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

Pulmonary Embolism - Left lower lobe

Ludio
Ludio

Hello Everyone,



I was diagnosed with a PE on 1/24/2021 in my left lower lobe. At the time I was seen I had a sharp stabbing pain between my left rib and diaphragm which also caused back pain at the same level. I couldn't sit or lay down because I couldn't breathe if I did. They admitted me to the hospital for 2 days treating the pneumonia and the PE and I was released taking Eliquis two times a day. The sharp pain went away before I was released from the hospital, however I have a dull ache and burning sensation which started about a week after being released and it presents between the ribs and diaphragm and sometimes I can feel it in my back (same areas as the sharp pain). I don't even know what normal feels like anymore and the uncertainty is exhausting. I'm looking to see if people experienced long term aches as a result of having a PE as it seems the doctors can only say "it's normal to feel aches". The CT also said there could have been some tissue damage "infarct" and that means the body needs to repair / scar over some bad tissue. Just looking for your thoughts and experiences.



Regards,



Lu

rmb
rmb
Hi yeah it’s not unusual to still feel weird sensations and discomfort for a while. I always say if concerned check with your doctor but it really is part of healing sometimes. It can take time.
Ludio
Ludio
@rmb Yeah it’s definitely a strange sensation and I can’t really describe it with words. Pulling, dull, ache and sometimes burns. The doctors make you feel like your are going crazy and they don’t really explain why there are long tail symptoms.
rmb
rmb
I don’t think they always know because they probably don’t have a ton of patients who have experienced this and everyone can experience it differently. I had very little pain when I was diagnosed but had a goodly amount of pain, on and off for a few months once I was home.. For some people they have a lot of pain when diagnosed but experience very little in recovery. Some people have chest pain, others back pain; I had a lot of upper back and shoulder pain. I felt wheezy for a while. Some people don’t. Sometimes all that kicked up anxiety during recovery also creates physical sensations. It’s a lot to sort out. So I feel like sometimes recovery symptoms and recovery time is just not a straight line.
notsopatient
notsopatient
Yeah I found that docs don't have a lot of information about recovery. It's hard to tell if it's just symptoms of recovery or something more serious because they feel similar. I found it reassuring to remind myself that I was already getting the treatment that they would give me for clots - blood thinners. The symptoms will recede, maybe not as quickly as you'd like, but it will get better.
Ludio
Ludio
@notsopatient I appreciate the words of wisdom. I love the screen name too BTW... kinda how I’m feeling right now.
notsopatient
notsopatient
There's a reason why I picked it :) Rofl
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.