I hate taking pain (well any) medication but sometimes sleep is more important. The stronger drugs gave me anxiety attacks. I find drinking lots of water helps.

Thanks Sbiegler. Appreciate the feedback. I agree on the sleep note. A nurse mentioned the drinking more water, so i've been trying.

2 weeks ago I was diagnosed with 3 small PE in my lower left lung. I have so much trouble sleeping. I think it's because I'm scared. These doctors don't really tell you much on what to expect once you go home. I'm just trying to take it one day at a time.

Thanks garayk. I built myself a nest of pillows with one snuggling the side in pain. When i was in the hospital, i slept with the bed tilted up and it made a difference so i tried to replicate that at home. it gives me some comfort to be able to sleep.

I sleep with pillows to prop me up. It does help a bit. Can I ask you how is your appetite? I find myself without one. I make myself eat.

My appetite is very lite in that i can eat alot in one sitting. I eat small meals or snack often. I'm not losing any weight, which would be good if i did. It helps to find things you like and taste good. I have noticed that some things have weird taste. I was told that was normal.

I've lost 10lbs. Idk if it's me or medication. I'm on Eliquis. I get hungry and when I eat I eat eat very little. I'm going to see my dr today. I know feeling short of breath is normal, but I think anxiety is starting to kick in, which probably isn't helping with my appetite either. This whole thing has just been very scary.

Good luck at your appt. today garayk. Don't let anxiety get to you. Try to motivate yourself to do something, like work on a hobby, that will get it off your mind. My doctor told me stress and anxiety is not good for PE's.

I know it's been a month since you posted this, but since I had my pulmonary infarction 8 years ago and still have pain some days, I thought I'd pass on the things that help me.
1) Stretch under a hot shower. I kn0w the hot, humid air is hard to breath, but it will help the back pain. 2) Try Tie-chi or Qi-gong. They're pretty similar. The smooth motions and deep breathing help with lung capacity, pain and stiffness, and circulation. 3) Get an air purifier. I can always tell when the air is bad because I have a hard time breathing. 4) Learn to meditate. Being able to focus your breath and isolate tight muscles will make it easier to get them to un-clinch.

Wow these are good tips L.reinhardt - many thanks. I had done some meditation in the beginning but stopped because i have a damaged lung and the breathing was hard. Think i'm going to try it again and also plug in the air purifier. I usually use it in the dry winter months but think it's a great idea at night - especially since i get dry coughs then.

Someone told me to hold my breath for a few seconds every so often. I don't know why it worked for me, but it did. Also, I would tell myself that the worst was already over -- the clots already traveled through the heart and parked in the lungs and that was actually a good thing! (They didn't stall anywhere and block anything) I am really just concentrating on being gentle on my heart and I tell it to heal. Yes, I talk to my heart, my lungs and my clot-filled legs. Don't tell anyone but gee, it can't hurt, right?

I have two small PEs from a week ago. I can rest comfortably upright in a chair, or on my back in bed, but if I end up on either side it hurts like hell. Try experimenting with some different positions; in my experience a lot of pain is positional like that. The other thing you can do is isolate the pain location from your body - acknowledge the part that hurts, but relax your body bit by bit around that location, creating a kind of smushy doughnut around it. Hopefully in doing this you will discover tension points in your limbs or elsewhere that you can relax, and also find that your breathing is able to slow down. This will at least give your body some rest even if you can't actually sleep. Finally, if you get to hurting real bad do something different - just changing the scene or engaging your mind differently can oftentimes help shut it off.

Wellll it's been 9 months since my PE episode. I'm happy to report that i'm now just getting to the point i feel "normal" except for the pulmonary infarction in my lung still acts up. Thanks l.reinhardt for the tips and letting me know you still have issues. Dr's told me it would be a year or more to heal. I've been cleared to start walking on the treadmill and doing more activity. I'm on a corticosteroid (Symbiacort) because the breathing exerting from my lungs was 1/2 capacity. Can't believe i have 4 doctors monitoring me on all this....