Red nose=- rosacea or allergies?

I went to the emergency room on Friday night because my nose hurt so bad.  It was very swollen and congested.  The ER doctor looked in my nose and said that it was incredibly swollen and my turbinates were almost touching each other.  He said that it could be allergic rhinitis AND non allergic rhinitis from a vasomotor response.  I told the doctor that when I come inside from cold weather my nose will feel warm, swollen and red.  The doctor said that can be a vasomotor response from the change of weather and/or allergies.  It also happens at night when I am lying in bed.  My nose will get really stuffy and warm and I will look in the mirror and it is flushed.

I do have bad allergies and this is a bad season for me.  I asked the ER doctor if what I have sounds like rosacea and he said no.  Interestingly enough, my nose was not red when I went to the ER but he could not believe how swollen it was inside.  He prescribed be a 10 day course of oral steroids (prednisone) to knock the swelling down.  If  had rosacea would the dr. think that it would look so swollen inside?  

Last night I could not sleep because my nose was so stuffy.  I looked in the mirror and my nose looked red and swollen.  Most of the time my nose is either pretty cold or pretty warm.  I am so confused by this and it is causing me a lot of anxiety.  I went to the drug store and got Nasalcrom and sudafed.    I am scared and do not know what to think.  It seems when I get overheated or nervous/upset, my nose turns red.  Now I am always waiting for it to turn red which causing me a lot of anxiety. I am wondering if this is all happening because I do not have my anxiety under control as of yet.  But how do you control your anxiety when you are so worried about why your nose is red?

Any thoughts?  Thanks again for your help!

[ChitChatNine]

Hi - I am not sure at all but wanted to stop by and say welcome to our community.

[freeme3]

Thanks for the welcome!  I hope that I can get some answers!

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

In an entity called allergic rhinitis, the symptoms are similar to a common cold, but they are usually more persistent and show seasonal variation. The individual responds to an allergen, which can be in many forms like dust and household mites. It appears that you are suffering from such a phenomenon.

You can tackle this problem in the following ways: Prevention and Therapy during attacks.

For prevention: Try to maintain an allergen-free environment. Substitute all synthetic and cool materials with cotton ones. Remove all dust-collecting household articles like carpets, bedspreads etc. Alternatively an allergy specialist may try to identify the offending allergen and try to desensitize you.

Using low dose steroidal nasal sprays are very effective. The steroid in the spray is very low and acts only locally. Two puffs in each nostril two times a days for about a month. The effect starts only after 2weeks of therapy.

Once an attack has occurred, the antihistamines like chlopheneramine, lovatidine are effective. Nasal decongestant drops too relieve congestion.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[freeme3]

Dr. Anitha,

Thank you for your response.  I will try the ideas you recommended.

I also notice that my nose tingles from time to time.. especially when I am changing environments (going from warm to cold, etc.)  Is this an allergy thing too?  

Thank you again.

[gd4378]

I have allergies so I usually have running nose. One time, I was blowing my nose a lot of times then I had a pimple like bump on the tip of my nose that got infected so half of my nose turned red. I went to the doctor so he prescribed Amoxicillin and Acyclovir for 7 days. The infection was gone and so with the redness but after three weeks my nose where it used to be red is red again. Maybe because I still have running nose and I keep blowing it. I am taking Claritin to relieve my allergies.

[bafsmama]

oh wow! i have the same exact nose issue that you are experiencing! i am very fair skinned and just within the past few months i have started having problems with my nose.... swelling, tingling, red, very stuffy, and very uncomfortable. i will have some good days where it doesn't bother me too much and then some days where it is swollen, stuffy, and red all day. it bothers me alot because i don't have any idea what is causing it. i thought it was related to hormones but the more i'm keeping track of it the more i'm realizing that it's not.  i have been doing research on rosacea and allergies to try to figure out what it is. i don't even know what kind of dr i should go to- an ENT or dermatologist. it is really bothering me and it's really hard to explain it to other people. i would love any helpful info. i took some benadryl this morning to see if it would help and it seemed to help a little for about 2 hours and then it stopped and my nose got all stuffy, swollen, and tingly again.