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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Daughters nosebleeds....shall I push for more help/answers?

28 replies

Marie5678 · 05/06/2021 20:15

I'm not sure if I'm bu or not. One of my daughters suffers from nosebleeds particularly worse in the summer but does get them all year round. I have been doctors before (a little while ago now) who have said it's something common and normally clears as they get older. She's 5 now and I don't feel like it's getting any better. I picked her up from after school club last week and she had 3 in the space of 3hrs. Today she had a particularly bad one and she wakes up in the morning with blood on her face having had one during the night (not every night mind you) sometimes she wakes up but some times she's doesn't but she can go from having none in a week to 3-6 a day at times. They don't last particularly long usually stopping within 2-5mins of nose pinching and head back. But I'm not sure if I should ask for tests or something. I'm not sure if this is just something she would grow out of or what I don't even know what they would do to help. I used do get nosebleeds myself again in the summer mainly so just presumed it was something normal that happened but not sure if I should be asking for help. Aibu? Am I over reacting? Is this just something that happens?

OP posts:
Itstheprinciple · 05/06/2021 20:36

At this time of year it's possibly hay-fever making her nose sensitive. I used to get them all the time when I was little because of that and DD is the same. DD ended up getting her nose cauterised a few years ago to help stop them as they were becoming more year round and frequent. We did get given some cream first by the GP which did seem to help for a while. But might be worth considering if she has any other hay-fever symptoms.

Hangingbasket2568 · 05/06/2021 20:52

I could have written your post OP - except DS’s nosebleeds began when he was 6 months old.
After years of being ignored and given conflicting advice and medication from Drs he is finally getting the treatment he needs.

He did have cauterisation but it did not help his issue.
First off keep a log of all the nosebleeds - I just wrote them on the calendar (nostril and length, day or night) and presented the GP with them.
Then you need to insist on a referral to the paediatric allergy clinic.
I cried during DSs appointment because it was the first time he was taken seriously and a lot other symptoms suddenly made sense.
He was finally given immunology treatment aged 14 after going to the doctors every year since he was a baby.

Hangingbasket2568 · 05/06/2021 20:54

Should have said, it’s severe hayfever but he is allergic to multiple pollens so his ‘season’ begins January until September.

dementedpixie · 05/06/2021 20:55

Never put the head back, tip the head forward or they risk blood running into the throat and choking them

My dd tried antihistamines and nasal spray and ended up getting her nose cauterised too. She's not as bad now

noidea02 · 05/06/2021 20:56

Both of my children had huge nosebleeds at that age and grew out of it. Don’t lean their heads back - always tip their heads forward and pinch!

LesLavandes · 05/06/2021 20:59

Ask for a referral to ENT

Original poster
Marie5678 · 06/06/2021 08:33

Thank you for your replies. She has no hayfever symptoms at all but will maybe try giving her piriton to see if that helps too. they started when she was around 1 years old and just are not getting better they are all year round so not sure if it's hay-fever or not the school have asked if it's anything in particular and also log them too as she gets so many so I will ask for that record. Thank you also for the tip I won't lean her head back and will go back to the doctors will a log.

OP posts:
SchrodingersImmigrant · 06/06/2021 08:48

My brother had that. Used to wake up looking like if he sacrificed something...

They sorted him with special gel tablets which went up the nose, I know some people had a laser done. It was cause by weak walls/veins something like that. I was very young when they sorted it.

StevieNix · 06/06/2021 08:54

I had chronic nosebleeds as a child until I was about 13 I think. Please PLEASE don’t tip her head back- tip it forwards!
Mine were extremely extremely heavy and frequent, the advise my mum was given was if it lasted an hour to take me to a&e, however whenever it got to the hour mark it would miraculously stop.
I was offered a laser treatment, but I was too scared to go through with it, I did grow out of it with no interventions eventually.
However it was a huge part of my childhood, every memory of being a child I’m sure I had a nosebleed- school plays, sports days, school trips, swimming lessons, sleepovers etc.
I found if I remained calm, tipped my head forward and pinched hard with a tissue it was less stressful for me. Getting upset and stressed out about it made it last longer.

ofwarren · 06/06/2021 09:00

My son is 18 now but had them terribly as a child.
The summer made it worse, as did using the central heating in the winter. The nostrils dry out and bleed easier.
We used a humidifier till he had his nose cauterised at 9.

Kitkat151 · 06/06/2021 09:03

My son started with nosebleeds around age 3 ....more during summer.....sometimes last for an hour...,,he’s 22 now....still exactly the same.....just one of those things he’s learned to live with...,,can go months without one....then 3 in a week

Donnasaurus · 06/06/2021 09:05

My daughter had this too, it stopped when she was about 12ish

ChatterMonkey · 06/06/2021 09:08

I used to get them a lot when i was a similar age, till about 9-10.

Wanted to echo previous pp who said not to tilt head back. That allows blood to trickle into stomach, and if it goes on for a while then you will eventually vomit up the excess blood from the stomach. I can say from personal experience that this is not fun at all and pretty traumatic. After this happening to me once, i then gor pretty bad anxiety every time i had a nose bleed as i was worried it would happen again.

Keep a little freezer bag with some peas in it and put it on the bridge of the nose when its bleeding. The peas are perfect to mould comfortably around the nose, and the cold helps shrink the blood vessels and stops the bleeding a lot faster.

Sweatycracks · 06/06/2021 09:11

Could she be anaemic?

l2b2 · 06/06/2021 09:16

Has she had a FBC?

NoSquirrels · 06/06/2021 09:17

Another one with a DC who has frequent nosebleeds (& I had them frequently as a child too). Tends to happen a) more in summer and b) more likely to recur if there’s been a couple in succession. Flexible ice packs are a good thing, and YY to staying calm - my DC can set off a nosebleed with a temper tantrum!

If they distress her a lot and you feel they’re too perhaps persist at the doctor.

imnottoofussed · 06/06/2021 09:21

I had this when I was younger. The gp thought my lining in my nose was thin so when I got got it automatically burst. He prescribed me a nasal spray I can only describe sort of inhaler like and I've never had a nosebleed since

WhatisanODP · 06/06/2021 09:23

My sister used to have this, she grew out of it when she was like 9/10

She didn’t have hay fever

MummyJ12 · 06/06/2021 09:32

We had exactly the same with dd. Her nosebleeds were frequent and scary. She became anaemic and was given an iron replacement medicine.
We are lucky enough to have private healthcare so getting an appointment with ENT was quick, otherwise, I suspect that it may have been quite a long wait to see one on the NHS (although GP was fabulous and happy to refer via either.)
The consultant cauterised her nostrils, one at a time, a couple of months apart as he could see that she had some large vessels in her nose that were the cause.
It was a game changer and she hasn’t had one nose bleed since.
I hope you get your little one sorted soon. I agree with pp that she definitely needs a FBC to check for anaemia. It’s not necessarily something you should just expect her to grow out of, I’d pester the GP for a referral.

TheTeenageYears · 06/06/2021 15:04

Head forward not back and ice pack on back of neck.

Whyhello · 06/06/2021 15:08

My 11 year old DS has had them from around that age. He gets them more frequently in spring/summer due to hayfever and also when he has a cold. He has quite heavy ones sometimes but we’re used to it now so barely bat an eyelid when he has one. I’m not sure what answers you’re expecting, they’re extremely common in young children and often disappear by puberty.

babybabybabybabymother · 06/06/2021 15:09

f

SecretDoor · 06/06/2021 15:21

www.nhs.uk/conditions/

SecretDoor · 06/06/2021 15:22

www.nhs.uk/conditions/nosebleed/

Sorry this is the correct link

SleepingStandingUp · 06/06/2021 15:26

Head forward op, she's swallowing all that blood. Used to make me vomit on top of having nosebleeds.

How often a week/ month?

DS has them, maybe a a few a month, as did I (stopped around puberty altho I get the odd one now) we for my Mom.

Hospital have said they'll refer to A&Evif necessary but only of they're more frequent. His can last for ages but he screams hysterically through it all which doesn't help