Another DVT tale..

[PK99]

was diagnosed with DVT about 2 1/2 years ago .. .. felt pain in my leg which made walking difficult and slightly swollen calf ... went to GP and was sent straight to A&E .. after an ultrasound was diagnosed with extensive DVT .. unexplained as to why it happened hence why i am now on Apixiban for life ... anyways feel fine now and back on the bike and cycling as much as i was before .. i wear a medical dog tag just like @ColinJ has ..just in case of emergencies ...

My leg is still slightly swollen but nowhere near as bad as it once was ... My consultant Hematologist seems happy and told me just to go out there and cycle .. no point being wrapped up in cotton wool ...

so @PK99 just let the shock subside...take the meds and get back on that bike and enjoy ... don't let things like this get to you and think positive ... things could have been a lot worse ... Happy pedalling

thank you for the reassurance.

 

[ColinJ]

I' beginning to calm down as the initial shock wears off and I can see the meds working (leg looks normal now)

I couldn't bear to look at my leg for a couple of months post-DVT because it continued to look awful (purple and horribly swollen) so it is really good news that your leg is responding to treatment so quickly!

My leg is still slightly swollen but nowhere near as bad as it once was ... My consultant Hematologist seems happy and told me just to go out there and cycle .. no point being wrapped up in cotton wool ...

My leg is the same as yours. It actually feels much better when cycling (or walking) because the pumping action of the muscles keeps the blood moving round rather than pooling in the calf and making it swell even more. PK's rapid improvement surely bodes well? It sounds like the clot has probably been caught before it caused long-lasting problems.

 

[Robxxx7]

I couldn't bear to look at my leg for a couple of months post-DVT because it continued to look awful (purple and horribly swollen) so it is really good news that your leg is responding to treatment so quickly!


My leg is the same as yours. It actually feels much better when cycling (or walking) because the pumping action of the muscles keeps the blood moving round rather than pooling in the calf and making it swell even more. PK's rapid improvement surely bodes well? It sounds like the clot has probably been caught before it caused long-lasting problems.

i find the leg feels much better with exercise, so do plenty of cycling or walking .... all helps to keep the blood pumping and hopefully long term will not cause me any further issues ... no reason why it should

Hopefully PK will look back in this thread in a year from now and think .. what was i worrying about !

 

[PK99]

i find the leg feels much better with exercise, so do plenty of cycling or walking .... all helps to keep the blood pumping and hopefully long term will not cause me any further issues ... no reason why it should

Hopefully PK will look back in this thread in a year from now and think .. what was i worrying about !

one of the best things about forums like this is access to a Borg Collective Mind of shared experince on really random but really useful stuff.

I always say never follow medical advice from a random bloke on the internet, but sharing experiencce is good.

Thank you.

 

[ColinJ]

Rob and PK - how tall are you ...? (It isn't a random question! )

 

[Robxxx7]

Rob and PK - how tall are you ...? (It isn't a random question! )

I'm 6ft 2"

 

[PK99]

Rob and PK - how tall are you ...? (It isn't a random question! )

6:2

 

[ColinJ]

I'm 6ft 2"

6:2

That's about 1.88 m. I am 6' 1-and-a-smidge" which is nearer 1.86 m.

I found a research paper (LINK) which discussed a very interesting finding ... The correlation between obesity and blood clotting was already well known. What hadn't been so well known (my consultant had never heard of the research) was ... that 'tall' men are more likely to suffer from blood clots than shorter men! They defined tall as height >= 1.82 m. (The correlation was not so obvious in 'tall' women, but tall women tend not be as tall as tall men). (There used to be a full copy of the text of the paper but that seems to have been removed.)

Tall obese men are even more at risk, by more than a factor of 5 compared to average height men with BMI <= 25. I was obese when I got my first DVT.

So, our heights may not explain exactly why we got the DVTs but we were always at greater risk than if we had been of average height!

 

[Scoosh]

Hey, thanks @ColinJ - I'm 1.92cm or 6' 3" in old sizing ...

[goes away to worry]


... though not obese by any means.

 

[ColinJ]

Hey, thanks @ColinJ - I'm 1.92cm or 6' 3" in old sizing ...

[goes away to worry]


... though not obese by any means.

The surprising thing was that the extra risk due to height was almost as much as that due to obesity!

Other risk factors:

• Past history of DVT/PE (Too late - stable door bolting and all that!)
• Family history (Can't change that. My mum had clotting problems too.)
• Immobility. Don't sit/lie around too much. Get up and move! That's why hospitals get patients out of bed much sooner after surgery than they used to. They also seem to routinely give anticoagulants to patients spending a lot of time in bed. At least, they did during both of my stays in hospital.
• Smoking - DON'T!
• Injury. Serena Williams got a DVT/PE which nearly killed her after cutting her foot
• Dehydration
• Pregnant with more than one child
• Being on the contraceptive pill
• Illnesses such as cancer
• Getting older (but it beats the alternative!)
• And so on ...

 

[Robxxx7]

That's about 1.88 m. I am 6' 1-and-a-smidge" which is nearer 1.86 m.

I found a research paper (LINK) which discussed a very interesting finding ... The correlation between obesity and blood clotting was already well known. What hadn't been so well known (my consultant had never heard of the research) was ... that 'tall' men are more likely to suffer from blood clots than shorter men! They defined tall as height >= 1.82 m. (The correlation was not so obvious in 'tall' women, but tall women tend not be as tall as tall men). (There used to be a full copy of the text of the paper but that seems to have been removed.)

Tall obese men are even more at risk, by more than a factor of 5 compared to average height men with BMI <= 25. I was obese when I got my first DVT.

So, our heights may not explain exactly why we got the DVTs but we were always at greater risk than if we had been of average height!

That was pretty interesting .. i was obese when i got my DVT, but no one ever mentioned to me about weight being a factor in DVT's ...

since shifted a fair bit of weight thankfully

 

[ianbarton]

Only just stumbled across this thread. I have had two DVT's: one in each leg. In my case the clots were both above the knee, although symptoms were the usual swollen calf muscle and slight pain. No predisposing factors (except the first DVT) or family history. Now on life long Warfarin.

 

[PK99]

Thanks for all the positive and supportive comments above - all very helpful.

My head is in a much better place now - coming out of the blue as it did really messed with my head for a while.

Got a really good piece of news today - we have a mega holiday booked in Canada to see D1 in August/September, and I was very worried that our holiday insurer would decline cover (First Directory, linked to bank account). Phoned them just now and the medical assessment team were happy to simply add DVT & Rivaroxoban treatment to my disturbingly long list of notified aliments. Phew! I was steeling myself to having to cancel the holiday.

 

[ColinJ]

My head is in a much better place now - coming out of the blue as it did really messed with my head for a while.

That's good! I know what you mean - I found the psychological trauma of my DVT/PE almost as bad as the physical trauma itself.

Got a really good piece of news today - we have a mega holiday booked in Canada to see D1 in August/September, and I was very worried that our holiday insurer would decline cover (First Directory, linked to bank account). Phoned them just now and the medical assessment team were happy to simply add DVT & Rivaroxoban treatment to my disturbingly long list of notified aliments. Phew! I was steeling myself to having to cancel the holiday.

More good news - have a great time!

 

[ianbarton]

T
Got a really good piece of news today - we have a mega holiday booked in Canada to see D1 in August/September, and I was very worried that our holiday insurer would decline cover (First Directory, linked to bank account). Phoned them just now and the medical assessment team were happy to simply add DVT & Rivaroxoban treatment to my disturbingly long list of notified aliments. Phew! I was steeling myself to having to cancel the holiday.

DVT's haven't caused a problem in getting insurance for me. The odd comedy moment in answering the insurance questions when going on a climbing holiday to the Alps": "Do you have problems walking?"

You might want to discuss with the hospital/GP if you need to continue taking anti-coagulants permanently, as you are at much higher risk of having a second DVT.