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.
So I have been trying really hard to take the advice I have received on here and from doctors to get back to doing things I used to do and increase my physical activity. I am walking close to an hour a day usually broken up into two sessions. I can now walk a little over 1.25 miles in 30 minutes which may sound completely pathetic to some people on here but for me is a pretty good improvement.
What upsets me is every single time I increase my activity level I experience increased symptoms. Twice this week I had an episode at work where my heart started racing while I was just sitting there and this happens every time I start doing more. It's discouraging because I wonder to myself what the heck did I cause some damage by doing more? It's not like I attempted to go on a run or something. When I feel like I'm getting stronger and more confident these incidents make me so self-conscious. It's like I'm on a hill getting to the top then sliding back down and I can't ever get over to the other side.
What upsets me is every single time I increase my activity level I experience increased symptoms. Twice this week I had an episode at work where my heart started racing while I was just sitting there and this happens every time I start doing more. It's discouraging because I wonder to myself what the heck did I cause some damage by doing more? It's not like I attempted to go on a run or something. When I feel like I'm getting stronger and more confident these incidents make me so self-conscious. It's like I'm on a hill getting to the top then sliding back down and I can't ever get over to the other side.
Over time, the episodes got less and less frequent and less and less severe. The last episode was a long walk on Thanksgiving day 2010 in sub-freezing temperatures. My clots were at the end of January, so about 11 months apart.
I think it is fantastic that you've been increasing your activity like you have. That'll pay out rewards a thousand times over down the road. It may seem like you're not making much progress, but it sounds like you've progressed leaps and bounds over the last few months. There will be a point where you won't get those increased symptoms every single time. And, eventually, you'll get them less and less. And, eventually, you won't get them at all.
Guaranteed, it always takes longer than we want, but it will happen for you.