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.

1,102 Members
7,473 Posts
0 Online
Lungs & Respiration
/ Pulmonary Embolism Support Group

Exhaustion

kslady43
kslady43
Is it normal during recovery to hit a wall or time frame where you are exhausted to no end?

It just seems the last few days I have been just so tired and exhausted it isn't funny. I mean I have been so tired to the point of tears and not feeling like I could make it to my bed. There has been a little mild chest discomfort off and on with it but no SOB.

We have been busy and things are finally kind of emotionally calming down here on the home front. I even went in and laid down yesterday for about 4 hours and felt a little better when I got up.

Today I really wanted to stay home and rest & sleep but that was not to be. I HAD to go to the family reunion and then to the splash pad to watch gd play in the water for about an hour. When we finally started home, I felt like I was going to get sick and just totally worn out.

I would love to spend just 1 day in bed resting but tomorrow I start back to work. I am almost 3 months post bilateral PE's and my INR is stabilizing at just a hair over 2 or so it seems.

It just seems like the last couple of weeks since gd's schedule has let up that I am more tired then I have been since I was released from the hospital initially.

Hubby keeps asking me if he needs to take me to the hospital. I tell him "No as I think they will just tell me to go home and rest & take it easy." Is there anything else I can do besides rest?

thanks!
rmb
rmb
I think that's fairly normal, to hit a wall periodically during recovery. As you feel better, you do more, and when you do more sometimes it zaps the life right out of you.

Besides rest, be patient.
ShilosMommy
ShilosMommy
I agree. Not only do we sometimes hit a wall physically (and I agree exactly with what rmb said, it's because we feel well enough to do more, so we tire ourselves out more), but we also hit emotional walls too. I still don't know why, but I hit a bad emotional wall right at three months into recovery, like up until then I could accept that I was recovering from a major incident, but at three months I was feeling "done" with it and I wanted to be totally better. Thomas by is, it actually took longer to recover than just three months. To some degree I had to set my own expectations aside and learn to listen to my body. Make sure you are getting everything you need in terms of the right nutrients, I think sometimes that impacts people more than they realize, especially if they've changed their diet at all to accommodate taking warfarin. Aside from that, I don't know there's much else you can do but get the rest your body tells you that it needs and a custom ourselves to saying no sometimes when our friends or family don't realize they're asking us to push too far. I went through cycles of feeling better then feeling worse as I learned to balance what I wanted to do with what I realistically was able to do. I hope you feel better soon.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I recognize this as well during the first months - periods when I needed several days mainly in bed to recover. Now I am 7 months out and haven't encountered this for some time. I totally agree with rmb, that is..! :)
deleted_user
deleted_user
I am only at the two week mark since being released from the hospital. I had a MD appointment yesterday, drop paperwork off at my work and went to small grocery store. I got short of breath but I went super slow and took my sweet time. I was gone from home about 3 hours. Then in the afternoon around 430 I was done. I was exhausted and felt so so tired. I am learning to have patience with myself and be grateful that I am surviving this.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I had my bilateral pulmonary emboli three years ago and after I got back from the hospital stay, the thing I remember most was how exhausted I was for the first few months. I learned to say "no" to requests that would tire me further and started taking more vitamins, fluids, healthy foods and getting more rest than before. My sons could see how wiped out I got in a hurry and one of them moved down to NC in order to be closer to me which I was very grateful for.

Listen to your body. Let go, for now, of things you really don't have to do. Be patient and accept that the more you do to take good care of yourself, the better you will feel down the road.

Sending hugs your way, Cindy
deleted_user
deleted_user
I am 3 months out from my bilateral PE and I have good days where I almost feel normal and then days where I struggle with what I call "bone crushing" exhustion. I also have noticed even on the more "normal" days if I do too much I become very tired easily. I have just found that I need to move slower, limit what I do some days and sometimes just go home and crash for a while. So for me resting is about all that I have found to deal with it.

+
deleted_user
deleted_user
I'll repeat what my doctor recently told me when I complained of being tired -- 'your body has taken a hit and you need to rest, rest, rest." Be a little selfish and take care of yourself now.
kslady43
kslady43
today is not being a good day. If I didn't know better I would almost say I was having another PE the way I feel.

Pains across the back, chest pain & discomfort,etc.....just no SOB. I took my medicines so I am feeling a little better. I also took my medicine for panic & anxiety attacks since that was starting to sit in on top of the not feeling good.

I would love to go to bed and sleep but I have the oldest gd today since I am not going to an event we were to attend. Hubby HAD to go due to his position within the group.

A lot of changes going on in the home these days so I imagine that it is mostly stress induced. I know if I can relax, I do feel some better.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am not the most patient person in the world by any means!
icygirl22
icygirl22
Apologies for bumping an old thread but I feel so exhausted I just have to ask how people cope. I am about 3 1/2 months into recovery- was tracking well and started exercising but last two weeks I am wiped out. Ok in mornings- but then I need to rest. I feel like I am missing out on life- especially with my kids. Starting to feel quite down. Also wondering about iron because of heavy periods on xarelto. I just can't bring myself to go to see a doctor again for iron. I am sick of being sick. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.
TossNTurn
TossNTurn
Recovery can definitely be back and forth for a while ... if you just ramped up your exercise routine and you're suddenly exhausted all the time, you might need to dial it back for a while.

PEs are really unforgiving... when you're tired, your body wants to rest now and trying to just "push" through it won't work very well (and usually backfires)!

It can feel like life is passing you by, for sure, so you may have to get creative for a while with your kids and getting stuff done. Let the non-critical things go... ask for help from family and friends ... watch movies and read books with the kids (if possible).

Guaranteed that this won't last forever. I had the bouts of exhaustion up until about 11 months after diagnosis, although they got fewer and fewer and less severe over time. The same will happen for you.
helmicmw
helmicmw
My daughter is 1 month recovery from a bilateral PE - she is 17 and a softball pitcher who was in excellent physical shape. She was perfectly healthy one day and deathly sick the next. As she is recovering, she is experiencing the same scenarios that many of you are describing as well. She will have a great few days followed by hitting the wall of exhaustion. Typically with exhaustion, she will start having chest pains, and back spasms in the upper back. No shortness of breath though. When this happens, we have ramp up the pain meds and she heads to bed. It usually is about two days of rest to "recharge the batteries". I share because I do think this is normal no matter the age or the physical shape.
icygirl22
icygirl22
Thanks for the comments. Thankfully had two better days but back in bed today straight after work. Really trying to focus on knowing it does get better!
tinybella
tinybella
Wow!! I am a little over three months out and doing pretty well but I must have done to much last week because I am still having a hard time functioning this week. The exhaustion really caught up with me.
Posts You May Be Interested In
  • GreenEyes727

    Caricatures

    Posted by: GreenEyes727
    Last Reply: Tired
    6
    Look at what my best friend did with my picture!
  • GreenEyes727

    Truths

    Posted by: GreenEyes727
    Last Reply: GreenEyes727
    14
    We all have 24 hours in a day.  How we spend these hours is important.  Watching a little bit of a video about how sitting affects us made me aware of how much sitting and laying down I do.  Gonna have to work on that.Your turn.  Tell me another truth.