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.

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fluttering in chest

kate37
kate37
Hi all

This is going to sound like a very silly question but know you guys wont laugh!

I had multiple bilateral PE in March 2008. Before it I occasionally noticed what I can only describe as a fluttering feeling in my lung. Almost like paper rustling! It wasnt associated with breathing in and out or with any heart beat etc. I could be perfectly still get the feeling. I didnt mention it at the time of the PE as I thought it sounded a bit silly

Last night I was getting it again. Like most of us here I still worry about every little thing. Feel ok otherwise and am still on my warfarin so unlikely to be clottimg but just wondered if anyone else had experienced similar?

Love to all

Kate
deleted_user
deleted_user
I only had my PE in May but I did experience that fluttering before I went to the ER also.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Kate,
I did not experience that sensation, but everyone is different. I would, however, urge you to tell your doctor about it. Nothing is silly when you are dealing with a life threatening condition like PE. I know how you feel but it is really important to let your health care provider know everything. They have heard it all and I really don't think they would consider this silly. It will also be one less thing to worry about if they say it's nothing. Hope all goes well. Take Care
Mlou
deleted_user
deleted_user
Hi there -
I have had two types of "flutter" in my chest area - one that is most likely in my heart (only lasts a beat or two and my echo/ ekg are normal)

- I have had another flutter that feels like something rubbing - as if the pleural lining around my lungs was rubbing. I listened w/ a stethescope and didn't hear much of anything.

You miight want to let your MD know about it.
Ferr
Ferr
Hi Kate, I'm a 4 time survivor of multiple PE' episodes and for the longest time they could never find the cause of my PE's. I also had the fluttering on occasion and guess what? It turned out to be that I have A-fib of the left ventricle of my heart which was actually causing my PE's. My A-fib doesn't happen regularly but on occasion so they never caught it on my echo or EKG until the last episode. I have to stay on Coumadin for life now to keep my heart from throwing clots, how weird is that? At this time they aren't doing anything with my heart except I'm on metropolol tartrate twice a day to try to control the Tachycardia. The doctors said eventually i will probably end up with a stint in my heart but until then I'm in complete denial.. It is very important that you let your doctors know about anything you are feeling. Most Doctors really haven't a clue what we go through so they rely on us to let them in our secrets. Hopefully you have a doctor that is as open minded as mine is and will listen to what you have to say. My doctor often times comes into this web site and reads the posts because he says he has a lot of patients that are on coumadin and he has learned a lot from DS by reading our posts, and knowing what to tell his patients to expect.
Stay well
HUGS
Ferr
deleted_user
deleted_user
I was just diagnosed in June and also experienced this flutter in my chest off and on for several weeks before I was finally diagnosed with multiple small bilateral PE's. I haven't noticed it since being on my lovenox injections. I have to take them for another 3 weeks and then see the pulmonologist for full pulmonary function tests and another chest x-ray. Still on inhalers everyday and frequently short of breath. Really sucks being sick!!!