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What Causes Coughing Up Of Blood While On Blood Thinners?
my friend is OVERWEIGHT and he is 40 years old. he does street drugs (methamphetamine & marijuana) and is SUPPOSED to do breathing treatments with a nebulizer twice daily using albuterol and pulmicort but he does not do it routinely. The hospital put him on blood thinners while he was admitted due to blood clots in his legs and lungs, but he left the hospital against Doctors advice. it has been almost a week since he has taken any medications whatsoever and he is now coughing up what looks like pure blood (as if it is not mixed with mucus or water or pus, just BLOOD). he thinks that this is a good sign due to the blood thinners administered to him while in hospital..... Is this something he should be concerned about? and if so, what do you think it could be?
Mon, 3 Jul 2017
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1. Coughing up of blood [hemoptysis] while on blood thinners is a known side effect of the drug whereas can be a sign of serious medical condition [pulmonarry embolism/pneumonia/bronciectasis, heart failure due to mitral stenosis or tuberculosis], as such you should take him to a Chest specialist who after physical examination can help identify the cause
2. As there is history of blood thinners thus important is to check with INR [international normalised ratio] for higher values resulting in excessive bleeding, also other important investigations include:
. chest X-ray, CT-chest, Bronchoscopy, Complete blood count [CBC] is also mandatory
3. Treatment and management is to stop bleeding and to treat the underlying cause of hemoptysis so it could be anywhere from stopping the blood thinner to normalising the INR [monitoring of blood on monthly basis] to bronchial artery embolization to bronchoscopy.
4. Avoid taking pain killers [NSAID's] like aspirin,ibuprofen and vitamin K [as injectables and diet rich in vitamin K like green leafy vegetables]
Thanks for contacting with your health concern
1. Coughing up of blood [hemoptysis] while on blood thinners is a known side effect of the drug whereas can be a sign of serious medical condition [pulmonarry embolism/pneumonia/bronciectasis, heart failure due to mitral stenosis or tuberculosis], as such you should take him to a Chest specialist who after physical examination can help identify the cause
2. As there is history of blood thinners thus important is to check with INR [international normalised ratio] for higher values resulting in excessive bleeding, also other important investigations include:
. chest X-ray, CT-chest, Bronchoscopy, Complete blood count [CBC] is also mandatory
3. Treatment and management is to stop bleeding and to treat the underlying cause of hemoptysis so it could be anywhere from stopping the blood thinner to normalising the INR [monitoring of blood on monthly basis] to bronchial artery embolization to bronchoscopy.
4. Avoid taking pain killers [NSAID's] like aspirin,ibuprofen and vitamin K [as injectables and diet rich in vitamin K like green leafy vegetables]
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