Cycling with DVT

[AlanW]

The GP started me on a course of Xarelto almost straight away, and thankfully that reduced the swelling and also the extreme tenderness within a couple of days. But we are still waiting for the results of the chest x ray and the GP has now asked for a CT scan of my abdomen.

When asked, she did initially say that it was okay for me to carry on riding my bike. However, when she found out I'd done a 70 miles ride prior to my doctors appointment last Friday, she wasn't very impressed. Needless to say she has now told me to stop for at least two weeks 😢

On the positive side, the results from the initial blood tests have come back free from anything sinister, but she wants to do some more blood tests but I have to wait till I've stopped taking the Xarelto first.

 

[MartinQ]

The first time I was diagnosed on a Monday, it was suspected dvt so the doc arranged a hospital appointment with the clot nurse on Wednesday morning & put me on heparin, so I cycled up to the hospital on Wednesday morning. The bike was there for ~1 week as I was kept in with massive PEs and .... Must admit, I didn't admit this to the nurse / docs :-).

Have they done an ultrasound of your leg? The chest x-ray rarely shows PEs and thats what a chest CT scan is for. Not sure why they're scanning your abdomen? TBH, it doesn't really matter if you have PEs as well as the treatment is the same. And keeping off your bike for a few weeks is probably sensible as they want to allow the clot time to harden rather than break off and go to your lungs (PEs). Although, I'm not always sensible ... Again, its generally fairly boring after the initial diagnosis. Just give things a bit of time to settle down and keep taking the anticoag.

The extra blood tests are to see if you have anything which is known to cause the clots to recur. The rule of thumb is that 30 years ago, 30% of the cases could be explained. Now its something like 60%. However, there are a reasonable number (me included) who are unprovoked (not a known cause).

 

[AlanW]

Have they done an ultrasound of your leg?

Yes, and this confirmed the DVT plus a bakers cyst and thrombophlebitis!

The chest x-ray rarely shows PEs and thats what a chest CT scan is for. Not sure why they're scanning your abdomen?

No idea, I'm just doing what she asking me to do. But considering I would class myself as being fit and active, (circa 300 miles every week, week in week out) and the speed at which its reared its ugly head, it would be nice to understand what has caused it so suddenly?

 

[MartinQ]

Yes, and this confirmed the DVT plus a bakers cyst and thrombophlebitis!

No idea, I'm just doing what she asking me to do. But considering I would class myself as being fit and active, (circa 300 miles every week, week in week out) and the speed at which its reared its ugly head, it would be nice to understand what has caused it so suddenly?

You may get an answer ... and you may not. Sometimes being fit can be a risk in itself, for instance slow blood flow/slow resting heart rate etc ...
https://www.bicycling.com/training/...idden-risk-of-being-a-healthy-active-cyclist/

 

[AlanW]

Thats a thought provoking read isnt it!

 

[MartinQ]

Thats a thought provoking read isnt it!

There were apparently quite a few cases of thrombosis (dvt, pe, ...) in the pro community when doping was rife. Transfusions and performance enhancing drugs can cause clots. Without suggesting anything, Horner had some PEs a year or two before his Vuelta win and american football has had a few cases etc.

But more mundanely, dehydration, slow resting heart rate, ... are all risk factors as well.

 

[MartinQ]

However, when she found out I'd done a 70 miles ride prior to my doctors appointment last Friday, she wasn't very impressed. Needless to say she has now told me to stop for at least two weeks 😢

On the plus side of that, I was struggling to ride 100 m (metres) when I had my first set of PEs. So (not) medically speaking, even if you had some PEs, you're not too badly off.

 

[ColinJ]

On the plus side of that, I was struggling to ride 100 m (metres) when I had my first set of PEs. So (not) medically speaking, even if you had some PEs, you're not too badly off.

Not realising what was wrong with me, I went out on a ride to celebrate Wiggins winning the Tour de France and took well over an hour to grovel up the 8 km Cragg Vale climb (which I normally do in less than 30 minutes). I felt like I was in danger of dropping dead at any moment, not realising that I actually WAS in danger of dropping dead at any minute!

 

[MartinQ]

Not realising what was wrong with me, I went out on a ride to celebrate Wiggins winning the Tour de France and took well over an hour to grovel up the 8 km Cragg Vale climb (which I normally do in less than 30 minutes). I felt like I was in danger of dropping dead at any moment, not realising that I actually WAS in danger of dropping dead at any minute!

The 100 metres outside my house was very slighly uphill (maybe 1%) and I was getting stinking headaches & nearly blacking out. It was still a couple of months before I was finally diagnosed. Cragg Vale in an hour+ would have been positively speeding :--).

 

[ColinJ]

The 100 metres outside my house was very slighly uphill (maybe 1%) and I was getting stinking headaches & nearly blacking out. It was still a couple of months before I was finally diagnosed. Cragg Vale in an hour+ would have been positively speeding :--).

It took me several weeks after that to realise how ill I actually was and to get to the blacking out stage! I couldn't even walk 400 metres to the health centre unaided then. A friend half carried me there. The doctor took a quick look and told me to go to hospital immediately. And then sent me home to wait for an ambulance... The walk back (nay, staggering back) almost finished me off!!!

 

[AlanW]

I had my CT scan last night, having never had one before it was a whole new experience. That's one hell of weird sensation why they inject the dye into your arm for sure

 

[ColinJ]

I had my CT scan last night, having never had one before it was a whole new experience. That's one hell of weird sensation why they inject the dye into your arm for sure

It IS! I felt a coldness spread through my chest.

I had a cannula put in the back of one hand and I am a needlephobe so I found it very unpleasant.

The thing that really worried me was that my brother-in-law once had an allergic reaction to the dye causing a heart attack during his scan! (He survived.)

 

[AlanW]

So Ive just had the doctor contact me regarding my CT scan, it seems that they have found a node on my lungs so she has requested another CT scan....great!!! I'm so looking forward to going through that process again....NOT!

She also muttered something about some irregularity with the arteries in my abdomen, but I was still digesting what she had said about the node on the lungs to fully digest what she was saying.

Oddly, but no mention was made regarding the DVT?

 

[MartinQ]

So Ive just had the doctor contact me regarding my CT scan, it seems that they have found a node on my lungs so she has requested another CT scan....great!!! I'm so looking forward to going through that process again....NOT!

She also muttered something about some irregularity with the arteries in my abdomen, but I was still digesting what she had said about the node on the lungs to fully digest what she was saying.

Oddly, but no mention was made regarding the DVT?

I've probably had a dozen or so CT scans. Its no biggie, not the most pleasant thing but .... Similarly, unless you are having continuing problems with your leg, I'd be surprised if they mention it much again. My first proper leg scan was 2 years after the original PEs / DVT. Originally, they found some clot flapping away right at the top of my leg so just stopped there and booked me into the ct scan later.

Not sure what the lung node is, but at least they're on top of things. Hope it turns out not too serious.

 

[ColinJ]

So Ive just had the doctor contact me regarding my CT scan, it seems that they have found a node on my lungs so she has requested another CT scan....great!!! I'm so looking forward to going through that process again....NOT!

Oh - I hope that isn't something sinister - good luck!

She also muttered something about some irregularity with the arteries in my abdomen, but I was still digesting what she had said about the node on the lungs to fully digest what she was saying.

When I had my first CT scan done they were looking at the lungs but also caught the top of my kidneys. The doctors spotted signs of calcification but decided that there wasn't a serious problem.

While scanning the lungs they may have also spotted early signs of an abdominal aortic aneurysm? If so, they would want to keep an eye on it. My brother-in-law has a scan every 6 months because he is in the early stages of developing one.