Blood Clots

I had a dvt in my left leg so yes with medicine it will go down. Did they put you on warfrin ?

Hello,

just wanted to share my experiences with blood clots.

I was hospitalized for 3 weeks with 3 clots. One behind my knee, one in my inner thigh and one in my groin area (left side). So was my mom about 4 years prior....
September 2003 - I was exercising on the leg press machine at the gym. After I felt abnormally tired and nauseous I stopped and went home. The next day at work, I was coming back from lunch walking up the stairs and I experienced a tinged of pain in my inner thigh/groin area. I thought I must have pulled something and tried to sit down at my desk for the rest of the day thinking that would help. The next time I got up and walked down the hallway to my bosses office, the pain came back. Wasn't horrible pain, but enough to let me know somethings wrong. I left an hour early that day to go rest and put my feet up thinking I had did something wrong on that leg press machine at the gym.

The next day it still was tender and so I called my doctor and went in to be seen. The doctor did a x-ray of my leg and it "showed nothing".... I went home with some prednisome that my doctor had given me because I have lupus and he thought that it might be a flare.... The next day my leg began to hurt a little more and get a little heavier. As the day progressed, my leg became very swollen and I could hardly bend or straighten it out fully. By that evening my leg was twice it's normal size. I was hopping and I hopped into the er. In the er an ultrasound was done and the 3 clots were detected. I was in there for 3 weeks and I suffered through a staff infection, bed sores, lost 40 pounds - literally went through hell!!! But that's another story..... The doctor assured me that there was no need to do a follow-up ultrasound once I left the hospital.
I stayed on blood thinners up to my next episode.

A year later - august 2004 - the second bought with clots. I was hospitalized for 2 weeks.... How it began: I kept feeling a little pain in my inner thigh. Similar to where I had a clot before. No swelling at all just tenderness in that one spot. I went in to see my doctor and he sent me to have an ultrasound done. More clots were detected (old and new ones)!!!! They were described to me as a "string" of clots.... I had been on the blood thinners for a year and had normal pt/inr tests every month. What made this time so odd was that I was in no way near as much pain as I was in the first time and there was no swelling at all unless in was hidden under the layer of fat that I packed on from taking prednisome. Just a little tenderness and pain and it wasn't constant either.

After the last episode the doctor's decided that keeping my pt/inr level at 2 was not sufficient and so they now keep it at 3. I have been told that I would have to remain on coumadin for the rest of my life (i am currently 31) since I had two incidents. Although, I feel that I have technically had one incident since the old clots were still there with new ones the second time around. Strangely enough I am having some pain and tenderness in my thigh right now, but an ultrasound was done this past weekend and did nto detect any clots, only swollen nodes.....

Two things I learned from my experiences and want to share with others:

1. X-rays don't work in detecting clots

2. Follow-up ultrasounds are needed to make sure that the clots are
dissolving (even if you are on blood thinners and have been for a while)

has anyone ever had any similar experiences or heard of such a case? Or am I just special? Can lupus effect the blood in such a way to make it clot more and make it resistent to blood thinners?

Yes I had a similar experience but everytime I had the same pain in my left leg I went to get an ultrasound and they just saw the scarring from my original clot. I was also in the hospital for 2 weeks and had to get a blood transfusion. I was anemic. And yes you are correct I also got a chest xray because I had trouble breathing but they did not discover the clot in my lungs I had to go in the mri machine but I could not hold my breath so they put me in another type of big machine where you couldn't move. I was only on blood thinners for the 6 months. I had to come off because it was bothering my period. Did you experience anything like that ? As for the lupus I m not sure if it affects the medicine or not. My left leg still swells up to this day if I stand on it for along time so I always have to keep my leg elevated with a big pillow. Also the nerve endings still has not return to my leg I keep getting this sharp pain in my calf. I'm sorry to hear that you got the clots again. I will keep you in my prayers.

About 5 years ago I had surgery on my left knee and developed a clot in my calf as a result. I had an ultrasound to diagnos it and immediately went on blood thinners. After several weeks, I went off medication (as directed by my doctor) and felt fine for the next few years. I'm not an overly active person, no good exercise routine but in reasonable physical condition. About 2 years ago I had blood test and my doc said my cholesterol was high. I started biking and eating better and drop my cholesterol to normal levels. I continued to bike about 40-50 miles a week and did a 90 mile ride labor day 2004. After that my calf started hurting and my knee was flaring up, so I went to phys therapy in jan this year my calf was injured in pt and swelled up. It went down, but continued to bother me. After a couple of months I got an mri which showed nothing. So I kind of gave up, figuring that the long rid and pt injury were a result of the scare tissue from the past clot.
I recently heard that flying can cause clots and realized I took a trip for work the week before the long ride, and right before getting hurt in pt, and took a few trips during the time when my calf was bothering me the most.

I have not been back to the doctor, but am starting to believe that I may have small clots still that have not gone away and got worse from flying, I still have pain, but having been living with it. I still ride my bike, though not as much. I'm probably going to see my doctor again just to make sure. Is there any evidence that flying can cause old clots to come back?

Advice, thoughts. Oh, i'm 36 now, male.

Sorry to hear about your problem. I just wanted to let you know I have dealt with blood clots for almost 11 years when they found the first ones I was about to have a stroke . They were in my left leg and I could not walk I had to crawl so you should be fine. My leg was totally discolored and not getting hardly no blood...Just wanted to let you know to some how ease your mind and I do still have my legs for now

My legs have both been hurting pretty badly for about 2 weeks, mainly in the calves but a little in the thighs, too. I also had chest pain, cough, and back pain. So I went into the e.R. And they did blood tests (d-dimer, pt, ptt), I got a chest x-ray, chest angiography, and lung scan/ventilation-perfusion to rule out clots in the heart and lungs. Anyway, they said my d-dimer was slightly high and that's why they had to do those tests based on my complaints. However, they didn't do anything directly to my legs, so i'm still worried I could have clots or dvt in my legs. I asked the Dr. If I should do anything since my d-dimer was high, and he said no, that many of them come out high and he didn't seem concerned at all. So did the tests that I did have done rule out clots anywhere in my body??? My husband says that since they did an angiography it would have shown that I had a clot somewhere in my body. I'm not sure, so I thought I could ask people who have had experience with this. I'm 20 years old, normal weight, but not that active for about 2 months since we moved and I don't have a job. But before those two months I was fairly active. Sorry I keep going on and on, but i'm worried sick about this! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

My mother has blood clots she had them when she was about 16 or 17. She got surgery for her blood clots. After that she was better. And then when she became 19 they came back she was in the hospital for 3 to 4 months. And now she is about 40 to 45 and she has them again. Doctors are smart right? Then why can't they figure somethng out.? If it's this bad and it keeps on coming back, shouldn't they do something.!

If any one knows what to do for blood clots I would love your reply!

I am 43 yr old female and I went to hospital with chest pressure and breathlessness. Long story short, because of the low oxygen level in my blood, they gave me a ct which showed multiple pulmonary embolisms in the lower region of my lungs.
I don't smoke, not on birth controls, no swelling in legs, no history of clotting in family, no long trips...No reason for getting clots. They did an ultrasound on my legs...Normal. I was put on warfarin and it is now 4 weeks since it all happened and I still have chest pressure. My doctor doesn't seem to concerned about it, but I defintely am! I have been trying to find other people who have developed multiple blood clots on the lungs which didn't come from their legs. I hope to see replies from people who have had similiar experience. Anyone have multiple pulmonary embolisms and no explanation of why they developed them??

A number of folks seem mystified as to why they are getting blood clots in spite of no history, no leg swelling, no long trips, etc. Most likely, you have a problem with one of more of the 13 clotting factors we all carry. I know I have problems with three of them, and ,my Hemotologist believes that this is the reason for my problems, and causes a continuing (forever) risk of thrombosis, and hence PE's (I have had two, one while ON Coumadin -- so they raised my range 2.5-3.5 and even up to 4 is OK.)

What do I need to do during a 4 hour flight. I take 7.5 warfrin daily and have factor 5?

If you are on your warfarin and well anti coagulated, your risk is lower than other people for a clot while flying. But you MUST get up every hour and walk around. And drink plenty of water. My Coumadin Clinic also tells me to squeeze my buttocks together while sitting. Do not cross your legs either.