting or desks? What about arts and craft supplies such as paint or glue with a strong odor? Chemical fumes from paint, carpets and new furniture can sometimes cause bleeding. 3) One man with CF told me he bleeds whenever his copper levels get too high. Though it's rare, if you see the unexplained bleeding again then you might have doctors check copper levels. Then you can adjust the foods your son eats. Kim Mom of (23 with asthma and cf) and (20 asthma no cf) My 6 year old was coughing small amounts of blood for 2 days last week. The pediatrician sent us to ER where they did a sputum and throat culture. The cultures have come back normal. The pulm. Dr thought it was going to grow and that would be the reason for the blood. But now what. I'm glad there is no infection, but what could the blood be from? It stopped after 2 days on another antibiotic. Tina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2002 Report Share Posted December 16, 2002 Tina, 1) If it's minor blood steaks in mucus, the bleeding might be a mucus plug that broke off and brought a little blood with it (like a fresh scab being knocked off a wound). If the air in your home is dry right now, then this is drying and irritating to the mucus membranes. Some people see flecks or streaks of blood when mucus membranes are too dry. Even people without CF get blood-streaked snot if the air in their home is too dry in winter. You can combat the dry air by getting an ultrasonic humidifier. But you must be sure to clean and replace the water daily to avoid bacteria. I keep small bowls of water on top of my radiators to moisturize the air. I add a couple drops of eucalyptus essential oil to the water -- keeps bacteria down and helps open stuffy noses. 2) Have you recently painted any rooms in your home? What about new carpeting or new furniture? What about at school -- paint or new carpeting or desks? What about arts and craft supplies such as paint or glue with a strong odor? Chemical fumes from paint, carpets and new furniture can sometimes cause bleeding. 3) One man with CF told me he bleeds whenever his copper levels get too high. Though it's rare, if you see the unexplained bleeding again then you might have doctors check copper levels. Then you can adjust the foods your son eats. Kim Mom of (23 with asthma and cf) and (20 asthma no cf) My 6 year old was coughing small amounts of blood for 2 days last week. The pediatrician sent us to ER where they did a sputum and throat culture. The cultures have come back normal. The pulm. Dr thought it was going to grow and that would be the reason for the blood. But now what. I'm glad there is no infection, but what could the blood be from? It stopped after 2 days on another antibiotic. Tina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2002 Report Share Posted December 16, 2002 Tina, One of the mysteries of CF. Why do we have hemoptysis? Most doctors agree they are not sure. Some people do it when they are on IV antiobiotics, and in fact my CF center said numerous times someone is in for a tune up and doing well and cough up blood. Well the explanation - they feel that you are clearing junk from your lungs and now new areas are exposed and irratated and can break easily - that being capilaries and vessels. I have never been told it was definitely infection. I would do it whenever, doing whatever. Just be sure you get some guidelines of what your action should be for the amounts that are coughed up. Sometimes I just continued on my way, others stop nebs and chest PT, others call the doc, others rest, others go to ER. It is a scarey event and I never really got use to it, despite have 2 major episodes and numerous small ones. The only thing that would calm me down is I kept repeating to myself " I have millions of small capaliaries in my lungs and one burst " . That for some reason helped me. Hope this helped a little. By the way, I am 39 years old and my sister is 48.We both have Cf and we both have had a lung tx. Partly due to coughing up blood I chose to get new lungs, I could not stand not reaching, lifting, or running because the fear of coughing up blood was so great. Joanne Schum > My 6 year old was coughing small amounts of blood for 2 days last week. > The pediatrician sent us to ER where they did a sputum and throat culture. > The cultures have come back normal. The pulm. Dr thought it was going to > grow and that would be the reason for the blood. But now what. I'm glad > there is no infection, but what could the blood be from? It stopped after > 2 days on another antibiotic. > > Tina > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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