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 just over a year ago I went on a trip to the Dominican Replublic...came back and had a some swelling and discomfort behind my right knee. Long story short, I had a small clot in my leg. Took xarelto for 3 months and it disappeared. Followed up with a hemotologist and learned that I have factor v leiden which makes me more susceptible to clots. I don't have any family history of clots or anything like that. After 3 months I went off the xarelto after consulting with my hemotologist as the incident was unprovoked. Fast forward to January 2018 and I was having shortness of breath climbing the stairs at work. It was puzzling to me. I have been a very active person my whole life, working out 4-5 days a week and eating well. In October 2017, I stopped eating meat and took up a vegetarian diet. I went and saw my family doctor and was sent to the hospital for examination. I was sent for ultrasound and it confirmed another clot in the same leg on the inside of my knee. I was placed back on xarelto and sent home. I went to work the following day and had no issues.
Now cue the miraculous part of this whole thing....
On the way home I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things. While leaving the store, I was about half way to my car when a ringing came into my ears, I was breathing heavy and felt like I was losing the grip on the bags I was carrying. I got into my car, rolled down the window and took long slow breaths which slowed everything down. I grabbed my phone as I was feeling like I may pass out, but I didn't. I managed to gather myself and drive myself home (probably ill advised). When I got home my wife said I was grey and called an ambulance. I was taken to hospital where I was diagnosed with a saddled pulmonary embolism and doctors were amazed that I was sitting up talking to them. They credited it to my physical fitness but I like to think more things in life were looking out for me.
I was in hospital for a week before being sent home. I actually attempted to go back to work 2 weeks later (stubborn) and ended up having an episode and taking another ambulance ride back to the hospital for an over night stay. The right chamber of my heart was enlarged from working so hard for so long. Fast forward to today....
I am the luckiest man on the planet. I have had another echo which has shown my heart is returning to normal and is showing minimal strain. The clot that was in my chest is gone but I am scheduled for a follow up appt with my doctor next week. Here is my concerns and questions....
Have others suffered a stretch of good days followed up with a day or two where they feel bad? I guess I was expecting that once you start feeling good, the climb continues in an upward fashion. I have also experienced a total lack of appetite and and sometimes where it feels like indigestion at the top of my stomach. I have lost the better part of 20 lbs over the last 2 months and have become increasingly frustrated with the recovery. While there is no question I am blessed and it has changed my outlook on all things in life, I am wondering when I can expect a return to normalcy? I am scheduled to return to work on April 2nd...after being off work for 2 months. Heart rate is back to normal range....no shortness of breath....been out for multiple walks and a run the other day. I do have a light headedness from time to time in the back of my head and wonder if this has been experience by others? I welcome any and all responses and look forward to keeping it positive.
For those out there having a hard time as well, I thank this forum and will talk with anyone about this. Thanks in advance for reading and responding.
I'm at the 1.5-year mark since my PEs. In the healing process, I had SO many stretches of good days followed by bad days. I'd like to say that is "normal" in the process, but no two people seem to be the same in the healing process.
I'm also a very active person, so my bad days often followed days when I pushed it too hard at the gym or something.
Hang in there!
Wow! I'm so glad you are alive. What a story. You went through a lot. The lightheadedness could be trauma of what you went through and the inability to be able to process it. Of course it could also be something else.
I think if your work is physical like a brick layer then there could be problems with intense physical pain and aches but if its using your head more than your body in your line of work then id say 4 weeks to go back to work.
I myself (from mistakes I made and not giving time time) would advise not do any gym workouts until after 10 weeks (2.5 months) has elapsed and only cardio. But I am not a doctor so its only layman's advice. For example I can't cycle a bike for an hour at once. My doctor told me to do half hour in morning and half hour at night in gym. Whilst I have recently started to lift weights in gym I've decided to put this completely on the back burner as
I have muscle aches all over chest and triceps afterwards and its not worth the pain and tightness. And lifting very light weights isn't really worth it- not enough resistance.
From being on this site I've read that the pains and aches lessen over time but can take up to 2 years to abate. My doctor told me that the physical recovery is long term and not a few weeks.To date I've only been getting info off my general practitioner and consultant .I don't see my hematologist until the beginning of April.
I 'm fairly new to this I only had my PE's and DVT at the beginning of Jan just gone so I've been bombarding the site with a lot of questions regarding my worries and fears. I've had to go on an anti- depressant for fears and obsessional thought about all this since my episode but that is s ok. I don't mind.
For my self I have not hit a year since my last clot that could be seen. Since the first it has been a year and a half. Good and bad days are totally normal. And if it damaged the lungs or heart it can take even more depending on the damage. The worst thing about these clots is the amount of ways they can cause damage from slight to stroke or death. And 95 percent of the time you do not know about them until you have one. Wishing you the best.