I got leg cramps and spasms for quite a while (probably 6 years) after my DVTs. I discovered that eating bananas (this helped the most, actually), making sure I had lots of electrolytes in my system (hello, Gatorade!), and just staying hydrated helped a lot and made them go away completely.

Also, if both legs are hurting in exactly the same place, it is unlikely to be a clot, since I've only very rarely heard of someone clotting in both legs at the same time in the same place. More likely you're doing something else that has made them hurt (recently switched chairs at your computer? switched up your exercise routine?).

Also, you should definitely call the doctor's office and ask if they can put you on the wait list to be seen sooner. If there's a cancellation, you might be able to get in much faster. If you're really feeling worried, you should consider calling daily to see if they've had something open up. It doesn't sound like a clot to me, but I know it can be very, very worrisome until you get checked out by a doc.

Usually there is discoloration and some swelling of the affected leg. Have you noticed this? My doctor measured around my leg once to verify it was noticibly swollen and a good chance it may be another DVT. Also, I am able to recognize pain from a clot, it feels like a belt being tightened around my leg. If you think it feels the same as your last one I would get it checked out asap so you don't get PE again or worse. Especially if you've done nothing else to explain the pain. Some doctors offices may just refer you somewhere to get an ultrasound done anyway since you've had clotting problems before. I wouldn't wait. Good luck!

Thank you both so much for responding! I'm on the wait list to come in earlier, the nurse was very kind and sympathetic about my concerns, so I am hopeful. When I was diagnosed, no one told me what the signs were or what to look for. I have never had swelling or redness in my legs, that was why I was so amazed that I developed DVT/BPE! But what I have had problems with for quite some time was excruciating inner thigh cramps which I attributed to travel, changing shoes, excessive walking. This is what I am experiencing again! Yesterday I went to the grocery store. It is a mega store, so you have to walk a great deal. Last night it felt like I had a meat hook thrust into my inner thigh, where the clot was/is, and it was being twisted over and over again. When I told my medical doctor about this 3 years ago he shrugged his shoulders and said to drink more fluids and exercise more so that out of the ordinary exercise wasn't quite such a transition. Could it be the clot? I don't have a new chair, but it does seem to be affecting the right leg in the same place as well only not so bad. When you say it is like a belt tightening, is there a strong pulling sensation, like grabbing a tight rope in two places and pulling it a lot tighter? I know these sound like stupid questions, but no one has told me what to watch for and what I consider to be symptoms, they have blown off. Also, I do find that vitamin D rich vegetables, like spinach, make the area throb or cramp slightly, is this what you all feel as well? Finally, when I feel what I consider to be symptoms, I elevated my legs and take another low dose aspirin. I take omeprazole to protect me from ulcers and always take the aspirin with food, but it is the only thing I can think of to do until I am seen to help my legs. Is this a bad thing to do? If I am having problems I may take 2-3 aspirins a day which is still less than one regular aspirin.

I had a DVT in my leg. It hurt like crazy, like a never ending charlie horse, and my leg was bright red and swollen, the classic symptoms. Despite those classic symptoms, I was misdiagnosed by three doctors. So misdiagnosis happens even when your leg is screaming, LOOK AT ME; I'M A DVT. I still have some nagging pain in that leg, 7 years later. It sometimes feels like a pulling pain. It sometimes feels like a poking pain. Sometimes it's just an ache.

My second DVT was in my arm. There was no swelling or redness. The first indication for me that something wasn't right was this feeling like a rubber band was wrapped around the bend in my arm, like the inside of my elbow. It felt like the skin was pulling. Then the pain traveled up my arm about a week after that, and it felt like how your arm aches after getting a vaccine. I went to teh doctor, she sent me to the hospital for an ultrasound based on my history and that was that. I had another DVT.

So from my point of view, I think you need to sort it out with a doctor, whether that be you wait for your appointment or go to the ER. It's hard to speculate if in your situation it's is a new clot or just residual stuff from your old clot, because I've experienced all kinds of different symptoms with both my clots. I'd be afraid I'd either scare you into going to the ER, or make you feel like it's not a big deal when maybe it is. I just don't know. For me, how I try to sort things out is if the pain I'm having is different than what I've experienced before, or if it's increasing or getting worse, I'm having it looked at sooner than later. But that's me.

The fact that you have a new pain in your thigh means that I suggest you need to go to a doctor to check this out. It can be everything from a pulled muscle to something more serious. The thing is because you are off xarelto, means that every new pain, especially so high up the leg, needs to be checked out. Aspirin is about 30% as effective as e.g Xarelto. Also, there is no harm increasing the dose, but studies have shown that that it does not make the the blood thinning effect greater whether you take one pill or several a day. Naturally with higher dose of aspirin it will be more effective at decreasing pain symptoms, but it will not thin your blood more.

My advice is like others is to see a doctor. I however assume that you are from US, but I find it so unfair that a person need to fork out so much money for basic rights like a health care, so I fully understand your reluctance to do so. Where Im from it is more or less for free.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/06/16/once-again-u-s-has-most-expensive-least-effective-health-care-system-in-survey/

The earliest I can see the Doctor is on the 24th of this month. I am on the call list for any cancellation, but my only other option is the ER which I do not have the money for, even with my insurance, they will want my deductible which I do not have. Yes, the health system in the US is atrocious and now that so many hospitals are owned by doctors or medical groups, they DO have the option to refuse you care. I do have some Xarelto left from before when I was told to go off it but if I take it now, my bloodwork on the 24th will be no good. I have been getting muscle cramps at night at the site which makes my leg ache as if it were bruised. Are there other anticoagulant supplements that might help until the 24th? I am trying ginger everyday and staying away from all vegetables that have vitamin K. I just don't know what else to do! I'm so scared!.

Hi mwmather

I would think that the first step is to relax, and I know this is easier said that done. Stress can cause many physical symptoms, such as tight muscles. There can be many causes for the symptoms you describe and it is impossible to diagnose your problems over the internet. If you would describe for me your pain and when do you get it (e.g during what activity) in as much detail as possible, then perhaps it can provde some additional clues.

At glance it seems to me that your symptoms are not caused by DVT, as it is very localised, but DVT should affect a larger area of the leg (e.g. swelling of the calf) and you have none of the associated classical symptoms. Muscle cramps (such as during night) can be very common and these can be caused by lots of diseases, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/muscle-cramp/basics/causes/con-20014594

Often muscle cramps are basically due to a muscle that is in poor state, e.g. due to repetitive strain it may have become smaller and basically struggling, and so it cramps. You may also have stretched some muscle sin the groin or inner thigh, or there could be somewhere a weak muscle that in that area that is causing some instability. You can google all this, and find some suitable stretching and strength exercises of the inner thigh and the groin. There is at least no harm to try it out. If it is as simple as this, then stretching the muscle and using it differently then you may find a big difference after few days. Whether the cramping taking place at the DVT site is a causative or just a coincidence is difficult to say. Perhaps the blood flow is reduced to some particular muscles and this may promote cramping, but again, this is another speculation.

I can recommend trying out these strengthening and stretching exercises of the thigh to start with. There is at least no harm doing these, and will only do good and you need only take 15-20 mins everyday to do the. If this will not do anything, then there are some other cases for your pains.

Personally, I would think there is no need for supplements before the 24th in an attempt to thin your blood.

Thank you Stefan. It was worse yesterday then last night I took 400mg. of Ibuprofen and today it feels much better. I'm sorry for my panic yesterday. The 2 doctors I have seen in the past gave me no guidance and discounted so many things that others have discussed like diet and the different types of pain and what they might mean. Every time I get a pain that stays for a day or more I get anxious that another clot is forming. It's been 1.5 years and I was never told that it could come back but then I read others messages and see where they had recurrences 3-5 years or longer. Thank you for your help, it means so much.

You know that vitamin k is only an issue when you're taking warfarin, right? I mean, not eating vitamin k foods does not prevent DVTs. Stick to a healthy diet. It's better for you all the way round.

Like rmb said, I would not abstain from all vitamin k diets. K vitamin deficiency (although rare) can be harmful (e.g. for bone strength) as it is so important for the body. Deficiency of k-vitamin will lengthen your prothrombin time (i.e. increase your INR), so you will take longer to clot. There are however no upper limits for k-vitamin to be harmful. Warfarin interferes with the K-vitamin cycle so less of it is made available to fuel clotting by the prothrombin. When off warfarin, the k-vitamin cycle restored to normal, and to increase markedly the INR by reducing K-vitamin intake you would have abstain all k-vitamin diets to such levels to cause deficiency. This is basically not worth it...So, enjoy your salads :)
Here is a link of K-vitamin.. https://www.nrv.gov.au/nutrients/vitamin-k

Thank you both so much for this information. Having just scanned the article, it does say that a woman should have a Vitamin K intake of 60 micrograms per day. That is so easy to max out with foods eaten every day. I did experience leg pain after having soup with spinach and with kale or romaine lettuce in my salads, so I worry that my diet is a factor. I also have high uric acid levels which could make me prone to gout, but when I asked about seeing a Dietician, it would cost $170.00 for a consult which I would have to pay for because it would come out of my deductible. I am trying to do as much as I can on my own. Also my husband is a diabetic, so trying to develop a meal plan to address all these issues is becoming a real challenge!

My husband is a type 1 diabetic, so I know it's hard when you both eat a little different. But I just look for ways to make it easy on myself. We eat a lot of veg in our house but my husband tends to eat a lot of meat. I eat meat sparingly just because I am not a huge fan of it. So I tend to do a lot of meatless meals for myself, I do a lot of brown rice and beans instead of meat. I make a lot of stuff ahead of time, so I can just heat things up in the microwave.

So many foods have vitamin K in them, foods you'd not even think of, so I think this idea that we have to stick to the recommended micrograms is not reasonable. Remember these are recommended amounts not mandated amounts. All vitamins have a recommended daily amount but most things, if eaten in moderation, are not going to cause problems. I mean, there are so many people in the world whose culture include a plant based diet.

I guess I'm just saying don't make yourself crazy with the diet stuff. If you hyper focus on it, I think after a while it just feels unhealthy, and I think it makes people draw connections where there really may be none.

If you have such high uric acid levels, then you have another good reason to stick to healthy diet. There are lots of homepages about what foods to avoid if you have high uric acid/gout (e.g. Mayoclinic, but I guess you have looked at these) , so a Dietician may not be necessary...

Yeah, I agree that a dietician really may not be needed. The Mayo Clinic site and also the Cleveland Clinic site are good medical resources so if they have diet info regarding gout, it's probably pretty solid information.