Has anyone had a pulmonary embolism

The covid jabs have not affected me- even though i still have DVT & thrombophlebitis in the left leg.The anticoagulant clinics are very good, and i just have a fingerprick to test, and they work out my tablet dosage, but when i moved house last year i had to wait for referral to a new clinic and until then i had to have blood taken from my arm in the 'usual' way, like any other blood test, and it had to be sent off to calculate warfarin dose.This often resulted in much bruising.& by time dose was sent through, i was sometimes on wrong dose most of the week.Now i've got a new clinic sorted out it's much better.

Oh yes, about 18 years ago, i had a very sharp pain in my side, and by next day was under my shoulder, and i was struggling to breathe in middle of the night- went to A&E and was admitted straightaway- after scans in the morning & blood tests it was discovered i had several clots in both lungs, and where they had come from was a mystery, as ive never smoked- hardly ever drink- but i kept telling them i had a pain behind my left leg.I was in hospital about 4 weeks, on heparin injections, and then had to go up to hosp every day for these jabs, (eventually i was shown how to do it myself) then put on warfarin tablets for 6months. I was 42. After 6 months i taken off warfarin. But my left leg (the one i'd mentioned to them!) ballooned up and i was in pain.Back to A& E and admitted again.Scans showed two huge clots on back of knee and further down, Dr's decided thats where previous smaller clots had broken off from, & ended up in my lungs.That time i was in hospital 5-6 weeks, to have Heparin. I've had to stay on warfarin ever since.I'm on it for life. I have regular INR tests on my blood. Sometimes each week sometimes its only every 4 or 5 weeks if its a stable range. I'ts not possible to do these tests at home as they have to calculate my warfarin dose very carefully, and i'm on what's considered a high dose.However, i am very lucky i think to still be around, as i have several other health problems now as well.

chicken

I had PEs in both lungs after a covid jab, kept in hospital for 3 days and discharged on blood thinners for life. No follow up appointments. The consultant refused to accept that it was covid jab related but the ward sister and later jab givers have agreed with me that it probably was related.

I had the covid jab 24 hours before I had a bilateral PE.
The sister in A and E was the only one who said it could have been the jab causing it.
I have since been diagnosed with Essential Thrombcythemia which is a form of blood cancer and causes the blood to clot more than normal.Despite being now on blood thinners I am not going to have any more Covid jabs.

I had PEs in both lungs after a covid jab, kept in hospital for 3 days and discharged on blood thinners for life. No follow up appointments. The consultant refused to accept that it was covid jab related but the ward sister and later jab givers have agreed with me that it probably was related.

Sikipoo

Just out of curiosity, did anyone have this happen as a result of varicose veins?

I have bad varicose veins but they were never mentioned. I was apparently quite dehydrated when admitted and obviously that would work towards thickening my blood. The consultant was convinced my change in diet had contributed. I had lost 6st over 18 months by counting calories. I'd removed potatoes etc from my dinner plate and filled up on greens instead. I'd been piling my plate with greens especially sprouts, cabbage and broccoli. My consultant believes I overloaded my system with vitamin K. He said when they say everything in moderation they really do mean everything. Even so called healthier foods are bad for you in abundance. I now have to curb my portion sizes when it comes to greens. If I start eating too many it affects my INR reading which then means they have to juggle my warfarin dose and that means more trips to the clinic until it is back in range.

I have had a PE. I was so breathless I couldn't walk far. It happened with no warning. I am also on blood thinners for ever. This was a long time ago. I was quite young.

Just out of curiosity, did anyone have this happen as a result of varicose veins?

I think compared to my experience, that you are all so brave and thank you for sharing.
Had a call this morning from the anticoagulation clinic, just discussing what happened and an appointment will be sent to attend haematology in about 3 months or so to discuss if I need to stay on apixaban long term. I can imagine it’s scary if they pull that “safety net”.

In 2012 my husband forced me to go to our local A&E. Within 15 minutes of arriving there I was in the back of an ambulance being blue lighted to the nearest hospital. I was told I would have been dead within 24 hours had my husband not insisted on getting help. I had massive multiple bilateral pulmonary embolisms. One of the clots had already started to affect my heart. I spent 11 days in hospital and am now on Warfarin for life. Two weeks prior to being admitted I had really painful calves for a couple of days, they wasn't a funny colour or anything just a bit warm. For the most part I had a heavy chest which I put down to my asthma playing up. I was quite breathless and didn't want to move about at all. My breathing has never fully returned to what it was, I still get breathless quite easy but some of that is also down to the heart issues I now have. Touch wood there hasn't been any further issues since I started the Warfarin. I just find it a pain to have to keep going for the INR tests to ensure I'm within range regarding blood clotting. I don't really think about it anymore now

Yes I had one in 2015. Only symptom was breathlessness …. I live on my own and it so happened that a friend called as I told her I couldn’t go out so she was worried. She wanted to help me get upstairs to bed but when I reached the top I passed out and went down the stairs 😳 . She called an ambulance, they admitted me and the young dr. on duty that day said I was lucky he was on duty as he worked in heart & lung and he suspected a PE. I was in for 5 days not allowed out of bed then given warfarin which I was able to change to rivaroxaban. My follow up appt didn’t show up any problems but I was told I had to stay on thinners permanently.

I had a PE in March of this year. Woke up with right sided chest pains, made worse when I took a breath. I luckily got a GP appointment later in the day and he sent me straight to hospital. Had a chest X-Ray which showed I had fluid on the outside of my lung so it was assumed I had an infection. After many blood tests, ecg’s, scans etc. I was finally sent for a CT scan which showed I had a large clot in my right lung. I was sent home with Apixaban and painkillers. The pain did go away after a week and my breathing went back to normal too.
I was absolutely scared to death when I was told I had a PE and now every little pain makes me panic. I have my 3 month follow up appointment this Friday so I’ll see what happens from there. I’m hoping that I will be kept on blood thinners as I’m terrified of it happening again.

I agree about swollen limb! I ignored my swollen left leg but it was obviously a DVT
Plus the pain below my left breast was excruciating !

There are a lot of answers giving you information, but I don;t think anyone has mentioned my symptoms.
Last November my left leg became swollen, whilst my other leg was normal. It wasn't painful and as I have quite a few 'old age' conditions, I just assumed that it would go down again. However, 3 days later, my next door neighbour asked me to go and witness a document for her, and I took about 7 steps to the end of my drive and had to stop to get my breath back; I then took another 7 steps to her front door and had to clutch at the wall whilst I recovered again.

When I returned home I googled and found a comment that if you had just one swollen limb it could be to do with blood clotting.
To cut the story short, I phoned the surgery and mentioned what I'd read, and got an appointment that afternoon. GP examined me, consulted with Senior partner and then sent me to A&E with a note, but also phoned them to say I was coming.
I expected a long wait - could see there were a lot of people in the Waiting room, but I was put in a wheelchair and taken straight through to RESUS.
Spent the next 3 weeks in hospital wearing an oxygen mask the whole time, apart from when eating. Was put on blood thinners ( Apixaban) immediately when discharged and have just had the dosage reduced after 6 months.

It may well be because of my age ( nearly an octogenarian that whilst I was there I had all sorts of tests - there was no 'nursing' but loads of computer driven tests - to the extent of sometimes waking me up in the middle of the night to do a blood test - had 3 cannulas attached to each arm!
I won't bore you with the aftermath except to say it took me a long time to recover, but I thought it might be useful to be aware that a swollen limb could be warning signal.

I haven't had a PE but had a clot on my leg after my DS was born and I was in hospital and fairly immobile for a while with high blood pressure. No problems since but I'm aware of the need to drink lots of water on flights and keep my legs moving. I too worry at the slightest twinge.

A friend had a PE following a rugby injury. He was ill for quite a while then during the pandemic his family all got covid and he ended up with long covid which they suspected may have been related. He took a long time to recover enough to go back to work full time.

Yes, I had one following an appendicitis. At home after operation and woke in the night to dreadful pain in chest and inability to breathe. Rushed off in an ambulance and scan/X-ray revealed large blood clot about the size of a large desert plate on my lung almost filling it. In hospital about 10 days with drugs given by having a box attached to wrist. One year on warfarin and weekly check ups at hospital This is when I was 34, I am now 71 and thankful for every day. I didn’t realise how serious it was until reading about it afterwards.

Yes definitely wear flight socks on flights

I had a pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis when I was 25. I was taking the pill, I smoked and I got dehydrated on a long car drive when i was sitting down for a long time. I haven’t had one since then but I always take care when travelling now. I take quarter of an aspirin a day before and on the day of travel and the day after a long drive or short haul flight I get anticoagulant injections prescribed by my GP if i am going on a long haul flight
I also keep well hydrated and walk around a lot on the plane or have frequent stops on a drive. But ask for advice for yourself at your appointment

Self inject !!!

I had a PE in Australia after two long flights and a longer car journey!! I thought I was having a heart attack then passed out! Fortunately an English doctor realised I had a problem and sent me for a scan to a hospital 90 minutes drive away! We were very remote and the local hospital did not have the testing I needed! He saved my life tbh!! Spent 10 days in hospital after numerous tests , scans etc! Lucky to be alive! Watched William and Kate get married from my hospital bed! Was on anti coagulants for 6 months but then taken off! They stopped my HRT as well!! Now I have to self object if I fly for longer than 4 hours ! I know to wear flight socks , drink plenty of fluids apart from excess alcohol and do exercise whilst in the air ! I have been back to Oz twice since and am booked for November this year! Just do what they say and it will dissolve

I had an appointment with haematology about ten days later Sikipoo just for a chat and a contact telephone number, no repeat tests, good luck.

Thank you to all of you who have replied. The whole episode has really shaken me.
I understand that I will be required to attend an outpatient clinic. Will get a call tomorrow.
What do they do and after 3 months, then do they do a repeat scan?

I had what turned out to be a large pulmonary embolism on my right lung which was creeping over to the left lung via the bronchus.
I am a retired nurse and recognised the symptoms straight away i.e. pain in my right side of chest going into my back, and rapid heart rate with very low oxygen in blood (I also have C.O.P.D. and my oximeter told me this).
I was alone in the house and knew an ambulance would arrive too late in present circumstances, so got a taxi which came immediately and was in A and E within 10 minutes.This, with my medical knowledge saved my life.
I am now on blood thinners for life.I now have a form of blood cancer which affects the red blood cells causing them to form more clots than normal.I have been told this was the possible cause of my PE
I consider myself very very lucky. One of my sisters and my son's ex mother-in-law both were found dead at home through having a PE.It is one of the largest causes of sudden death.

OP, the main thing is that you had thorough investigations and they identified it.
there is treatment begun and a plan for follow-up.
that is all very good.
be reassured that it is being dealt with.
it's also good to up fluid intake; that's generally the case, unless told otherwise.
let us know how you get on.
all the best

Yes, just over a year ago, two small clots, I’m on blood thinners and recently had a blood test to check efficacy, all ok.
On thinners for life as it was unprovoked, no explanation for it, not flown or long car journey.
I was in shock too, totally out of the blue and every little twinge still makes me alert!

I had bi-lateral pulmonary embolisms in 2014; I was very ill before they found the cause, and thanks to the doctors I'm still here. I was on Warfarin for years, and am now on very low-dose blood thinners. I was quite anaemic when I got the embolisms, and believe this was a lot of the problem - apparently the body strives to conserve blood and thus clots form. Immobility because of a bad 'flu was also a contributing factor.