Frank,

Many of us in this support group have successfully returned to our respective sport after having a DVT/PE. Things do get better in time. In my case, I was told I probably would never regain full use of my leg following my 1992 DVT in which I also had a PE. That was in November of 1992, by April 1993 I was competing in regional mountain bike races and succesfully finishing in the top 10 at the end of each season afterwards.

Here is a link to a colleague of mine, Roland Varga. Roland, though not having experienced a DVT/PE himself, is competing in Triathlons as the ClotBuster. On his website you will several an "Athelete of the Month" section which is dedicated to amature, profession, NFL players, and olympic athtletes who have returned to their sport after their DVT/PE:

http://clot-buster-triathlete.blogspot.com/

Once specific story is that of a collegue of mine and fellow military veterans; Leslie Smith. Her story is that of courage and perseverence. She had lost her leg after being diagnosed with a DVT as the result of Warfarin Induced Necrosis. This condition is when the body reacts to high doses of Coumadin when you have an acquired Protein C deficiency. Separate to that, she also has Factor V Leiden and is on anticoagulants for life:


http://clot-buster-triathlete.blogspot.com/2008/07/july-athlete-of-month.html


Here is also a newsletter that my organization did on Athletes and Blood Clot several years ago:

http://www.stoptheclot.org/Newsletters/NATTFall06NwslWeb1.pdf

Being on Coumadin does warrant special precaution but it does not mean you can not return to your sport; as long as you have your doctors blessing. I've been on Coumadin off and on from 1992 (first DVT/PE) to 1995 (second DVT). Was off it from 1999 to 2001, and have been on it at a low target INR (precautionary) of 1.5-2.0 since 2001. Never during that timeframe did I step back from cycling, although I did change my riding habits from a technical rider to a finesse rider (took less chances to avoid crashes).

Welcome Frank - Triathlete here, I believe I developed mine after a half ironman tri followed by a 5 + hour car ride (although the docs don't find that "comeplling" enough). At any rate, listen to your body. I started out with slow walks as I returned to activity. Then picked it up a bit. Then started 1/4 mile run, 1/4 mile walk. Then 1/2 mile. Then mile. PE was diagnosed in July. In October I ran 80 miles (which was too much of an increase and which caused its own problems, the result of which is I am not running now :( ) My docs said the only limitation was making sure I could handle the level of exertion, I had no such issues.

I contniue to swim, sometimes with hard and fast intervals, and I just got off warfarin so will be back on the bike outside this week (previously on an indoor trainer)

Chris

Chris

Thanks, RetiredNavy02. Thanks for the detailed reply. I am really encouraged by your story, and the others you referenced. I want to be competitive again, and I hope that is possible.

Thanks, cjmenjou. The source of my DVT seems very similar to yours. I was returning from a Grand Canyon rim to rim to rim run, and spent about 8 hours sitting in a car and on a plane. Additionally, I was dehydrated, and that certainly exacerbated the situation. I am curious, if you don't mind providing a little more info. You say you got up to 80 miles in October, but it was too much and caused problems. Can you explain? What was your typical monthly mileage prior to your PE?
Thanks!

Yeah, my half ironman was a tough, hilly one in warm weather, with some drinking after that didn't help (dehydration). Mileage depended on the race I was training for, clearly much lower than yours if you did a R2R. But anywhere between 70 for half iron and 110 for full iron.

My current injury has nothing to do wth the PEs as far as I can tell, tendonosis related to years old ankle reconstruction exacerbated by increasing mileage too much too fast (i.e., 25 miles in Sept, 80 in oct).

Chris

Currently I can't seem to access the upper limits of my heart rate
range, so I keep it at around 70%-80%. Weekly mileage is about
half of what I used to do Doctors said I could do as much as I
could tolerate, so I discovered my new limitations and just work
from there. Hopefully in a year I will be back to my old normal.
My lungs and chest start aching if I over do it, and I also get some
asthma symptoms.

I was never a super athlete like some of you, but I have done a couple of half marathons and used to swim competitively and bike ride for fun. I'm finding that starting to run again shortly after my PE leaves my muscles very sore for much longer than previously, like 4-5 days instead of 1-2 days. So I just take it slow, of course. On account of the PEs, I now have a hypokinetic right ventricle and still have some minimal unresolved clots in my main pulmonary arteries. I'm hoping these things will completely resolve with time and patient conditioning, but it's too early to say at this point. It's nice to know that some of you have made complete recoveries and I am inspired by your example. Let's keep at it!

robrecht, sorry to hear you have hypokinetic right ventricle and still have some minimal unresolved clots in my main pulmonary arteries. What have the doctors said regarding your longer term recovery from these?

Thanks, Frank. It's too early to say. May recover or it might just be something I will live with. They will test again in 6 months and see if things have improved. It won't affect my day-to-day lifestyle.