Hi and welcome! I guess the first question to ask is what medication you're taking. The rules are very different if you're on warfarin/coumadin vs. the newer anticoagulants. Drinking is generally a bad idea because alcohol has some anticoagulant properties and because getting tipsy/drunk can be very problematic when you're on anticoagulants.

It's great that you're already feeling a lot better. If you've been taking it easy, it's possible that some of your symptoms might return once you start getting back to normal. Being outside in hot/cold/humid weather usually was very challenging for me and I'd have an increase in pain and shortness of breath for a day or so.

I would check in with your primary doctor ASAP and make sure you're on the same page with everything.

Obviously, everyone gets a little bit different instructions depending on the doctor and the clots. For me, I was told exercise as tolerated ... and I couldn't tolerate much early on. This would be a good thing to talk to your doctor about. If you're getting different advice, tell your doctor that and try to work out a plan that everyone is comfortable with.

Also, any idea what the cause was? Sometimes that can have an effect on what you should/shouldn't do.

Great thanks for the information.
I'm on rivaroxaban which I understand is less controlled than warfarin.
I have been taking it easy so I guess i'll see as I get back to nornal life. I was told my pain would ease as the thinner began to work so I presumed that is what's happening now. That's the only thing i've suffered with so unsure what will happen as I get back to normal.
Is alcohol definitely something that should be avoided? I'm a student so I'm going to have to make a lot of lifestyles changes as obviously I want to put my health first but I think it's going to be a strange adjustment at first.
I'm still waiting on test results to try and discover what the cause was. At the moment the doctors have no idea. There is a small possibility of it being genetic, other than that I am clueless.
Thanks again.

It's hard to say what symptoms you might suffer as you start to recover. For me, the only symptom I had at diagnosis was severe shortness of breath (SOB)--and that started to resolve pretty quickly. I even felt a little cocky as I started to recover and I didn't have a lot of the symptoms folks on here mention. But, I also pushed it pretty hard early on--and I paid the price with increased SOB, pain I hadn't had before, and a level of exhaustion that was insane. I had to dial it back before I started to make slow/steady progress.

It could be very different for you...hard to tell until you get into it. But, you may have good and bad days for a while and surprising things might affect you (air conditioning, cleaning fumes, temperatures). Or, you might come through pretty easily.

Alcohol is generally not recommended for the reasons I mentioned above, but a fair number of folks will have a drink here and there. The goal is to not get tipsy and not get dehydrated. I'm not sure about interactions with rivaroxaban/Xarelto and alcohol, though, so that might be something to talk with your doctor and/or pharmacist about and see if there's anything there to worry about.

Not everyone gets a concrete cause figured out. I've clotted three times and still don't know exactly why, despite multiple tests done. For many people, it could just be a "perfect storm" of events. I assume you were asked about all the common causes (e.g., hormones, heredity, long car/plane trip, pregnancy). Some of the odder contributing causes I've seen for clotting: being dehydrated and/or sick, sitting still for too long (as on a car or while playing video games), falling asleep in very tight clothing, or being very athletic and having a low resting heart rate. Sometimes its a combination of a lot of things, I suspect.

Best of luck to you! Keep us posted on how you are doing.

I am so grateful for this site. I was diagnosed with PE two weeks ago, I was prescribed eliquis, I started to recover very well, until last night, I experience this severe chest pain and difficulty of breathing. I could not believe what was happening to me. I went to the ER, they couldn't see anymore PE which was a relief, but I was diagnosed with pleurisy (fluid outside of the lung cavity). I am new to this, so I can't give any advice yet, but I will keep you posted on my progress.