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.

1,102 Members
7,473 Posts
0 Online
Lungs & Respiration
/ Pulmonary Embolism Support Group

Numbness in extremities, should I be concerned?

Danielle-Chenier
Danielle-Chenier
Ever since this morning, I've been having numbness in my left foot and my left hand. The numbness starts at the toes or the fingers and will move up to the calf and up the arm.

I've also been coughing for the past few days and have had chest pains managed by Tylenol.

I should mention that I've been taking a little more Tylenol since yesterday due to a flare up of osteoarthritic pain in my left shoulder.

My INR's been in the therapeutic range ever since I left the hospital.
rmb
rmb
Some degree of chest pain can be normal after a PE, but I'd be reluctant to say that's what you're experiencing for sure. I think if your INR is good, chances are you're not having another clot. I can say that if I'm really dehydrated I get that tingly feeling and chest pains. Also, if I'm anemic I get chest pain.

But really it comes down to you having to figure out if you feel it warrants a call to your doc.
TossNTurn
TossNTurn
If this is going to have you worrying all weekend, you might as well put a call into the doc now and see if they'd like you to come in. If they aren't particularly concerned now, ask the question, "When should I worry?" or "When should I go see someone?" just to find out what kind of escalation they would find worth a trip in. It'll help you figure out what an actual problem is too.

There's always some extra urgency associated with this stuff on Friday. For me at least, I know if I don't deal with it now, I could be looking at an ER trip (or after-hours clinic) just to assuage my anxiety. I'd rather just get it over with on Friday if I can.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I will definitely won't hesitate to go to the hospital to get myself checked. I don't know your circumstance as far as DVT/PE is concerned but as for me, when I was diagnosed with DVT and shortly after reading that PE is imminent if I won't be vigilant, Since then, I have been in the ready aside from following doc's advice.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I can't tell you whether or not you should get checked out... that's totally up to you, but I will say that I had all kinds of wierd numbness following my PE. I'm not sure how far out you are, but I was getting strange numbness in my hands, arms and feet for probably the first 4 months. Of course, I was also on warfarin at the time, but my doctor did point out to me on several occasions how highly unlikely it would be for me to have a clot in both my arm AND leg at the same time with no swelling in either. The numbness started to go away after a couple visits to the chiropractor. I think I was so stressed out I was tensing up while I slept and causing more problems for myself!
Danielle-Chenier
Danielle-Chenier
Thanks for the advice and the information. I ended up feeling OK by the end of my work day and no more numbness today.

I guess I have to get used to my body healing up this strange way.
rmb
rmb
Glad you're feeling better.
Posts You May Be Interested In
  • GreenEyes727

    Caricatures

    Posted by: GreenEyes727
    Last Reply: Tired
    6
    Look at what my best friend did with my picture!
  • GreenEyes727

    Truths

    Posted by: GreenEyes727
    Last Reply: GreenEyes727
    14
    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.