You sound about at the end of your rope. My advice to you is to take it slow, be as patient as you can with your body because after all it's going through a lot right now. You have to take the necessary pain meds to get your sleep and relax. I didn't have an injury like a dislocated knee. But, I had something wrong with my foot which landed me into an air cast boot thing which caused my DVT. I was luck and didn't get a PE. You need to concentrate on any way possible to calm the anxiety this is creating. I know it isn't easy. I had a lot of anxiety too and the pain was terrible my first week or two. I'm starting my fourth week after diagnosis and I'm doing much better. Still pain, but bearable. Everyone is different.

I get migraines too. I was told I could take Immetrex if I needed to. You might want to recheck with your pharmacy on that one, just in case.

I had to go off my birth control pills and it put me into a PMS to the max trip. I don't think it compares to menopause but I understand about the crying and that anxiety it produces. My heart goes out to you. It will get better. Try to find things you can do to get your mind off the problem. I turned to a bible study I had been meaning to do, the laptop games and online stuff like this, reading, movies - I did anything to try to relax and keep my mind off the problem. It helped to calm me down.

Sorry I can't help more than this. Wish I could come over and hug you or hold your hand a say "everything will get better over time." This DVT definitely teaches you patience!! Hang in there - my prayers are with you.

Thank you momof3boys....I have 4 boys...2 are leaving to college this year...that's just another thing to add to my sadness list...I have learned to knit...read 3 novels already...and have plenty to talk to, but no one understands like you guys here...thanks, you are very kind!!

Rose

Since being on warfarin I've been extremely cautious about taking pain medication. Even though my hematologist said it's ok for me to take Tylenol and even Advil, I'm too worried about it. As a result, I've had to come up with other ways to deal with pain, from headaches to cramps.
My advice is to have yourself a nice long soak in a warm tub, toss in some epsom salts (you can buy a big box at any drug store, cheap) to help take away swelling in your leg, turn on some soft tunes and try to relax every muscle in your body. For headaches I use the same remedy plus add a cold compress to my head.
Distractions like knitting are good too. I taught myself to knit while I was quitting smoking, and it worked great to keep my hands & mind occupied. Except I never learned how to finish off my project, so I now have the worlds longest and ugliest scarf still attached to the needle!
You'll be on the mend soon, though how long it takes is an individual thing. Just be gentle with yourself, and try to remember your at the beginning of your healing. Things WILL get better, and we're here for you!

Another knitter for sanity, yay! Knitting was one of my go-to meditative activities too. I can't say I have the best quality projects from that time, but I tried to knit my pain into the work and have it leave my body. (join ravelry! Best knitting community on the internet--I'm deserthooker over there)

I think the biggest thing I learned from all this is that healing takes much longer than you want it to. I'm almost a year out and I still have anxiety and pain though both are less than even a few months ago.

Do you have access to a hot tub? The hot water did wonders for a lot of pain in the early months for me. I also did a lot of movies and hulu.com, video games, anything to get my mind out of my body.

thanks for all your supportive replies!! My dr said not hot tubs cause it causes blood to go to the area of blood clot...I am wondering if he is wrong? I dislike the miscommunication in the medical field sooo much...how are they really going to help us?

Unfortunately there is no tried and true rules of DVTs. I asked my hospitalist as I was being released from the hospital and he said hot tubs are fine, so who really knows? It was a lifesaver, pain wise for me.

I'm still here, that's something, but you should follow your doctor's advice.

My hematologist said being in my hot tub was just fine, jets blasting and all.
Still, I didn't have the jets blasting directly on my dvt leg, I stayed in for much shorter times than I used to, and I drank a big glass of water b4 & after (ok, and a rum & coke during) in the first few months. So ask your doc if he's suuuuuuuuurrrrrrrre???

Regarding the difference in medical opinions: I caught an episode of Oprah (yeah, well it was a slow sales day, ok?!) and some doc was jawing about how it can take a long time for information to flow through the medical community and that's why advice you get from one doc can be very different from another.

So on sites like DS where you get people from all over the world posting what their individual doc's protocol is, you get wildly varying opinions. Makes the whole medical comminity look nuts, and it either undermines our trust in our own doctors, or it gives us a list of questions we can take to our docs for clarification and better understanding. Or it spotlights the downright inept docs, and we can run for the door!

should I be elevating my leg...my ortho dr. said I can't do anything for the leg...no brace, etc..
Hi Leslie, Sounds like your about to fall apart. I know the feeling. Im commenting on your comment above. You can help the process by keeping your legs up above your heart as much as possible and wear the dvt stockings ask your doctor what strength. I wear 17 -20. It will take some time but if you really keep your legs up it will help with the swelling and the swelling is what causes the pain. I am always lying back with two pillows under my legs and one under my back.