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.
Hi everybody,
I haven't been active on this discussion group for several months. I lost my password and was feeling good so took a break from posting. But now I have some questions so I'm back looking for your advice! I'm a 36 yr old who had bilateral PE (multiple clots) in Jan 2012 when I was 10 weeks pregnant. My main symptoms were pain and shortness of breath. I feel like I made a pretty fast recovery after being in hospital a few days and the rest of my pregnancy was great. I walked a lot and swam almost every day. I had some shortness of breath, especially towards the end of the pregnancy but I figured it was from the extra weight I was carrying, in combination with the PE effects. The birth was amazing (no epidural - it all happened too fast!) and the baby is healthy and great, but I started to feel a bit freaked out after the birth because when I got up to walk down the hallway at the hospital I felt short of breath and I had to sit down. I told the nurse and a bunch of doctors came to see me. They wanted to do another CT scan but I declined because it would have meant stopping breasfeeding for three days. When I was standing up I couldn't take a deep breath, but it gradually improved. There was no pain. At any rate the treatment would be the same with or without scan results -- Fragmin injections, which I continue to take. The shortness of breath is pretty much gone now but I'm wondering if it was from anxiety. The more I thought about the possibility that I'd had another PE, the more anxious and short of breath I got. Also, I wonder if the physical effort of giving birth and being tired could have made me have a bit of a relapse in symptoms? It was a very scary time. I was afraid I would die from PE and wouldn't be able to take care of my kids. Of course, post-pregnancy hormones didn't help either I'm sure. I'm taking Fragmin for another four weeks (so the total will be six weeks postpartum) but I'm afraid to stop taking it, worried I could have another PE after I stop. They're going to do the genetic testing in a few months once my hormones settle down.
Any insight from people on this forum would be great.
I haven't been active on this discussion group for several months. I lost my password and was feeling good so took a break from posting. But now I have some questions so I'm back looking for your advice! I'm a 36 yr old who had bilateral PE (multiple clots) in Jan 2012 when I was 10 weeks pregnant. My main symptoms were pain and shortness of breath. I feel like I made a pretty fast recovery after being in hospital a few days and the rest of my pregnancy was great. I walked a lot and swam almost every day. I had some shortness of breath, especially towards the end of the pregnancy but I figured it was from the extra weight I was carrying, in combination with the PE effects. The birth was amazing (no epidural - it all happened too fast!) and the baby is healthy and great, but I started to feel a bit freaked out after the birth because when I got up to walk down the hallway at the hospital I felt short of breath and I had to sit down. I told the nurse and a bunch of doctors came to see me. They wanted to do another CT scan but I declined because it would have meant stopping breasfeeding for three days. When I was standing up I couldn't take a deep breath, but it gradually improved. There was no pain. At any rate the treatment would be the same with or without scan results -- Fragmin injections, which I continue to take. The shortness of breath is pretty much gone now but I'm wondering if it was from anxiety. The more I thought about the possibility that I'd had another PE, the more anxious and short of breath I got. Also, I wonder if the physical effort of giving birth and being tired could have made me have a bit of a relapse in symptoms? It was a very scary time. I was afraid I would die from PE and wouldn't be able to take care of my kids. Of course, post-pregnancy hormones didn't help either I'm sure. I'm taking Fragmin for another four weeks (so the total will be six weeks postpartum) but I'm afraid to stop taking it, worried I could have another PE after I stop. They're going to do the genetic testing in a few months once my hormones settle down.
Any insight from people on this forum would be great.
In my opinion, giving birth would fall into a VERY physical activity and I wouldn't be surprised at all if you had more SOB and exhaustion and whatever afterwards. Throw a little anxiety in there and you would probably feel pretty lousy for a few days. I can totally see that, so I probably wouldn't stress too much about it all. Just try to ride it out and see how it goes. Of course, staying in touch with your doc is always a good idea, but (as you said) you're already being treated.
Best wishes and congrats on your new baby!
I looked it up and here is one clip-There is a sort of chicken-egg problem with asthma and Anxiety Disorders. Asthma could increase the risk of Anxiety Disorders, or Anxiety Disorders might cause asthma, or there could be common risk factors for both asthma and Anxiety Disorders.[15] Asthma and Anxiety Disorders do share a number of common social and environmental risk factors, which may play a role in their relationship. [16] Goodwin states:[17]
One possibility is that asthma causes mental disorders; a second possibility is that mental disorders cause asthma. Few studies have examined the temporal relationship [which comes first] between mental disorders and asthma. One study demonstrated that asthma leads to an increased prevalence of panic attacks and suicidal behavior and completion, whereas another study found that panic attacks lead to increased asthma activity.
Look into anxiety groups, breath in pushing out your belly and look up mindfulness . Have an anti anxiety you know works in your wallet, just knowing its there helps me. I dont take them. But I would if I needed to. Hope this helps
Having top notch docs and keeping in close contact with them even if you are not sure symptoms are threatening your health will help with confidence and to ensure we are on the right tract to recovery. Never hesitate to call your health care professional with concerns, they want you to call on them.
peace and well being