Hi Chrissie,

Welcome! I too have a clot behind the knee and take Xarelto. Also, like you, I did not have swelling or intense pain though I did experience more pain post-diagnosis. The first several weeks were anxiety fueled, I had no energy, and I had sporadic pain in both legs even thought my DVT was in only one. It's been 2 months now and I feel much better. One thing that helped me was walking. At first I could only walk 15 minutes but I am now up to about 40 minutes a day. I feel like being physically active helped speed up my recovery and I can feel it the next day if I skip a walk.

Everyone experience seems to be different and I wish you a fast recovery. Drink lots of water, take your meds, and get moving as soon as you and your doc are comfortable with physical activity.

Thanks Laura
I have already started walking but like you do feel very tired all the time at the moment. Feel better each time I read these posts.
Thanks again

It can be a big shock to be diagnosed with a blood clot, especially if you'd been relatively healthy up until that point. I remember, when I got diagnosed, I had a good cry for a few minutes before I let them take me up to my room. (I spent one night in the hospital.)

Fortunately, it sounds like you have a solid cause for your clot, you got diagnosed quickly (which leads to a faster recovery, in my experience), and you're already on the road to recovery.

It could be a few months before you really feel like you've sorted it all out, but you will be OK. I'm nine years out from my first DVT and I really don't have any residual issues from it, other than my leg being a little larger around than the other one. All things considered, I'm OK with that.

Thank you so much TossnTurn. As you probably know every reply gives you comfort and hope too. Yes I think mine was diagnosed very early. I knew something was different. I flew home on the Thursday and saw the Dr the Tuesday after...5 days. When we got off the plane my ankles were swollen and my calves slightly too. When the swelling went down about 12 hours or so later the ache started. Luckily for me I had a good Dr who sent me to hospital straight away. Diagnosed within 5 days of first noticing something wasn't quite right. Also very lucky was the fact that my daughter is a second year student nurse and she made me promise to go see the Dr. My advice for everyone with a feeling of a pulled muscle that is only in a small area...go see the doc!!!!

Sounds like you got good care right away and are in good hands. Keep active!

Thanks Amerimex your comments are very welcome. Does anyone know what the safe limit of alcohol is while on Xarelto? I usually have a couple of glasses of wine every day.

You might check with your doc and/or the pharmacist on recommendations of alcohol consumption with Xarelto. I know with warfarin it is generally OK if kept to moderation, but I don't know if the same applies to Xarelto.

Alcohol is a blood thinner in its own right, so it would be good to find out for sure. I do know that you never want to get falling-down drunk. I mean, it's not good for you anyway, but its worse if you're on a blood thinner and could hit your head.

Chrissie,
Sorry to hear about your clot, but glad you are being treated.
I have been on Xarelto for 5 months. Extensive DVT in right leg vessels and wear custom garments. A few glasses of wine is fine on Xarelto, just don't overdo it. I had a bad experience after 5 rum and cokes over 90 minutes. I became highly intoxicated. I usually had 5-7 drinks 3 days a week. Now my doc and I agree a few glasses of wine or 2 drinks is my max. We agreed this is a good time to lay low on booze and let my body heal anyway. I even decided to quit beer while fighting my clots. Lost a little weight.
The real risks are getting drunk and falling or hurting yourself on a blood thinner. But also I found my tolerance was LOW compared to before Xarelto. But everyone is different. Also, alcohol can upset your gastric system, which can be an issue if you are at risk to ulcers which could bleed. I had gastritis with an ulcer history, so another reason to lay low.
Good luck with your healing.

I'm on warfarin and I do think it's sort of the same philosophy- don't drink to excess so you can't hurt yourself, because between the drinks and the anticoagulant, you may have a harder time preventing a bleed.

Ok, so Saturday, my husband and I went to Madison (WI) and just hung out at the lake that's right on UW Madison's campus. They have several beer, pre made cocktails and food vendors, beach, boating, biking etc. It's a good time. Anyway, we've done this a million times before, and usually, I'll have two large drinks over the course of a few hours and I'm fine. Well it was super hot this weekend so I don't know if that was part of the cause, but I got shit faced, sort of out of no where, on sangria of all things. I had lunch before that, a giant man sized gyro, so there was no excuse really, except it was hot so I may have been a little dehydrated. I wasn't fall down drunk and as my husband said I was very funny but not obnoxious (thanks, I think). But I could tell I was impaired for sure. Anyway, my point, even when you're watching yourself, you gotta WATCH yourself because sometimes things that normally don't hit you will hit you. Also, some bartenders are more generous with their pours than others and so what is normally one drink may be two.

My tolerance isn't the issue. In fact, I feel I have a higher tolerance as I've gotten older, like super human tolerance. Anyway, I stuffed myself with more food and drank a ton of water after that and I was fine, but I seriously, one more drink and I could see it all going very badly.

So just use your head, be sensible and you should be fine.

Thanks everyone
I shall certainly be careful and have a couple of alcohol free days. To RMB our bartenders in the UK have to use a measure when serving drinks so you get the same where ever you are. We just spent 3 weeks in the States and I know what you mean about 'generous' bartenders. All advice taken seriously.
Went back to the dvt clinic this morning and got fitted for compression stockings...they don't feel too bad but I suppose if you wear shorts in the hot weather you'd look a bit funny.
Feeling more positive right now.

Hi Chrissie,
Just wanted to share with you my experience and hopefully it will make you feel better as the other posts have.
I am almost 2 months into my DVT. Was an active runner, swimmer, gym rat, watched my diet, etc. Was traveling for business 2x a month from east to west coast USA. I had swollen ankles after a trip and it went away after a nice warm shower. Three days later, I had the DVT. I limited my exercise since then to walking. I never stopped walking thinking it will help with the healing. At first, I can only go a short distance before my legs feel heavy. Then slowly I increased my distance but no more than 10% in a week, just like they do with running. I am up to 2 miles now without stopping. My goal is to be able to walk in the swimming pool in about a month. Then progress from there into swimming laps. I will concentrate of proper form. Before, it was do as many laps as possible. Meanwhile I am looking into getting into golf to join my brother who is an avid golfer. I would recommend that you keep moving and go slow. It's amazing that slowing down actually feels better than when I was running for several miles. I actually like walking now more than running. I share to you all of these to let you know that there are good things that come out of this. Be patient. Things will get better.

Thanks so much for your story dvtgoaway. It's such a shock isn't it when you first find out. At the moment I'm trying to walk half a mile each day as well as hourly short walks around the garden when weather permits. It's raining hard but then I do live in England!!! My next appointment with the 'district nurses' (as they are known here) is October 1st and until then I just have to wear these horrible compression stockings. They told me at the hospital for 2 years but I need to find out if that's right. It seems such a long time.
Anyway I just want to thank you again. Take care.

Very good, sensible advice from all, in my opinion, with respect to alcohol. An excellent summary of the situation-- if you drink about two drinks a night, you probably won't have problems, it's the binges that are dangerous for all the reasons you guys describe.

I don't know about Xaltero; it hasn't been around as long, there probably isn't as much research, so it's wise to be careful. I know that on Warfarin, I drank about five drinks a night for four or five years, as well as taking painkillers and tranquilizers, and nothing terrible happened...

For quite a while. Except I realized I was an alcoholic and I had to stop, but that happens to a lot of people who don't take blood thinners.

What I always said on this forum in those days (not so long ago) was that I drank two or three drinks a night, which really meant three, which meant three beers plus several little half-shots of tequila or rum, which really meant.... well, five. And I never took a night off, ever. And a 57-year old man probably should not be drinking that much.

A 57-year old man on blood thinners DEFINITELY should not drink that much. And I will tell you that some very bad, very dark shit started happening towards the end, and the onset was slow and insidious. The problem is, every drug you add to the mix is more work for your liver and kidneys. And as you get older, it's easy to add more prescription drugs to the mix, and not really realize the effect it's having on you. You start getting close to the edge, and you don't know what will put you over.

For me, it was when I went on the drug Flagyl, an antibiotic. I just went completely crazy... night sweats, intense memory loss, wild mood swings even MONTHS after I stopped that medication. I was barely able to work, and I was miserable when I wasn't working. I remember watching a hawk soar through the air in a desert canyon, and being filled with despair for absolutely no reason.

45 days after stopping the alcohol, it was clear that the booze was the biggest problem-- my head became clearer, I was able to work again without freaking out, etc.

And now, 130 days later, I really don't miss alcohol very much. I have more stamina, I can ride bigger waves, I skied runs I could never ski before, I don't forget where the post office is... as frequently as I used to.

The point of all this is: Just as you may find that your nightly "limit" of alcohol has gotten lower after you start blood thinners, you may find that the threshold for what constitutes "problem drinking" gets higher.

Maybe you'll never hit that threshold... but if you do, just remember, it's not the end of the world.