SL>He's never had nosebleed problems before, nor does he have any
SL>allergies, nor did he have any trauma to the nose.  So this is a
SL>complete mystery.  Of course it has the whole family worried,
SL>because it's probably not very healthy to be losing significant
SL>amounts of {*filter*} several times every day.  Even though the
SL>instances of bleeding are now down to about 2 a day, and the
SL>{*filter*} flow is a bit less copious, the doctors have, amazingly
SL>enough, discharged him from the hospital.  Their policy,
SL>apparently, is that if they can't find the source of a problem,
SL>they don't want you around.

        The policy is that if it doens't require hospitalization,
then they should not be hospitalized. In this case, most likely, they
had already ruled out the life-threatening causes (bad clotting,
invasive tumors, etc.) and felt that there was no need to watch him.
        Although sometimes they miss the obvious ones. Any reason to
think that dad's enviroment had had any changes?  For instance, an over
zealous dehumidifier can dry out the nasal passages. Any recent changes
in medications (either doctor or self-prescribed), has he had a bad cold
or allergy and maybe used a nasal spray?

No one's told my dad anything
SL>hopeful at all; just, if it starts bleeding really bad again,
SL>come back in.  In the meantime, he's scared to death and afraid
SL>to go anywhere other than stay home because he needs to be near a
SL>phone in case the heavy bleeding starts again.

        Have him talk to your family doc. While the nosebleeds are
scary, the chances of him bleeding to death from them are somewhere
between VERY slim and none. The amount of {*filter*} that can flow through
the nose is small relative amount of {*filter*} in the body. Compare that
with a bad cut and you will note the difference in flows.
He is over-reacting, probably secondary to not getting a definitive
statement from the docs on the cause.  And this is not to say the docs
handled it wrong, it may just be they don't know... (called "ideopathic"
in the trade).

SL>My 65-year old dad was just in the hospital for nosebleeding.
SL>About 5 days ago, totally out of the blue, his nose just started
SL>bleeding for no particular reason.  He lost a lot of {*filter*}; so
SL>much, in fact, that we took him to the emergency room.  It was
SL>like that nosebleed in the restaurant scene with Chevy Chase in
SL>the movie Modern Problems; it seemed like just as much {*filter*}.
SL>While dad was in the ER, his nose again started bleeding
SL>profusely, and they ended up admitting him so they could
SL>determine the cause.

Possible causes:
Vitamin K deficiency ({*filter*} test).
Auto-immune disorder.
Caused by a drug.
Salicylate use.
Use of vitamin E.
Use of fish oils.
{*filter*} Pressure.
TIA.
Phebitis.
Mini-Stroke.
Beta-Carotine (too much).

* SLMR 2.1a * This tagline protected by an attack cat.
* LAKOTA v1.3

Years ago, my husband was subject to extremely severe nosebleeds, once even
necessitating a trip to the emergency room.  In his case, they were finally
traced back to a bone that was too close to the surface of the inner
membranous lining of the nose (his nose had been broken when he was in his
{*filter*}s, and he had had a resection).  Cauterization of the vulnerable spot
helped.

Just a thought.

Janet