I don't think there's any good way to answer this question and I would seriously doubt any doctor who gave you any sort of concrete answer ... because, really, how can they know? Not that you shouldn't ask their opinion, just that you should take it with a grain of salt.

All the factors that you listed do come into play: severity, age, prior health, prior fitness, etc.

There are doctors out there that will tell you you'll be all better in a couple of weeks, although I don't know that that has been true for anyone on these boards. I think those doctors figure as soon as the clots are gone (although no guarantee this will happen quickly either) you'll be back to 100%. These are the ones that seem baffled when we're complaining of aches, pains, SOB, and exhaustion for months after diagnosis. They seem to forget that PEs tax some of the most critical systems in the body: respiratory and circulatory. You don't heal from that kind of thing overnight.

I will say, also, that being on these boards may not be a good idea of what average recovery is like. There are probably people who are bouncing back in the first 4-8 weeks and who are able to get back to their lives pretty quickly. BUT, those people probably aren't the ones online looking for support and trying to get questions answered. So, keep in mind that answers you get from this community are likely to be skewed.

Now, from what I've seen on these boards and my own personal experience, I'd say the acute phase of recovery runs 4-8 months for most of us. After that is when we have more good days than bad days, although I don't think the bad days are completely gone for a while.

I had bouts of extreme exhaustion and SOB up until about 11 months out. BUT, by six months, I was back to work full-time and was able to actually plan some things on the weekends and not expect to be completely exhausted.

Which is not to say that recovery is over after the first 4-8 months or so. I've seen improvement up until this last winter, even, which was three years out for me. I'd been struggling in cold weather and altitude during the winter, but this last year I was able to hike in the snow and do several outdoor activities without taking a big physical hit from it. I just felt kind of out of shape, not like my lungs were causing all my issues.

I will say also that MENTAL recovery from the stress and anxiety can be much harder and take much more time than the PHYSICAL recovery. I did therapy during the first six months, but I took anti-anxiety meds up until about two years out. Even now, an unexplained ache or pain can put me on edge for a couple of days until it subsides. It really can be very hard to start to feel comfortable in your own skin again.

I wish there was some way of saying, "Hey, you'll be all better in four months," but I'd be really skeptical of any doc who threw that down and insisted it was true. Recovery is very individual for every person and every clot. (It took about two years to recover from my first DVT, but about one week for the second one, for example.) Ultimately, you won't know what your recovery is like or how long it lasts until you actually live through it.

The only constant, in my experience, is that it always takes longer than we want it to.

Hang in there!

Their is no 'average', sorry to say. Everyone is so different in how they respond it would be hard to say.

People can give their personal experience, that's all. Some recover fairly quickly, others not so. Age, former health, genetics take a part in it.

I 'recovered' fairly quickly (maybe a couple of months) but the fatigue Coumadin gives me makes it's hard to feel I'm 'recovered.

I hope your recovery time is very very fast.

I think Toss said it well. There are different stages of recovery. In case it helps I'll summarize mine.

10 days: this is when the initial chest pain subsided and about the time I was able to walk a short distance.

1 to 2 months: I started to feel "recovered" at this point. I could walk a mile and do every day things. I just wasn't pushing myself at all and I didn't realize I wasn't mentally recovered yet.

5 months: I finally snapped out of my "feeling sorry for myself funk". I started working out and realized that my body wasn't really recovered. I had a long road ahead of me to be able to exercise at a mostly "normal" level. I had chest pain at first, but I learned to progress without the pain.

8 months: I felt like I could exercise at normal levels and I was jogging 2 miles at a time and feeling great.

10 months: As I pushed myself harder some chest pain returned. my longest jog is 4 miles.

1 year (today): I still have the chest pain, and my doctor referred me to a specialist. But in general I feel great. I'm just realizing that my body is still healing and it will probably take a little more time before the pain is completely gone when exerting myself. But I continue to not be held back by it, other than I run a little slower than I would like.

This might sound discouraging, but in reality, I've felt great, and I think of myself as someone who healed really quickly. As long as you understand that some residual feelings are normal and they don't interfere with getting on with your life, then it's really OK. Just keep an eye on the mental healing, and stay in contact with your doctor. My doctor is one that felt like I shouldn't be having any PE symptoms at this stage. I hope he's gaining some good insight from my experience that might come in handy for him later.

Good Luck!

I think it depends on how you define recovered.

I felt recovered at about the 3 month mark. I was working, exercising, etc. Doesn't mean I felt great every day or that I didn't struggle with fatigue or chest discomfort. But I felt very solid and sort of quasi normal. By 6 months I felt pretty much completely back to normal.

I personally think a lot also depends on where you are mentally through this whole thing. My PEs were pretty severe and I had some heart issues, but I really wanted to get back out in the world. I hated being home laying around doing nothing. I'd have rather at least attempted to work and play ahve have some normalcy, and pay for it later with fatigue or something vs just waiting around to feel ok.

I would have reasonable expectations, like Toss said it will always take longer than we want it to, but I also wouldn't convince yourself your not going to feel better for a year. If someone had told me that, I may have believed them and that would have been a shame.

In my case, recovery has been pretty much a roller-coaster event.

I was diagnosed on September 22nd 2012, after several weeks of dealing with "confusing" pains and symptoms. Doctors simply could not put it all together. One of the things that may have led to the confusion, is the fact that I was dealing with any significant shortness of breath, and what SOB I would notice, I put it down to being terribly out of shape.

In my case, the initial 3 weeks of recovery were pretty bad: extreme fatigue, SOB and pain. But I would force myself to go for very short walks - at first, all I could manage without being winded was to the end of the street and back and, by the 3rd week, I'd worked up to walking around the block.

I went back to work, full time, at 3 weeks post-dx. I strongly believed that this helped my recovery: took my mind off my worries and challenged me to do a little more every day.

By 3 months, I was feeling mostly recovered: pain was gone, stamina was coming back greatly and SOB was limited. Then, Winter came.

I found it really hard to breathe on cold and windy days, but adjusted by wearing a mask: helped tremendously. The fact that our building was under construction didn't help at all. Again, I wore a face mask when I was around the lobby or had to go on a floor under construction.

Spring brought great relief :) But, the hot, clammy weather we had last week brought back a lot of SOB and pain.

As it's been told, a lot of factors come into play. Among other things, I'm over 50 and was not overly active last summer. Furthermore, my PEs where massive and there may be residual lung and heart damage. Finally, I'm one who tends to recover slowly due to a very finicky immune system.

It was mentionned before, but I will repeat it: one aspect to contend with in the mental toll having a PE can have on us. That's why I stated that an early return to work and to normal activities most likely was favorable to my recovery.

I wish you a great recovery.

Thank you for all the different words of advice. Like I said, I know that everyone's recovery will be different for different reasons....age,severity,etc.

It does seem like the first 2-3 months are the minimum time frame and then it goes from there up.

I work for the school and this happened to take place the last two days of school. So the good thing is I am not missing any work while I try to recover, but on the other hand I have no work to go back to until August and that is assuming I am offered a contract again.

I know the family issues that are going on here right now are not helping anything. The stress from all of that is making my chest ache more then it had for a couple of days. I am trying to hang in right now but pretty hard to do.

Thanks for the replies! If anyone else has anything else to add or share please do so.

And for me, I am 4 months since my PE diagnosis. The first weeks I became much better, being able to walk short distances and with the pain subsiding, being able to sleep again. I had my best period so far between 2 to 3 months after, walking 10 km a day and having only chest discomfort.

Now I am more tired again, having to rest in the middle of the day and walk only 4-5 km a day, sometimes less, more pain in the chest, and "new" symptoms like feeling I will faint etc. This might be due to anxiety which has surely come with full force now, really awful. I spoke to the doctor today and I will meet a doctor at my local medical centre next week to chech blood pressure, blood status and to talk about the anxiety.

According to my PE doctor many get totally recovered but it may take a long time, a year or more. But she says most people do get well.

Hi
I am coming up to my first year anniversary on the 22/06/13 I had bad PE,s with lung damage and I have been left with a heart arrhythmia too. I can tell you that my recovery has been a slow process I still have to sleep sitting up and suffer a lot of pain around the lung where the damage occurred, I still get really tired and get short of breath if I walk too far. I can only describe it as feeling like you really have had the stuffing kicked out of you. I have other health issues which I think may have affected my recovery. It is true to say that everyone is different listen to your body it will let you know when you need to rest and make sure you do, don't try and force yourself to do things when you feel your not able to do so. I wish you well in your recovery.
love Sharon in the UK

swansea....you had remarkable timing on your response. I had been feeling pretty good the last couple of days. Today my 5 yr old granddaughter and I went into take our afternoon nap ( more for me then her LOL) and I woke up feeling like the bottom had just dropped out on me.

I have lower back issues as well as the newly PE ones. Our weather is changing with storms that just keep rolling through the area on an almost daily issue.

I hurt so bad in my low back and just ache all over. A lot of this could be weather related but it has thrown me for a major loop! I had fixed part of supper this morning thankfully as my husband is having to finish it up tonight.

I just feel like I took a HUGE major step backward tonight. It is not sitting well with me either as I feel so helpless.

I'm coming up on my 3rd month anniversary of clot discovery. What has surprised me is the up/down of it all (in my case at least). I had a horrible breathing day yesterday, good ones last week. I still use oxygen when I'm out and about.

Lapopessa, I had that too, like one step forward, two steps back. I think the more you do, the more you have days where you feel like you're regressing. But I think it's just your body adjusting to resuming your day to day life

Well I guess we will find out if that is true or not rmb. LOL

I just took my first short walk this morning about 1/3 - 1/2 way down the block and back! I am a little winded but not short on breath. Except for when I was admitted to the hospital and a few days before, I have been lucky not to be short on breathe as a rule.

Now, to be fair I have been up and moving since I got home a week ago. I get up and drive the 5 yr old to whatever the event is, been walking her inside and coming back out, then coming home. Only to repeat everything about 3 hours later. Then if you add in grocery shopping, going into the bank,etc it all adds up I figure.

Going to take it a little easier today since the 5 yr old has a ballgame tonight that I want to see her play in as it will be her FIRST EVER!!

I can handle the steps forward, it is the ones back that drive me crazy!! I want to be better NOW and not in months down the road.

That's how I started out, first walks in my yard, then 1/2 way down the block, then worked up to the whole block, then around the block etc. I started that the week I got home.

The fatigue can be sneaky; it sort of just takes you by surprise. But really, so what, right? I mean, the fatigue won't kill you. It's more an annoyance than anything else. I think it's good to try to do things to know what is doable right now, and in order to set some goals and milestones.