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.
So it sounds like, at this point, my clots are caused by genetic factors. I have some new pain that feels like my first pe did. When I spoke with the doctor, they said it's probaby leftover pain. When I went to the hospital last time I had pain, the ct scan showed an improvement and reduction in size of my pe. Does this mean, if it is genetic, that my therapeutic inr is ok between 2-3? Would I clot again if my old clots show improvement? Should I just have faith that my inr has been well for a long period of time or should I go get checked out? I've had so many ct scans that it plays a huge role in me determining whether or not to get looked at.
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Look at what my best friend did with my picture!
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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.
There are probably a few things in your post, but I can't quite untangle them enough to give a proper response, but here goes
* Have you had a definitive diagnosis for genetic factors causing clotting, if so what? Its good if you have, it helps to give a reason for things and generally you get better estimates of recurrence risk.
* Your target inr is fairly independent of the cause and, as you know, the default is 2-3. Typically, they'll make it a bit higher if you've reclotted, but from your message, I don't think you have? I seem to remember that something like 2% of people reclot on warfarin at that level, but that in itself can be from a variety of factors, like they may not have achieved that level for a reasonable time period.
* Your inr has been tested etc, so just assume the docs know what they're doing and your inr is OK between periods. If you have any specific reason to doubt, get it checked, but not just because your not sure.
* Pain is quite common to have after your PE diagnosis. You say your latest CT scan showed a reduction. That is good. Don't overdo the CT scans :-). Generally, in the UK, ou just get one for the diagnosis, and any extra are rare. If your additional CT scans are not actually telling you a lot, you may want to work on any anxiety.
Kids have returned, got to go. All the best ...
It would be unusual for anyone to clot with an INR between 2-3. It doesn't make sense to keep going for scans especially if you know the clots are improving. They're improving because that's typically a normal response after diagnosis and treatment.
Deep breath. Seriously you are going to make yourself crazy speculating.
Have you had your hema appt yet?
Its so hard to deal with the 'weird' pains that pop up and scare us. I didn't have much pain at diagnosis of my pe. I had sudden sharp pains 2 to 4 months after, which turned out to be nothing important, maybe healing pains. They were scary, especially since I had trouble keeping my inr in range. But I got thru them, and its much better now. Your inr is usually in range, so you should be protected from new clots. The old clots can cause pain, but not new damage. Hang in there, find something relaxing to do that will take your mind off of the pain (I know, easier said than done), take a deep breath like rmb said, and you'll get thru this.