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

helmicmw 08/22/2015

Has anyone had a complication with fluid on a lung following a PE? At first, we were told this is not typical but then as the days went by, the doctors started saying it was quite typical. Just wondering if this has happened to anyone else in the group?

notsopatient 08/23/2015

I've not experienced it myself but in my research travels I did come across some references to it as a known complication, for instance see the Mayo Clinic's website here: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/pulmonary-edema/basics/causes/con-20022485 with the click-throughs for diagnosis, treatment, etc.

I suspect it's 'not typical' in the sense that it's a rare complication, but 'typical' in the sense that it's a known complication.

ShilosMommy 08/23/2015

My doctor had me do breathing exercises while in the hospital and after going home to avoid that happening, so I think it is a common enough complication to take preemptive care to avoid it. In fact, after I made it through surgery, he actually said, well our next big hurdle is just preventing pneumonia.

We did successfully avoid pneumonia, but I battled pleurisy a lot for at least the first year after PE. (I mention both things because I'm not really sure which you mean when you say fluid on the lung.) But the pleurisy was also considered by my doctors as an almost expected complication.

bhansen 08/24/2015

I ended up with fluid after my PE. Ultimately ended up with pneumonia along with the clots. My Dr said that the fluid was not unexpected as I went 10 days with mine before actual diagnosis. I had to do breathing exercises also and be on antibiotics. After 6 weeks the fluid was gone.

mj568 08/25/2015

yep, i had this after both my PEs.

StephanoodleXD 08/28/2015

I encountered a mild case of it when I was in the hospital. They had me take 10 deep, slow breathes every hour that I didn't go up and walk around. It also didn't help that I was already battling allergies and mucus was built up everywhere as it was, but I've heard of it happening before.

janetdillard 08/31/2015

I had clots in both lungs after having surgery in May. When they kept saying that the pain I was feeling was the "healing" pain. I assumed that's what it was but they wanted me to have a CT scan of my abdomen/pelvic to make sure all was good from surgery. They caught the bottom of my lungs and sent me right back to the hospital because I had 2 lbs of fluid on my left lung. They were able to drain it but now I am having pain on my left side from possible damage from everything. Hoping all will gee better with time. I used to be very active with cardio classes and now very scared to return right now.

Join the Conversation