Nose bleeds, loss of taste and smell.

[MAT51]

Sorry to everyone who replied to this post of mine - I have only just got to it. The reason for this is because I spent a week in hospital with a an acute abdominal sepsis - got home late on Tuesday having had IV Gentamicin, amoxicillin and lots of other drugs by IV or oral and had to stop Imuran for the time being until I am clear of infection 100%. My CRP went from a raised 36 up to 160 over the first few days of admission. I do have gallstones of 15 years and plan for my gallbladder to be removed in July but the ultrasound scan didn't show any movement or anything that could confirm Cholecystitis. There was blood and protein in my urine initially do the surgeon thinks I had a severe UTI sepsis rather than a gallbladder problem. My GP (I live in north of Scotland) feels it is definitely Cholecystitis though.

I am feeling better but am horribly tired. The endoscopy was done under sedation at my insistence and showed a bit of GORD but nothing significant at all. A few days later I went to my choir practice and half way through I found a blood clot at the back of my mouth. I had several more the following day and phoned the doctor. He felt it was nothing serious - just some bleeding from the trauma of endoscopy. This didn't quite make sense to me and now I've decided it was definitely caused by the singing and the blood has in fact come from my sinuses.

Sinusitis makes much more sense of the nose bleeds and sores and also if the weird pain in and around my teeth and jaw. My remaining confusion is really whether I have a type of Vasculitis - rheumatoid or Wegeners (GBA) most likely - or whether all this could be caused by Sjogrens. If the abdominal infection had come out of a history or UTIs or a recent history of gallstone flares - if I ate fatty food or wasn't gluten free perhaps this would make more sense.

But following flu and pneumonia and intense flares of small fiber neuropathy in between with dizziness and nose sores/ bleeds I feel this must all be connected - too much going on across my body for coincidence. I can't blame Imuran because I had only been on it for just over 2 weeks and the stomach pain was in the evenings 8 hours after taking my low dose - and both my weekly blood tests came back normal. 

I will be relocating to a new area soon and will have access to greater specialist input so will hopefully be able to get a name to put to the disease - and if Vasculitis then maybe s more effective drug regime. I see the neurologist again next month so an trying to work out what might be going on so I can discuss with him then.

[Dappledaxie]

I am new to these boards but have had Sjogrens for well over 20 years.

Amongst a lot of symptoms I am one who suffers dry nose /airways and loss of taste which can cause a fuzzy head and dizzyness. Over the years I have found this is caused by a fungal infection which does not show itself as it does in 'normal' folks according to the hospital in me its the above symptoms along with a coating on my teeth in a morning and maybe a roughness to the throat if I ignore the symptoms.

I carry at home Nystan (antifungal syrup) this works like a miracle and never fails within 24 hours of improving and clearing my symptoms. My problem was convincing the GP what my symptoms were as they dont show as they expect but the hospital helped me there so I no longer have issues getting the medication when I need it  

[JojaAZ]

Hello Mat51,

My eyes are O.K., I just use OTC eyedrops.  But my poor mouth is like cardboard.  Lot's of reasons to lose sense of smell and taste, but it is listed as a possible Sjogren's symptom.  I had a number of sinus surgeries and thought maybe that was my problem.  The why and wherefore isn't important but what has this done to my ice cream flavors! I've switched from vanilla to chocolate and that I can taste.  Part of taste is the visual appearance of the meal; colorful helps.  Ah, my favorite is the crunchy things (Doritos, Peanut Butter Pretzels, coleslaw.) I'm sure you will find some foods to stimulate your appetite.  As to smell,  I have nothing to add.  Good Luck.

JojaAZ

[MAT51]

Thanks but I can't eat ice cream anymore which is heart breaking really because there's a local brand of ice cream which is truly gorgeous! The reason is that my teeth have become terribly sensitive with this bizarre phantom pain so chewing and hot and cold things have all become uncomfortable for me. I do think this is unfair but I can and do taste horrible tastes my own body exudes if I've had a particular medication such as zopiclone. So really bitter, foul tasting chemicals stay around all day to play he me despite tooth brushing etc. The ice cream I miss is honeycomb and ginger but it's the coldness that stops me. There are some foods which don't disappoint but they are generally either very salty or very sweet.