For the holiday weekend, I decided to celebrate with a pulmonary embolism! :smack:
This is especially fun and surprising as I am about four weeks shy of my 26th birthday, with no risk factors other than the birth control I was on (and even that was a very small chance).
After about six or seven hours of pain with breathing on the right side of my chest on Sunday, I finally caved and went to the ER, where the doctor I saw decided to run a blood test to check if I had a clot, even though the only symptom I had was the pain–the test came back with the high numbers that suggested a clot, and a chest CT confirmed it.
They finally let me go late yesterday morning, since I can continue the anticoagulents on my own. The warfarin is nice and easy–just a little pill once a day (although the dosage will probably go up, and I’ll probably need to be on it for at least six months). My new arch-nemesis, however, is the Lovenox–low-molecular-weight heparin that is injected subcutaneously. Translation: I get to stick myself in the stomach with a syringe every 12 hours. (Once you get past the oogy-freakout factor, the needle actually isn’t that bad, but the stuff burns like a motherfucker when you inject it.) Fortunately, I only need the Lovenox until my INR gets up to where they want it–probably about a week, and with luck no more than two weeks.
Now I get to play the waiting game while the last batch of blood they drew gets shipped off to be tested to see if I’ve got whatever it is the hematologist thinks I might have that would explain why an otherwise healthy woman in her mid-20s would get a PE out of nowhere. :rolleyes:
That is awful, especially for somebody so young. Did they provide any reason why you had this?
I’ve been on warfarin for a few years, and the only problem is that have to go get blood test every four weeks or so, as the stuff seems to vary and dose has to be adjusted. To some extent, if depends upon diet. If you eat a lot of green vegtables, it will require a larger dose. Just try to eat the same amout of these things each week.
And be very careful about not getting cut, as you will bleed profusely. Best not to juggle sharp knives.
Good luck and hope no further problems. Once is enough!
I had blood clots in my legs and lungs following surgery, and had a reaction to the syringe stuff (something called lovanox, IIRC) that put me back in the hospital for a week.
It’s scarey.
While you’re on the warfarin, remember to keep your diet fairly regular (at least in terms of things like spinach and other anticoagulent-producing foods.) They’ll give you a list. My doctor told me that it was OK to eat such foods, as long as you were pretty consistent in the amount. Plus, you get to have blood tests every so often to check your clotting factor.
On the good news side, don’t go to the dentist while on the warfarin. Good luck!
No trauma, no long plane rides, no long car trips, I walk a decent amount, I’m not overweight, I quit smoking over a year ago and was never that much of a smoker when I did smoke, etc. etc. etc. That’s why they’re running a bunch more tests that will take a few weeks to get back–the hematologist has a theory or two as to an underlying condition that may have caused the clot(s).
Yeah, I’ll be going in for an INR every M/W/F until it stabilizes, and then about once a month. And yup, I got The Vitamin K talk. My hematologist says it’s actually easier since I’m a vegetarian–I can just make sure to eat a consistent amount of leafy greans from week to week and they’ll adjust the dosage. (Versus someone who might try to avoid them altogether, be on a lower warfarin dosage, and then throw things out of whack if they suddenly decide to have a spinach salad.)
As my hematologist said, “Wear a helmet if you go skydiving.”
Yup, it’s probably Lovenox–what I’m on. (Moar liek Hatenox am i rite el oh el.)
Hrm, that’s actually potentially bad news… I’m really overdue for a dentist appointment, and I’ll be on warfarin for anywhere from a few months to the rest of my life. Oh well, I guess we’ll avoid that bridge when we come to it.
I had a blood clot in October, though it was from a picc line (tube for intravenous medication). I was 24 at the time.
Very scary stuff. Luckily, mine lodged in my jugular artery (in the neck) rather than the lungs, heart or brain.
I just finished my 6 months of warfarin, and aside from watching the vitamin k level in my diet (vitamin k inhibits the effect of the warfarin and is why you have to be careful about leafy greens and such, in case they didn’t make all of that clear in the hospital) and blood tests ranging from weekly to monthly, depending how steady my INR was over time, it really wasn’t bad at all.
And you might not have to be on the shots as long as you think - I actually only had to use a couple of the ones they sent home with me.
Here’s hoping your INR comes up enough to stop the shots in record time and that your blood results come back with no worse news than, “Sorry, no more birth control pills for you.”
Please make sure the hematologist checks for underlying genetic factors, such as prothrombin gene mutations. I had this same thing happen when I was 27 - clot went to my brain, no risk factors, good health, regular exerciser. Turns out I had 2 different prothrombin gene mutations (Factor V Leiden and G20210A). Being on birth control increased the risk of clotting exponentially due to the genetic issue, but stopping birth control eliminated a large part of the risk. I’m a lifer on coumadin now, and have had a couple rounds over the years of the Lovenox shots.
The good news for you is that they caught it now, before something more serious than a PE happened, and if you do have an underlying condition you will know about it for the future. If you end up being a lifer like me, it’s really not so bad as long as you have your blood tested regularly. The scarring on your arms from years of bi-weekly blood draws, that sucks, but there are worse things.
IIRC, my hematologist said he was going to keep me on the Lovenox for at least five days. Personally, I’ve got my fingers crossed for no more than a week. At least only one of the injection sites has bruised so far (out of five injections).
IIRC my hematologist is thinking lupus anticoagulant. Not 100% sure that’s what he said, since I was pretty tired when I talked to him, but I for sure remember the lupus part, and I remember that he said both parts of the name were misnomers (it wasn’t really lupus, and it wasn’t really the other part).
PE happened to me about 12 years ago. Thank your lucky stars, a lot of people do not survive.
I was peri-menopausal and on the pill for heavy bleeding. My leg swelled up and was hot so to the emergency room for me. Blood clot in leg and then a vena cava filter inserted through my jugular vein to prevent future clot(s) from going to my lungs but an errant clot was in waiting and I had a PE and couldn’t catch my breath. Good thing I was still in the hospital.
I did the Lovenox thing for 6 weeks. No burning that I remember but a lot of bruising. Hemo tests showed nothing unusual so the pill gets the blame. That’s what they mean in the TV commercials when they advertise a drug and mention the serious side affects–they do affect someone. Sucks to be that person.
My family has had several young women develop clots while on hormonal birth control. They have never found a specific reason, but given that the rate of such things among my aunts, cousins, and nieces is statistically significant quite a few of the women in my family simply opted for alternative contraceptive methods. Either there is some genetic oddity that hasn’t been pin-pointed, or there’s something about some of us that just doesn’t like the Pill.
So… keep in mind that switching to a different form of birth control may be in your long-term interests. As always, I am not a doctor, what your doctor says counts much more than anything I could say, etc.
There are fingerstick tests for INRs these days. Hopefully where ever you are getting tested has this as it is very convenient for the patient and the doctor for adjusting coumadin dosages. They are not available for home use ,like glucose meters, but one day they might.
You CAN go to the dentist while on warfarin, just let your dentist know about it. I wouldn’t go until your INR has stabilized, though. The dentist will take it from there.
Floss, dammit, FLOSS!
Can I ask what birth control you’re on? I’ve been having migraines lately that I suspect are caused by mine and as I researched, shit got scary. Brain lesions, pulmonary embolisms in young women our age, etc.
A couple of years ago, I did a course of cumidin after surgery. The first time I nicked myself shaving the legs, I thought I was going to bleed to death (exagerating a wee bit, but it did bleed a lot).
It may be time for you to buy an electric razor, if you don’t already own one.
I personally knew two people who died of them. One was a man who was already hospitalized (lung cancer), and even right there in the hospital; the other was my BIL, early 40s, who had a long history of medical issues - so I guess the two examples I know of aren’t exactly mainstream.
I hadn’t realized that PEs were actually survivable in as many cases as they are. I initially popped in to say "you write pretty well for a dead person!
Glad to hear you’re okay. I recently lost a friend to a blood clot (his lodged in his heart… he never stood a chance, the poor guy). He was in his early 30s and healthy as a horse, which just goes to show that sometimes it’s just luck of the draw.
Keeping fingers crossed that nothing serious turns up on your tests. No matter how this all turns out, it’s probably a good idea to ditch the pill and look at some alternatives.
I have actually decided that it feels kind of like a bee sting more than anything else. So far only one injection site has bruised, but that will probably change as my INR goes up.
Oh my, yes. I am never, ever allowed to be on that kind of hormonal birth control again. I’m down to barrier methods or one or two IUDs.
I was on Ortho Tri-Cyclen.
I’m not shavin’ at all 'til I get an electric razor!
Yeah, mine was super-mild–no shortness of breath, other than from not being able to breathe deeply without pain. The lining of my lung was just all inflamed on that side.
Mrs. Vorlon has had PE’s. Twice. Second time resulted in a trip to San Diego a year later to have her lungs roto-routered. She came back with a Tshirt with her number on it.
You know you are in deeeeep kimchee when the head lung guy at Mass General informs you “They don’t do that surgery on the east coast…”
Good luck with the rat poison, it is far more a art than a science
