I have completed 4 x AC and 3 out of 12 weekly Taxol infusions. I haven’t been doing too badly on the whole, but I have major nose issues! I have a nasty sore inside one nostril that bleeds & scabs and just won’t heal. My nose is also very stuffed up and when I blow it even the ‘normal’ nostril bleeds.
Sorry if this is too graphic but I’m wondering if anyone else has had anything similar & whether you found anything that helped. My onc was quite dismissive & said it’s just because chemo thins all the mucous membranes.
I had major nose issues during chemo and herceptin. Mostly due to doxetaxol and the herceptin. I have been off herceptin now for a couple of months and my nose is still blocked, sore but lessening, the herceptin must still be in my system. The only thing I found comforting and soothing was gently cleaning with a clean cloth and warm water. I was also told it was the chemo. I am looking forward to getting my nose back.
I had drippy, dry, sore, scabby nose during chemo. I had thought about losing obvious hair but did not appreciate fully the purpose of nose hair and moist mucous membranes until then! ( first line of defence/filter harmful substances, give humidity to inhaled air etc.). I had Sterimar on prescription (saline spray) to try and reduce the side effects. Over time, things got a lot better especially when the nose hairs returned.
Mind you it has gone a bit downhill again… (but not as bad) after a year or so on Anastrazole. Dry, running nose which can affect breathing capacity. However nose is not sore or bleeding and hairs intact. Got a steroid based nose spray from GP which has helped a little. Same happened when I was initially going through menapause and then it righted itself over time. I believe hormone fluctuations can have such effects on mucous membranes. nose or elsewhere! !
Losing nasal hair rarely gets mentioned but the resulting constant runny nose is a bit humiliating. I carry a box of tissues with me everywhere now. Like you, the mucus is often a bit bloody, sometimes a very slight nose bleed, and not its usual colour - but it’s not proved problematic, just not pleasant. However, when I did catch a cold, my nose ran like a tap. I had no other symptoms and thought little of it. That night, I was admitted with neutropoenia and neutropoenic sepsis - it would have been scary but I didn’t ask what was wrong (I function better not knowing) so no one told me till later how seriously ill I’d been. I just thought I had a runny nose and a temperature!
I invariably get a cold sore inside and around one or both nostrils with a cold and, while I was in hospital, the cold sore erupted. Obviously it wasn’t going to heal with my immunity so low so I was prescribed a high dose of Aciclovir and have been instructed to remain on a prophylactic dose (twice daily) for the rest of my treatment. It has worked wonders. The sore healed faster than usual, without pain and, despite a couple of minor colds, no further sign of the dreaded herpes simplex - which your scabbing sounds like. Would it be worth asking if you have a cold sore that’s not healing? Do you have access to an oncology nurse if the oncologist has been dismissive - because if it is herpes simplex and it isn’t healing, it might become even more problematic for you. The solution is so simple. I would keep drawing attention to the problem rather than suffer in silence. Pester them, It’s not good enough - you deserve to be listened to!