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.
Yesterday I took the leap and made an appointment with a personal trainer. I've been essentially not working out at all since my knee surgery 6 months ago (PE 5 months ago). I've gained 15 pounds in this time (putting me now 30 pounds heavier than I'd like to be), and I'm ready to get back in control.
My first session was this morning. As expected, I'm horribly out of shape. After out 10 minutes of exercises with my heart rate going up and getting out of breath, my left lung started to hurt. It's not sharp pain, and it doesn't hut badly, but I could feel it and it continued for the rest of the time I was execising. I was also starting to feel pretty light-headed, so we ended a little early.
I expect that I'll have to take it a little slow. The trainer wants me to record what I eat so he can make sure I'm eating enough and that's not causing the light headedness. I've always gotten light headed easily, so I expect it's just me combined with being very out of shape.
Has anyone else started working out after already letting yourself get very out of shape? What has your experience been like? Any advice for working through the lung pain? I fear that if I have to stop as soon as I feel it in my lungs then I won't end up getting very far, but I want to be smart about it.
Thanks!
My first session was this morning. As expected, I'm horribly out of shape. After out 10 minutes of exercises with my heart rate going up and getting out of breath, my left lung started to hurt. It's not sharp pain, and it doesn't hut badly, but I could feel it and it continued for the rest of the time I was execising. I was also starting to feel pretty light-headed, so we ended a little early.
I expect that I'll have to take it a little slow. The trainer wants me to record what I eat so he can make sure I'm eating enough and that's not causing the light headedness. I've always gotten light headed easily, so I expect it's just me combined with being very out of shape.
Has anyone else started working out after already letting yourself get very out of shape? What has your experience been like? Any advice for working through the lung pain? I fear that if I have to stop as soon as I feel it in my lungs then I won't end up getting very far, but I want to be smart about it.
Thanks!
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Look at what my best friend did with my picture!
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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.
Go slow, start slow, start with short duration. Remember, getting back to exercise isn't a sprint.
For me, I tried to do more walking for a while to get in good shape and even that would exhaust me some days, especially if I was out in cold or humid air.
If you wind up taking several days to recover from a workout, it might be a good idea to dial it back.
No offense to personal trainers or anyone named Muscles McGee out there.
I know I should lift weights, and carefully, as well but I tend to "forget" that most of the time. I am definitely stronger than I was when I had the PEs though.
Exercising the lungs first is my main goal
I also just heard from the nurse that they recommend I refrain from the activities that cause me to feel pain in my lungs, so that will definitely limit me more and ensure I'm taking it slowly. It's kind of a bummer to find out my lungs are still impacted at 5 months out. I know this is pretty normal. I was just hoping for an extra smooth recovery. I can walk on the treadmill without it hurting, though, so I'll start there and hopefully build my lungs up to being able to handle more eventually.
Thanks again!
I've always been active, early life sports and then 40 years working construction. For me I feel pain then I push harder until exhaustion. Every one has always told me slow down, rest,moderation ect. For me that's bad advise. I wont tell others to do this as I don't want to cause them harm . My doctor in the beginning told me to get moving, as I was afraid to work hard. Then after I got going and he found out what I was doing he told me to be careful. I know this sound conflicting. When we feel dizzy that's a reason to catch up. If you had heart involvement then be carefull . But from what I read they push heart patients a bit and other disorders also. My friend , after a heart attack was sent to a rehab a few hours a day where they worked him on a treadmill and weights a few hours a day.
As for the trainer, I understand he gives you motivation . I've seen videos of trainers pushing clients on the first day, dangerously too hard. My doctor told me we can grow new blood vessels in the damaged area. I believe getting the heart rate up helps this.
I took lots of breaks and went very slowly. I can feel I am definitely working my muscles, which I am so happy about, and I didn't get to the point that I had pain in my lungs on Friday. For cardio, I am simply walking at a pace of about 3 mph.
Plus, it really does feel good to be out doing something, reclaiming your life, yeah?
I'm also building my endurance for jogging. I'm following an interval program to build up my jogging time each week (it's an app on my iPhone). It may not sound like a lot to many people, but I was so excited to jog for 5 minutes straight this morning. I am hoping I will stick with the program. It eventually leads up to running a 5K.
Chris