Speck of blood in phlegm - please calm me down!

[kmm111]

I'm a 42 year old female non-smoker who has a fear of lung cancer. I normally have a bit of post-nasal drip/phlegm each morning. Today I had some and it had a small speck of blood in it, and I am terrified. I haven't had any respiratory infections in over a year, no bloody nose, etc. so I have no idea where this came from. Should I request a CT of the lungs or am I overreacting? Has anyone else had this happen to them and it turned out to me nothing serious? I am really scared.

[BlueIris]

This happens to me on a pretty regular basis and has done for decades. I think you're overreacting here, but I know that's easy for me to say when my triggers are completely different to yours.

At the very least, hang fire for a week or two?

[glassgirlw]

Happens to me all the time. I’ve always chalked it up to dry air when I sleep and then when I blow my nose in the morning sometimes there’s blood specks in it. It’s never really concerned me for some reason as I have no other weird symptoms so I just have never thought twice about it really.

[kmm111]

Thank you for your replies! I think I'd feel better if there were blood specks when I blow my nose, because that would indicate the blood is coming from the nose and not lungs, like I am afraid of. Also, I didn't really "cough" up the phlegm this morning, it was more like it all of a sudden was sitting in the back of my throat and I had to clear my throat.

[glassgirlw]

Yeah. Your sinuses drain into your throat. That’s what post nasal drip is. It’s all coming from your nose. Try not to worry!

[wilky44]

A speck you say? Some mornings most of my phlegm is blood, and I'm a non smoker. It happens, could be a burst capillary, coughing during the night, anything. This has been for the last 25 years. You have nothing to worry about

[RVP]

I'm a 42 year old female non-smoker who has a fear of lung cancer. I normally have a bit of post-nasal drip/phlegm each morning. Today I had some and it had a small speck of blood in it, and I am terrified. I haven't had any respiratory infections in over a year, no bloody nose, etc. so I have no idea where this came from. Should I request a CT of the lungs or am I overreacting? Has anyone else had this happen to them and it turned out to me nothing serious? I am really scared.

Hi Kmm111,

I am a 28 y/o male, generally quite fit and active individual. Last year I had a cough that lasted around 2/3 months and eventually I started coughing blood (not pure blood), blood tinged phlegm, which is exactly what you're describing. I showed my Dr, and she scoffed and was like "ahh that's fine, completely normal". Given my past medical history, they ordered a chest x-ray and a CT scan, both coming back very normal. This year it happened again and again I did panic, but knew I had it last year so it was most probably the same thing and completely harmless. I went to see the Nurse at my GP and she confirmed I had a chest infection, which successfully cleared away. I'm still coughing, but no where near as much, bearing in mind this has been going on for months now.

At the beginning the blood was coming out randomly throughout the day and I would panic and cough harder and more frequently to see if it was still there. Eventually it wouldn't occur during the day, but only in the morning (which is the same as you).

Whether it's blood tinged phlegm or specs of blood, it is completely normal. You can get your Dr to order an x-ray to rule out a chest infection.