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.
Oy!
I'm sorry if all of this has been covered elsewhere but I'm not sure how all the pieces fit together for me so I'm looking for some feedback.
Had my second bout of bilateral PE's back in September. Never really got back to my pre-PE stamina when I went to Vegas in the Beginings of the year and picked up a pretty nasty case of the flu. I had a severe cough with wheezing as well. My primary put me on an anti-biotic, decongestants and Advair and gave me Albuterol for emergencies. He says he thinks I have/had an infection and that I probably have adult onset asthma as well.
Last week I had yet another CT scan to rule out PE's (my INR levels were unstable and I'd flown and all the symptoms raised additionalc concerns). The CT scan was clear and, though I'm cough less, it's still there and it's irritating.
More nerve wracking than the cough is this pain I've been having in my left chest. It feels very similar to the PE pain and gets worse when I lay on that side or on my stomach. It doesn't seem to get worse with the coughing. It's just there...sometimes jabbing, sometime dull. Occassionally I have a similar pain in the middle and right side of my chest but the left side has been fairly consistent and only since this flu episode.
Oh! And the last two times I had my blood pressure taken, it was high (unusual for me).
So, what's my problem? Is the pain from the infection? Left over PE stuff? Asthma? Cardiac stuff? Anyone have any similar experiences?
I see the pulmonologist next week but may have to cancel due to work conflicts. If I'm in trouble I'll change my schedule to make the appointment.
Thanks!
I'm sorry if all of this has been covered elsewhere but I'm not sure how all the pieces fit together for me so I'm looking for some feedback.
Had my second bout of bilateral PE's back in September. Never really got back to my pre-PE stamina when I went to Vegas in the Beginings of the year and picked up a pretty nasty case of the flu. I had a severe cough with wheezing as well. My primary put me on an anti-biotic, decongestants and Advair and gave me Albuterol for emergencies. He says he thinks I have/had an infection and that I probably have adult onset asthma as well.
Last week I had yet another CT scan to rule out PE's (my INR levels were unstable and I'd flown and all the symptoms raised additionalc concerns). The CT scan was clear and, though I'm cough less, it's still there and it's irritating.
More nerve wracking than the cough is this pain I've been having in my left chest. It feels very similar to the PE pain and gets worse when I lay on that side or on my stomach. It doesn't seem to get worse with the coughing. It's just there...sometimes jabbing, sometime dull. Occassionally I have a similar pain in the middle and right side of my chest but the left side has been fairly consistent and only since this flu episode.
Oh! And the last two times I had my blood pressure taken, it was high (unusual for me).
So, what's my problem? Is the pain from the infection? Left over PE stuff? Asthma? Cardiac stuff? Anyone have any similar experiences?
I see the pulmonologist next week but may have to cancel due to work conflicts. If I'm in trouble I'll change my schedule to make the appointment.
Thanks!
I ran across a mention of the trouble that you said occurred when laying on your left side. A fellow had severe sleep apnea with oxygen levels dropping to as low as 85 for up to 23 seconds - which caused his heart to beat like crazy trying to maintain oxygen levels. But he was alerted by the rapid beating of his heart.
Another fellow had a hiatal hernia that bothered him when he lay on his left side. Took him awhile to isolate the trouble, however, because he drank about 3 glasses of wine every night before retiring in order to sleep. He was told by his doctor that too much alcohol before bedtime could cause similiar symptons.
Hope that you can find the answer.
I'm trying not to be a hypochondriac. I tend to be hyper-sensitive since the first set of PE's. I'm just trying to rule out what I can before I go traipsing off to the ER.
Do you know if you have fluid around your lungs (i.e.., Pleurisy)? Its a pretty common symptom of PE patients. It can be very painful and would explain the symptoms you described. I could not lye on my side or stomach for over a month after my PEs due to this. Not much they can do for it. Good news is that it is pretty harmless and gradually goes away over time. It can be detected with a normal chest xray.
Robert