That is just it this time around I have no pain in my leg but my primary suggested I wear the stockings to reduce swelling. The hema dr said they are the worst thing you can do for clots. Emailing my dr she said for now stick on the warafin..I don't know if was her bedside manner or her overall. to me she didn't really seem to care. I asked if there was anything I should be doing different, simply looked at me and said do what ever I want to. I also asked if there was signs of sorts if the clot breaks up or moves. her reply, no signs at all you will just drop dead.

It seems that compression stockings can cause harm ,eg when not correctly put on. I think that is pretty rare though. Whether to anticoagulate or not, that is the big question. After my DVT I asked four different specialists with respect to lenght of the time I should take blood thinner, and I got the answer from 3 months to forever. I took the decision to stay one year. In the end, no one can conclude with any certainty whether it is better to stay on or off blood thinners. Risks of another blood clot can be calculated, but these will always be inaccurate. In the end, this will be your decision. If you are afraid of clotting again, then perhaps you should take blood thinners. However, it may then a better strategy to take then for the rest of your life, as taking these for several months will only reduce the risk of clotting for thise months but not after you stop. This naturally raises the risk of bleeding. Alternatively, stop taking blood thinners. You can also take lower doses of blood thinners, e.g. of warfarin (INR between 1-2, no need for monitoring), xarelto or baby aspirin.
With respect to, what happens if the clot breaks free. Firstly, your residual clot will not break free as it is not fully part of the vein. Secondly, if a clot again and a FRESH clots breaks and travels up towards the lungs, then it can cause impact if it is big enough and of right properties. Generally, they go towards the lung and provoke hear attack type of symptoms, called pulmonary embolism. In other words, the clot needs to be of right size and density to cause PE. If the clot goes to the lungs, it does not necessarily kill you on the spot. I mean, if patients goes quickly to ER, then these patients can be saved. Mortality rates of PE are around 15%, with older patients being at the highest risk.

Another thing. With compression stockings, whether to use or not involves trial and error. have you tried to be without these? If these are useful (reduce swelling and pain) then I (and most folks on this forum) would suggest to use them. If you do not swell that much without using them, you may just be without these. If these are causing additional discomfort, stop using them If you swell a lot without these, but cannot use compression stocking then perhaps venowave could be useful. Im trying to stop using the compression stockings. Some days I swell a bit, but I rarely get any pain associated with it (unless its very hot). I thus do not mind bit of swelling, as long I do not get any pain as well. Compression stockings do not reduce the risk of PTS. The damage of the original DVT is the strongest predictor for PTS.