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.
First off, hello everyone! I found this forum/support group for the first time yesterday and it's been very helpful to read through other people's thoughts and experiences so thank you all for sharing.
I added a journal entry to give a bit of backstory for my PEs if people are interested please feel free to read that: https://www.dailystrength.org/journals/my-pe-origin-story . I started to do it inline here but it grew really quickly so I figured it belonged somewhere else. The tl;dr is that I was diagnosed with bilateral PEs about 4.5 weeks ago, the cause isn't clear, and I've spent four of the last four and a half weeks being terrified because I didn't know what to expect going forward. Over the last four or five days I've felt like I'm making pretty good physical and emotional improvements, which I'm very excited about.
I guess my intention behind writing this post is that after reading though some of the other posts in this forum I found that it's remarkable how alike so many people's thoughts, feelings and concerns are with what I've experienced. Although it's unfortunate to read firsthand accounts from so many people suffering with PE, it gives me a lot of comfort to see that the shortness of breath, panic and loss of endurance all seem to be normal parts of recovery and that eventually they improve.
I've felt really good this week. Maybe it's too early for me to shout from the rooftops "look at me! I made it and you can too!" but also, maybe it's not. The first 4 weeks after my diagnosis were awful, terrible times but the way that I've been feeling the last 4-5 days has me feeling much better about the future.
If you're reading this I hope doing well and, if not, I hope that you realize that eventually you will feel better.
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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.
Get a pulse ox unit and as long you are on thinners and therapeutic your safe, Try to avoid going back to the hospital due to fear and anxiety and that causes shortness of breath. The less Ct's the better, also be carful of the anxiety meds and depression meds as they do work well with blood thinners try light yoga a mindful meditation for relaxation. Depression is a easy trap have your family watch you
All the best 6 years post June the 9Th..
I hear you on the fear and anxiety causing shortness of breath. I think my own brain is one of my biggest opponents with this thing.
Congratulations on 6 years. It sounds like you've been down a long, hard road. I'm glad the last couple years have been better for you. I hope they keep getting better.
I really appreciate your helpful advice. The mindful meditation you mentioned has been very helpful for me. There's a guy named Jack Kornfield that I've been listening to and I've found his meditations to be extremely well done and effective. If you haven't listened to him I highly recommend him.
Thanks again for the advice!
You hit the nail on the head, That is one of the hardest parts. Understand if your having shortness of breath from you PE'S or due to stress or anxiety and always have your family keep a close eye on depression. They both feel the same. A great way to rule out