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.
I had a PE back in Jan 2009. Was on the heparin until the coumadin worked. Because of alot of risk factors that I have that can cause another clot, my specialist has ordered me to be on the coumadin for years. I have Type 2 Diabetes and I am a truck driver who sits for long periods of time. I have heard from others who had used this for years as well that the skin looks older faster if exposed to the sun (I mean doesn't the skin begin to age prematurely when exposed to the sun even without Coumadin?) As well, I have heard about hair loss. Or bleeding in the stomach if a person drinks too much alcohol, etc. What long term side effects can be expected from Coumadin?
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I miss traveling with my husband. Has anyone found a specific site regarding cruising for widow/widowers or any sightseeing trips. Not interested in being with couples and kids,,,I realize a cruise ship will have a portion size of families and couples, but perhaps they also put together a part of the cruise ship for groups of widows/widowers????
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A friend sent this to me..As far as I can see, grief will never truly end.It may become softer overtime, more gentleand some days will feel sharp.But grief will last as long as Love does - ForeverIt's simply the way the absence of your loved onemanifests in your heart. A deep longing accompaniedby the deepest Love some days. The heavy fog mayreturn and the next day, it may recede.Once again, it's...
Most people don't have any issues, but it is something to be aware of.
Well I can tell you that the hair loss part is true. My hair has been thinning ever since I started taking it. A man can pull that off but I an a woman who looks silly with even short hair, much less very thin hair.
It is nofun at all.
Kathy
Good luck AngelG,,,Try and get out of the truck every few hours and walk for about 10 minutes,,oh and Get some compression socks that will help also ,and keep hydrated....
Not all patients fare well on PREVENT due to requiring a higher INR to prevent clotting (APS patients for example). But other patients do well on the lower INR. I have Factor V Leiden (homozgyous) which was diagnosed after having had two separate DVT's and a PE. I took part on the PREVENT Trial in 2001 and have remained on the lower INR since.
Here is some information both from the New England Journal of Medicine:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/348/15/1425
Likewise, here is a Q&A from Dr. Stephan Moll who was one of the principal investigators on this preventative trial:
Scroll down towards bottom of the link:
http://www.fvleiden.org/ask/09.html
Haven't had any further hair loss since I went from high INR to low target INR. Bleeding is pretty manageable and like I mentioned, fatigue is not as much an issue.
There are new oral anticoagulants undergoing further trials here in the U.S. and Canada. Some are already being utilized up in Canada (hip and knee replacement prophylaxis). You can read about these medication in an article I had written for the North American Thrombosis Forum:
http://natfonline.org/eThrombosis/?p=747
For long term patients, these medication are not on our radar as of yet due to there not being a way to reverse the anticoagulant affect in case of severe injury. The long term trials are looking at this and hopefully will find a way to resolve this pending problem. Beyond that, we do not know the side affects attributed to long term use. All three of these new medications are approved in Europe and undergoing other studies.