Pulmonary Embolism Support Group
By far the most common form of pulmonary embolism is a thromboembolism, which occurs when a blood clot, generally a venous thrombus, becomes dislodged from its site of formation and embolizes to the arterial blood supply of one of the lungs. Symptoms may include difficulty breathing, pain during breathing, and more rarely circulatory instability and death.
Well I feel like I have regressed a bit with my breathing. On Sunday I felt more labored breathing during an easy run. Monday things seemed ok, but Tuesday I felt like I could feel every breath just walking around, harder to breathe, like the air is too thick. Maybe I'm concentrating on it now, but feels like asthma.?.? Maybe albuterol might help me. Anyone else taken Albuterol after a PE with no prior issues with asthma. I already know there are mild dependent atelectatic changes of the lungs which I think means partial collapse / lungs not functioning to capacity. I wonder if it is getting worse or if it is just some pollen kicking in some allergies causing me to feel like I have asthma. I guess I should expect ups and downs with recovery, this being a down. I'm not going to let it stop me from running even if I have to run/walk unless doc says to tone it down. It might just be temporary...
I've never had a history of asthma, so I don't know how that feels. The doctor said my lung capacity isn't where it should be, but my oxygen levels are still 100%. I suspect it will just take some more time for my lungs to fully heal, so I'm not too concerned about it, but I am curious what the lung specialist will tell me. I continue to run several times a week...I just run slow.
Thank you for your response. Do you know how your doc knows your lungs aren't where they should be, did he run some kind of test? I'm going in today to my primary doc discuss the problem and find out if I should see my pulmonologist. I'm still only less than 3 mo out, so have lots of healing to do I'm sure. I'll be asking about albuterol and also get an oximonitor to have at home so I can see where my oxygen levels are. It will probably help with anxiety knowing I can look at it when I'm short of breath and worried about it.
My doctor said it indicated that my levels were lower than normal, but the difference in the before and after tests were only slightly better. He then referred me to the specialist. That's all I know.
At only 3 months out, I would assume your lung capacity is definitely lower than normal still, but I don't know what would be expected. When my lung pain started again, I can say I definitely felt better seeing that my oxygen levels were still at 100%.
Good Luck!