Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) Support Group
Deep-vein thrombosis, also known as deep-venous thrombosis or DVT, is the formation of a blood clot ("thrombus") in a deep vein. It can be caused by something preventing blood from circulating or clotting normally. Join the support group if you are coping with DVT and find others who are going through the same challenges.
Hi,
I am glad I found this group and am hoping to gain some sort of perspective on the newest condition my body has decided to share with me. :)
Last Thursday I woke up and my left arm was hurting and started to swell. Three weeks previous to this, I had a medi-port placed on the left side for monthly infusion I have for a Neuro-Muscular disorder called Myasthenia Gravis. I called the surgeons office who placed the port and they got me right in ~ after an extensive ultrasound, it was found that I have an good sized inner jugular blood clot in my neck and was immediately admitted to the hospital for 3 days.
During this time I was started on Lovinox shots. I was scanned for clots in my head and chest, which were neg.
I am now home and was told to pace my own activity level - be very careful shaving and with cuts - and to follow up with my PCM this week and the surgeon next week.
I see my PCM tomorrow -
I am experiencing light headedness, tingling of my arm and it will swell occasionally, then go back down. I feel relatively OK but get tired easily, that is hard to know whether it is the blood clot or MG I have.
Taking a shower results in a great deal of dizziness and pain in my arm which takes awhile to subside.
I was told this could take up to 6 months or longer to subside.
I am on 100mg Lovinox shots 2x a day -
Is this what is to be expected?
Help me with a bit of perspective here - I realize that the pain, tingling, etc... is due to the reduced blood flow to my brain due to the clot, but is this really it? :) I don't want to make it more than it is ~ Does that make sense? :)
I am glad I found this group and am hoping to gain some sort of perspective on the newest condition my body has decided to share with me. :)
Last Thursday I woke up and my left arm was hurting and started to swell. Three weeks previous to this, I had a medi-port placed on the left side for monthly infusion I have for a Neuro-Muscular disorder called Myasthenia Gravis. I called the surgeons office who placed the port and they got me right in ~ after an extensive ultrasound, it was found that I have an good sized inner jugular blood clot in my neck and was immediately admitted to the hospital for 3 days.
During this time I was started on Lovinox shots. I was scanned for clots in my head and chest, which were neg.
I am now home and was told to pace my own activity level - be very careful shaving and with cuts - and to follow up with my PCM this week and the surgeon next week.
I see my PCM tomorrow -
I am experiencing light headedness, tingling of my arm and it will swell occasionally, then go back down. I feel relatively OK but get tired easily, that is hard to know whether it is the blood clot or MG I have.
Taking a shower results in a great deal of dizziness and pain in my arm which takes awhile to subside.
I was told this could take up to 6 months or longer to subside.
I am on 100mg Lovinox shots 2x a day -
Is this what is to be expected?
Help me with a bit of perspective here - I realize that the pain, tingling, etc... is due to the reduced blood flow to my brain due to the clot, but is this really it? :) I don't want to make it more than it is ~ Does that make sense? :)
Keep in mind too, that even if the clot disappeared five minutes after it was diagnosed, the damage it leaves behind will take longer than that to heal. So, having ongoing symptoms is not an indicator of whether the clot is still there or not.
I haven't personally had a clot in your exact location. I know I had a DVT in my right leg that was very painful. I also got very dizzy and sick moving around, since a lot of blood was backing up in my leg and not circulating. This slowly subsided as I progressed through recovery.
I've also had dizziness for other issues, though, and I would encourage you to make sure that you're staying very good and hydrated and that you're getting enough electrolytes. Sometimes, its easy to neglect ourselves in the middle of a health crisis, and other things can pop up as a result.
When you see your doctor, you might ask about a compression sleeve for your arm and whether that would help in your case. You might also ask about whether heat or ice might help things (considering your reaction to a shower, I might stay away from heat). Definitely ask about the dizziness. I personally have done well when writing down a list of questions before the appointment ... nothing worse than walking out the door and realizing you forgot to ask "the" question.
You might also find that elevating your arm when the pain gets bad will also help. It really can be trial and error for a while to figure out what works best for you and your particular situation.