Yes, your fears are normal. There's not a one of us on there that hasn't had that type of anxiety at some point post-diagnosis. There's really nothing I can say that will make you magically feel better. I can tell you that I had my first and worst DVT at age 19. I was clotted ankle to groin, and I spent two weeks in ICU, having two separate surgeries to try to break down the clot. After I got out of the hospital, I spent a week or so on a walker and then another 3 months on crutches. I'm 35 now. I do have PTS in that leg, which can most definitely be horrendous to deal with, but it's mostly because of the damage that was done during the surgeries. Since that time, I've had two babies, numerous other surgeries, including a hysterectomy. I've been diagnosed with FVL, and I'm on Coumadin for life. I've had to make a few adjustments, but I'm honestly living a pretty amazing life. I can do absolutely anything I want to do. I hike and exercise and do yoga with zero complications. Yes, there are a few scary cases out there, but all in all, this "disease," or whatever you want to call it, isn't all that bad. It's pretty easy to manage, which is more than can be said for most things out there. Just breathe. You might need to talk to a therapist. You might possibly need something for the anxiety, at least temporarily. Once you get used to all of it, it becomes such a part of your life that it just kind of is what it is. Worrying about tomorrow will do nothing but steal your joy from today. :-)

Yeah, it's fairly common to have a lot of anxiety about many things after diagnosis. I know for me, I started having panic attacks about a month after my PE / DVT diagnosis. I ended up seeing a therapist for a couple of months. That really helped me sort stuff out and get a grip. I also tried to distract myself by getting back to normal things. I also learned some meditation techniques and visualization techniques that can help take the edge off.

One thing... and it's just a simple fact. Tomorrow is promised to no one. It wasn't promised to you before your clot so really when you break it down to the most simplest of terms, what has changed other than that you now have an acute awareness that you're a mortal being. Use that realization to live well, to be the best you can be, to carry on. I mean, otherwise, what's the point of surviving at all.

One extra thing that sometimes helps is to understand that its not just you/your age. A good collection of patient stories is at:

http://www.stoptheclot.org/patient_stories/living_with_thrombosis.htm

Have a read of some of them, a reasonable number are a similar age to you. The likelihood is that you'll be off the anticoags in 6 months and be OK. Its early days, concentrate on getting yourself well and the future is what you make it.

Hi bsmith4412, I had exactly the same thoughts post diagnose. I worried if I would ever be active again, and if anyone would wanna marry somebody like me... I think it is perfectly normal to have these thoughts. Even now, almost 7 months after diagnose, when I see someone running on the sidewalk, I would wonder if I can ever run like that again. But these negative thoughts flare up less frequently than before. I am sure that over time, you would worried less frequently. And as you recover (some people fully recover within 6 months), you gradually go back to your normal routine. You will get over this eventually.

Now I can do pretty much anything other than running. The only adjustment I had to make is to wear stocking and be cautious about prolonged sitting and standing. It is not the end of the world. Most people have their episode. recover and go on with their life. You have every reason to believe that you will be one of those. It may take different people different amount of time to get to that point. But it happens to most eventually.

Another thing you can try to get rid of the bad thoughts is to get yourself busy. Think about how short life can be (some people do lose their life to PE). Make use of your time to do something you really love. You probably will have a fuller life than most people in the end. After all, worry isn't gonna change a thing if not making it worse. You should focus on doing things that ACTUALLY help, like taking your medication on time, wear your stocking, watch your diet, elevate your leg as often as possible, flex your feet whenever you sit for a some time....There are so many things that you can do to make things better. Get yourself busy with that.

As already said by others, anxiety is quite common and natural. The goal is not to let the anxiety consume you during your recovery which is often easier said then done. Things will gradually improve and in no time you will be able to do pretty much everything you were able to do before your clot.

Here is a patient story of someone I know. I often use her story myself as a reminder of how I got involved in DVT/PE patient advocacy (having co-founded the National Blood Clot Alliance). The story if of Leslie Smith, a medically retired Army Captain who suffered a DVT while stationed in Bosnia. Her story is unique in that she had several underlying clotting disorders, one of which did not due well during her initial treatment with Coumadin which caused her to lose her leg (look up Warfarin Induced Skin Necrosis).

http://clot-buster-triathlete.blogspot.com/2008/07/july-athlete-of-month.html

Leslie today is a spokesperson for the Wounded Veteran for Life Memorial and is a spokeperson for the Gary Sinise Foundation (formed by actor Gary Sinise - Major Dan of Forest Gump fame among other things).

Also on that same website are other stories from athletes from amature to Professional to Olympians. All of which have overcome their PE/DVT episode to resume their passion in sports. Yes, recovery can be a long frustrating road but please do know, things will get better.

I was kind of in the same place for a while, but I've worked at being patient with this whole thing. At first it really is all-consuming, but things gradually get back to a new normal. The adjustments become second nature. Hang in there!

Yeah, when I got my second clot last August, and I started on Heparin, I went out and had this really emotional last session of bodyboarding before my INR hit 2.0.

My wife met me at the beach, we took pictures at sunset, we cried a little... it was actually quite moving.

And utterly stupid. As I learned when I posted about my experience here. First of all, I was already at risk of bleeding as soon as I started the Heparin, so sneaking in a last session before my INR hit 2.0 was pointless.

Secondly, my doctor confirmed the advice that I got here-- it's fine to bodyboard, so long as I am VERY careful, and I really don't go out when it's not safe. She was actually much more concerned about traffic accidents.

I've been out 18 times this year and skied four days. I've also had three "turn arounds" -- days when conditions were, in my judgment, too dangerous. Just part of the zen of the sport.

And I also recommend a good therapist who has experience with health issues. Get a referral from someone you trust, and don't be afraid to shop around. You want someone with experience with chronic health conditions. If they want to sign a release to talk to your doctor, that's not a bad idea, either.

AVA, I agree about running, I don't do that anymore either. Navy, as always, a great post with great resources. And I think Sinise is a great, and very underrated, character actor, not at all surprised he's involved with that organization, will check it out.

Yup the anxiety factor can definitely be hard to deal with. I've been having a lot of pain in my chest for the past three weeks. On Friday it started to get worse. Yesterday I had about five minutes of intense pain in between both of my lungs. I went to the emergency room and they did another Doppler scan of my DVT let and CT scan. All is clear in my lungs and I only have a three inch blockage in my Popliteal vein behind my knee.

The pain was real. I'm still having stabbing pains in my left lung today but the CT scan is clear, and my INR level was 2.8, so I trust the ER docs. Maybe this is like a Tony Soprano moment where a panic attack has masked itself as PE symptoms? Either that or this is all residual pain that I will have to deal with for a long time to come. All in all there's really nothing more you can do other than to take your blood thinners as described and pay close attention to any changes in your body.

If you ever feel like you are having another clotting event please seek out the proper help. I feel like a bumbling fool for crying wolf and then everything turned out to be normal. But before I was diagnosed with my first DVT I would have never ran to the hospital because of chest pains. I was walking around with a massive bilateral pulmonary embolism for weeks and didn't have much discomfort.

I merely made the decision to go to the emergency room when I could no longer get up out of a chair, and when my right lag started to drag across the floor when I walked. This time I was confident that there was something wrong because in my mind I had waited 3 weeks to get help. Yet all turned out well! So there's a thin line between being anxious and something actually being wrong with you.

Also, don't get too caught up on reading about the worse case scenarios on these boards. I know I do at times. I was all sure that I was a repeat clotter and that this event would mark my now life-long bout of daily Lovinox injections. So maybe some of this stuff is really in my head. All I know from this experience is that I'm not gonna go to the hospital again for a while. I hope this helps you out some.

I meant to say take your blood thinners are prescribed. lol