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blood in saliva

I have recently been experiencing the taste of blood in my mouth.  When I spit out, I am seeing traces of blood.  I had chest x-rays that came out clear.  I saw an ear nose throat doctor who checked my nose and throat and saw nothing except excess mucous.  He prescribed a nasal spray for me.  I have been using it for about two weeks now, and am still seeing and tasting the blood.  I am also experiencing some pressure in my throat.  Any suggestions on who to see or what could be going on?
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Avatar universal
Same problem for past 5+ years. Bleeding noticed from gums after careful examination while bleeding from the mouth one evening. (Did not think so earlier, strongly believed bleeding was from the throat). Solution-Deep cleaning of teeth by Dentist. Please do rule this out first. Simple and quick.
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Avatar universal
hi guys,

im so glad i read all your comments, i feel a bit relieved! I started spititing up blood about 2 months ago! I would feel the need to spit at least 10 times a day...twice of that would be blood with saliva. The ENT gave me antibiotics cause he said its probably a broken vessel in my nose and it goes into my throat rather than through my nose and thats why im spitting. when i got off the antibiotics it started again. Its such a horrible feeling. i would sit and watch tv and i feel a metallic taste in my mouth and i spit up blood. not only when I eat. in general. i have been to 3 ENTs they say everything is clear. i have had CT scans on my throat and mouth and chest everything is clear. No doctor can give me an answer - and it scares me. last week they cauterised my left nostril cause they saw a broken vein. but now im spitting dark old blood. my throat has been very sore for over 2 weeks and no matter what i take for it the pain wont go away. i hardly have any saliva now - my mouth is constantly dry throughout the day. i dont know who to turn to or what to do. awful feeling..
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Avatar universal
Hey marty, I was originally going to suggest it could possibly be an ulser in your stomach as this would cause bleeding of the stomach and blood would come up to the mouth, but I'd also say that it could possibly be an infection of some kind that is making the lining of your throat and nose get dry or irritated and bleed but then they are trying to help this out by producing excess mucous, do you smoke?  Or do you work in an environment where theres harmful materials like sawdust, or carbon fiber?  Also it could be that it has something to do with your lungs, hope this helps.  Your doctor shouldn't just be checking your mouth and throat I'm not a doctor and I know theres a lot more places blood could be coming from.
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Avatar universal
i have also experience spitting blood its been third weeks from now it happens two times a day..,but i dont feel anything i dont have a caught or soar throat or any problem for swallowing i dont even feel that i am ill..the only thing is i have an acid problem or heart burn because i just went to a doctor two days from now so he recommend me to take gaviscon, tonimer, and nexium because he already check me up base from what i feel in my stomach and abdominal pain because i think that i was having an ulcer..,but i just wanna know that the blood that comes from my saliva when i was spitting..i dont know where it comes from i feel confused an i am afraid also.,thakns for reading this and i am hoping for responce.,onces again thanks a lot...
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Avatar universal
i have also experience spitting blood its been third weeks from now it happens two times a day..,but i dont feel anything i dont have a caught or soar throat or any problem for swallowing i dont even feel that i am ill..the only thing is i have an acid problem or heart burn because i just went to a doctor two days from now so he recommend me to take gaviscon, tonimer, and nexium because he already check me up base from what i feel in my stomach and abdominal pain because i think that i was having an ulcer..,but i just wanna know that the blood that comes from my saliva when i was spitting..i dont know where it comes from i feel confused an i am afraid also.,thakns for reading this and i am hoping for responce.,onces again thanks a lot...
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Avatar universal
did u get any reply i seem to have the same problem
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hi johnnoss,
i have exact same symptoms.  was wondering if you got a diagnosis and treatment.  I know this is an old post but I am desperate.  Thanks, Karen D
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I also have same problem. i am 29 y / M recently been experiencing the taste of blood in my mouth.  When I spit out, I am seeing traces of blood.  I had chest x-rays that came out clear.  I saw an ear nose throat doctor who checked my nose and throat and saw nothing except excess mucous.  He prescribed a nasal spray for me.  I have been using it for about two weeks now, and am still seeing and tasting the blood.  I am also experiencing some pressure in my throat.  Any suggestions on who to see or what could be going on?
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Avatar universal
Is the blood light red, bright or dark? Can you reproduce the spitting of blood later on the day, if you first move a lot of blood to your head like for example going to a position for a moment where your head is lower than your chest?

Also for anyone else, I would be interested if you can reproduce it with bringing lot of blood to head prior spitting. My case feels a bit similar to mimodcoplus's case in this thread. = bring blood to head -> pink saliva. Extreme pressure -> breaks vein (possible in my case also).

My case is that a year, two or three ago I noticed light red color in my spit when I was showering, and once more when I had gone out and spitted outdoors. I didn't think much of it and it didnt come back until now. Yesterday evening I had it in my spit in the shower for a couple of minutes. Now today morning the saliva was normal, until I decided to do a hand stand and test spitting after that. There it is, light red saliva. I had done hand stand before the shower the day before also. Then later today at outdoors I spitted a lot and paid attention to it but it was white until after walking some time I had a surge of blood going to my head. Maybe that was because I had been stationary for long and started walking. After this the spit was very light red for couple of spits.

My throat area down to upper lungs area feels little tingly now, but I have that occasionally so it is nothing alarming in itself to me. The tingliness have become irritating a few times in past 4-5 years when the weather outside is turning to plus degrees and the snow starts to melt, so sometimes in autumn and more often in spring. Well it just happens that right now the weather is like that and the snow is melting. It has been plus degrees for the last couple of days after weeks of below zero and a snow cover.

I am suspecting that the house I live in is not treating the melting of the snow in its structures properly and the pollutants or mold spores that are perhaps showing up in the air are polluting my pharynx/esophagus areas. Or perhaps when the snow melts my pharynx/esophagus areas are irritated regardless this apartment.  One thing this could indicate is a "noninfectious pharyngitis".

Other things that I did yesterday that might have initiated it now again includes excessive exerting due to having had an intense gym workout earlier yesterday. Also I have recently been trying to avoid gluten, eating gluten free products for couple of months. Yesterday some hours before spitting pink, I ate some cookies at friends place. I rarely eat those. Just mentioning this as someone mentioned having had the blood spitting occur after eating sour dough breads.

I am observing where this goes and in the mean time I am trying to find natural remedies/treatment for irritated or inflamed pharynx/esophagus.


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Avatar universal
Hi All; I have been noticing blood in my saliva every morning when I get up and split after washing face. If happens when I bend to wash my face. If I do not bend, I do not see red blood in my saliva. But it happens only once in morning, not after that. This is happening for almost 8 to 10 months now. Have'nt seen a Doctor yet.
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Spitting blood for about a year now in the morning only, Went to do CT Scan for chest area, Broncoscopy, ENT exam 3 times, Gastroscopy
Tried a humidifier, nasal spray, Ent doctor said if it was serious, it would of killed you already. Don't know what to do any more. I'm starting to think it will go away on its own. Any Ideas anybody. Let Me know. Thanks
Dentist and eyedoctor said everything was clear too. THanks Tony R.
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Avatar universal
hello there,
any news on your problem regarding blood in saliva?

i have the same experience now, and im so worried and scared too.
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Avatar universal
I have the exact same thing.....usually after drinking orange juice at night and it makes me spit a lot, probably the sugar....and it happens first thing in the morning.....this all started when I quit smoking.....happened 3 years ago too when I quit the first time.....seems to only do it when I'm not smoking....ent didn't find anything either....
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I was going to the bathroom when I felt some siliver so i spat in the sink then I saw red stuff in my silver then I check again in my other silver and it was the same red I think it might be blood but I'm only 13 so I don't know what to do please comment back very SOON
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Avatar universal
For people who are having the sensation of blood taste without seeing blood, you should try luminol.  It's available on Amazon.  It will detect the smallest trace amounts of blood.  It's pretty amazing stuff.  You can mix small quantities of it as well, and use it multiple times.  The reason this is important is because if you see your doctor, you will need to let them know if there is blood in the spit even though you can't see it.  I told my doctor about this, and it prompted him to finally do further, extensive testing.  They did a PET-CT scan which showed some active areas.  He did biopsies at the base of my tongue.  Even though they didn't see a tumor, I have cancer.  The cancer was slowly bleeding all the time, and it was so slight you couldn't see it in the spit.  But, sometimes, it would bleed quite a bit, and you could definitely see that.

So, just be wary.  Spitting up blood is not normal.  If it's bright red, it's probably coming from the oral cavity, orapharynx, or larynx.  If it gets darker red, it's probably from the throat or lungs.  I read from one person who had vocal cord cancer that his bleeding started bright red, but it eventually got to a dark red color.  Go to the dentist and rule out gingivitis or other gum problems as a source of the bleeding.  I did, and that made me really wonder where the bleeding was coming from.
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Avatar universal
Hi all,

A lot of these comments resonated with me, so I thought I would share my story and experiences as well.  As a disclaimer, I still don't know what is causing me to spit up blood at times.

About 3-4 years ago, I noticed some enlarged cervical lymph nodes.  I didn't pay much attention to them, but after a year passed, they seemed to have gotten larger.  I went to an ENT, he felt me up all over my neck, under jaw, shoulder line.  He said those two we could feel were nothing to worry about.  A year passed, and they seemed to be getting larger.  I also felt new ones under my chin.  I'm also tasting what is like blood, but whenever I spit, I see nothing.  I see a few more ENT's, had an ultrasound, endoscope, an excisional biopsy, and came out ok.  The ENT surgeon who did the biopsy said I should be monitored every 6 months just in case the lymph nodes grow again.

Prior to my 6 month follow up, I thought every thing felt fine.  Then, one day, after eating sour dough bread, I felt the taste of metallic blood.  So, I go to the sink and spit.  Lo and behold, streaks and flecks of bright red blood.  I spit several more times, rinse, and look around.  I spit clear again.  But, throughout the day, I randomly spit up bright flecks of blood.  This goes on for a few more days.  I decide it could be related to my acid reflux.  I've had GERD for the past several years. So, I change my sleeping position and start sleeping in a sitting position.  After a few days of this, my spit becomes clear, although I still taste blood like I had been tasting for about several months at that point.  I see my ENT for the follow up, and I mention all of this.  He doesn't think anything of it.  He proceeds to check my lymph nodes, and everything seems fine.  The same enlarged ones are still there.  They haven't grown or become fixed.

As a month passes, I end up finding a new enlarged lymph node.  It grew right next to another larger lymph node.  I estimate it's probably 0.5 cm.  I also find a really small one along my jaw line underneath my ear lobe.  I am not sure if these enlarged lymph nodes are related to the blood spitting or GERD.  But, I feel it's important to mention because I worry if I might have some orapharyngeal cancer.  So, I often check the oral cancer forums for these symptoms.  Anyways, after a month passes, I eat some toasted sour dough sandwich, and again, I start spitting up blood.  It goes on a few more days, and in that time, I schedule an appt with my ENT surgeon's associate (since he was available quickly).  

I see the new ENT and tell him about all of what is going on.  The blood in the spit, unfortunately, is gone at this point.  So, he looks around, pokes down my throat with the finger to check for base of tongue tumors, endoscopes me in two different nostrils, and feels my lymph nodes.  I tell him about the new ones.  He said that he doesn't see anything with the scope, and the lymph nodes, although palpable, are nothing to worry about.  He wants me to do a chest X-ray, but I've already had three clear ones in the past year for TB testing, and feel a fourth one would be over kill.

Anyways, that was a few months ago.  I've given up alcohol, and recently coffee as well since I need to control my GERD.  But, this past week, I'm spitting up blood again.  It started with eating toasted sour dough, but it seems that now eating anything rough will cause some bleeding: pizza, chips, etc...  I have tried the sucking thing someone else mentioned earlier in this thread and that actually made things bleed when I was spitting up blood.  I'm trying to figure out, though, if that is causing my gums to bleed--I have pockets of gums that bleed easily when I floss.  

Finally, I also posted about this on the oral cancer forums.  Some posters chimed in and said that although bleeding can happen with orapharyngeal cancers, it's really not a common symptom.  And, I think they may be right.  Most of the posts I've seen never described bleeding as a symptom.  Although, I've read about a few cases in which there was bleeding from some tumor.  Another guy chimed in and said he's been spitting up blood for over 10 years, and he's been cancer free the whole time.  None of his doctors are able to figure out why he's bleeding and where it's coming from.  I think it could be that the radiation therapy he received in that area weakened a lot of his capillaries so he tends to bleed in the orapharynx.  But, who really knows.  I'll keep updating this thread as I go through this medical journey.
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Avatar universal
Hi I'm 46 y.o. female, occasional smoker. Had this blood spitting mornings once in a while. Gerd treated with 90 days of Omeprazole. Stopped the medication as I felt I'm healed, however new symptom developed I am suffering from watery eyes which I think is also part of my chronic sinus problems.I didn't have blood in my spit in the morning for a month and now it's back. I feel that it's more of sinusitis and been through a lot of stress lately. Hope we all feel well soon. Please let me know how you feel ..I wonder why am I the one suggesting the diagnostic aids to my doctor when in fact I come to the doctor for answers, I went home from the clinic with more uncertainties than before.I just believe that our body has its own healing mechanism ,so I will just think positive about things, believe me I did this for  a month trying to be stressed-free and worry free and I was not spitting blood in the morning for a month until I got stressed couple of night ago, and I think it was also dry mouth and increase humidity that causes all these trouble, I try to feel where it's coming from and I  can tell it's from the roof of my mouth,and for the first time in my entire life I experienced a nose bleed, I thought it was just a mucus coming out of my left nostril , so when I wipe it it was blood. (sigh)
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Avatar universal
Hi I'm 46 y.o. female, occasional smoker. Had this blood spitting mornings once in a while. Gerd treated with 90 days of Omeprazole. Stopped the medication as I felt I'm healed, however new symptom developed I am suffering from watery eyes which I think is also part of my chronic sinus problems.I didn't have blood in my spit in the morning for a month and now it's back. I feel that it's more of sinusitis and been through a lot of stress lately. Hope we all feel well soon. Please let me know how you feel ..I wonder why am I the one suggesting the diagnostic aids to my doctor when in fact I come to the doctor for answers, I went home from the clinic with more uncertainties than before.I just believe that our body has its own healing mechanism ,so I will just think positive about things, believe me I did this for  a month trying to be stressed-free and worry free and I was not spitting blood in the morning for a month until I got stressed couple of night ago, and I think it was also dry mouth and increase humidity that causes all these trouble, I try to feel where it's coming from and I  can tell it's from the roof of my mouth,and for the first time in my entire life I experienced a nose bleed, I thought it was just a mucus coming out of my left nostril , so when I wipe it it was blood. (sigh)
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Avatar universal
I have actually noticed the same thing with soda and with ice cream as well. When I mention it to people they look at me like I am crazy, but every time I drink a whole soda or eat a bowl of ice cream (which I do not do anymore!) I get a bad sore throat and sinus infection symptoms with out a runny nose. It lasts about a week and It's HORRIBLE, and as soon as I connected the dots I cut those things from my diet.

I have experienced the spitting up blood thing on and off for over 10 years! And I'm only 27... it's been getting worse and because I feel a pressure in my sinuses/throat I worry that it could be a tumor or other growth in there. I also have ibs, gerd, hiatal hernia, and gluten intolerance (plus other food intolerances I am trying to pin down). It's scary because I don't know if there is something deeper going on, or if I am just one of those people that are overly sensitive to everything. I went to the ER today because my primary wanted me to get scanned ASAP, and of course he didn't order any scans and is just sending me to an ENT. He did at least tell me that due to the nature of the blood it was most likely not related to my GERD, especially since I didn't have any GERD symptoms during the bleeding episode. I did have a thick dark blood clot come up which really freaked me out.

I'd love to hear how your diet works for you. Sometimes I wonder if that's what I need to focus on. I mean, I eat really well but sometimes I think it's not enough (I feel like I am cheating if I eat cheese for crying out loud!). Anyway, good luck!
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Avatar universal
Hello, about 6-8 years ago, I had the blood in saliva symptom. It lasted for perhaps a year. In that time, I saw dentist, GI, ENT, and primary. Also Gyn. No cause was determined. My lungs were checked - no problems there. I do have gum issues - no wisdom teeth - but at the time, there was no dental cause. The GI said an endoscopy showed some blood in my stomach but no reason (ulcers, polyps etc. ) for it. I was diagnosed w mild GERD. I took an OTC for it and propped my head while sleeping for a bit. All in all, it was suggested I monitor the symptom as well as my stress.
After a few months, the symptom dissipated.
Flash forward to tonight. I woke after sleeping for just a bit and had the taste in my mouth. Went to the bathroom to spit - ugh - same thing many of you describe that I remember: red blood in my saliva. I spit a few times and it goes away. I swish with water; it's gone.
I went back to sleep and woke again a bit later - same taste. I swished first this time - nothing. I spit after drawing saliva from my throat - blood. Same pattern: after spitting a few times, my saliva is clear. This is as I remember from years back.
It's very disconcerting, even having gone through it before.
I'm 50, female, and due for a colonoscopy so will discuss this and some ibs like symptoms I'm having with a GI when I go. I did have a stomach ache today, but attributed it to not eating and too much (GERD-inducing) coffee. I'll go to the dentist and I'm due for an annual, so will review all with my primary doctor.
I no longer smoke and haven't regularly for years. I do drink - a bit too much wine at times. I don't usually drink soda, but found that soda / carb bev comment interesting because I've had soda over the past few days.
I am under more stress than usual right now. I am aware that stress manifests physical symptoms for me. I've been experiencing some headaches - most recently in the two days preceding this bleeding. Over the past month, I've also experienced stiffness in my upper back between my shoulder blades, but have attributed that to yard work. :)
I'll check back in - in the meantime,  going to change up my diet to be sure I'm eating clean, non-GERD-irritating foods. I'm going to start using my water pic again, and swish daily with coconut oil.  Going to take my vitamin supplements - which I've not been doing - to help with any deficiency.
I wish you all health. I hope we all find, as I did years back, that this is an annoying but innocuous symptom.
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Hi there,I have some blood in my sasliva in the mornings,going to doc tomorrow.I do snore a lot,my kids tell me!
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Hi Doctur Mathur. My son has a common problem with people who posted their health concern here about blood in saliva.

I would like to ask your expertise about my 8-year old son's condition. Just  3 weeks ago, his condition started when he had a stuffy nose. I nomally don't give antibiotics or decongestant as what his pedia had advised unless the said condition ran a week or so. So, I just asked him to drink a lot of water instead then it stopped for 1 week then it came back again. Just this 2nd week of June 2014, he snorted with little blood on his mucus then after that, when he tried to spit there was slightly maroon color to little light red blood on his saliva. Prior to slight nosebleeding, my son complained of abdominal pain. For the record, my son was diagnosed for acute gastritis at the age of 3. In addition, my son used to have brochitis (I'm not sure if it's slight or acute)  when he was a lot younger but he was totally cured then. It's his first time to experience nasal discharge with slight nosebleed then little blood on his saliva.

I tried to see a doctor but unfortunately, there was no available pedia 2 days agon in my city so we ended up to see a family doctor instead. We told the doctor his medical history and so far the doctor gave an impression of: ACCUTE GASTRITIS AND NASOPHARYNGITIS. As usual, the doctor did not give us any meds for his nose instead only meds for his gastritis which PREVACID FDT.


As a mother, this is quite alarming because I believe he is a healthy boy though he's thin and only weighs 22kgs. He still spits once in a while with little blood even no stuffy nose anymore. I don't know if the blood comes from his abdomen but his stool is normal with brown color, I don't know if the slight bleeding comes from his gums for he has many tooth decay for not all his milk teeth  have fallen. We are just waiting for the new teeth will come out.

Please help me understand of what is happening to him based on the information given. I look forward to your reply. P.S. I highly appreciate also to please send your reply to my email if you may: ***@**** for I can't always be online.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Chen
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Avatar universal
Hello Miesha!

I'm sorry to hear about your condition! My knowledge lies in Surgery. I think you might get better responses in the ENT Community. Just a thought!

Best wishes!  JD1963
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Hi, I'm twelve years old and recently experienced a bit of blood in the morning coming from the back of my throat and have a list in mind of possible diseases it could be but I'm not so sure. It started just this morning before I brushed my teeth and have also had hiccups recently on and off. I'm not sure if there is a relation between the two symptoms but I am planning on going to a doctor ASAP just to be sure it's nothing serious. I would love to hear from some doctors from here as well. PS: I don't think it has to do with my lungs. Typically this could be a symptom of a lung infection e.g. tuberculosis but I did not hear any suspicious weezing noises as one would hear. Please reply soon!
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