GWS ColinJ.. DVT/Pulmonary Embolism

[ColinJ]

I'm already making my list of excuses .. looking forward to the ride though.

Agree about it being frustrating for the length of time for your lungs to sort themselves out. Commuting and the odd weekend ride seems to help a bit, but it seems like I'm constantly trying to tell my body to sort itself out, but my body doesn't listen. As you say though, it is only 6 months from the recurrence so must be patient

Yes, patience is the key.

I have to remind myself that only 3 months ago my heart was playing silly buggers whenever it felt like it and that has almost stopped happening now.

I've been out on my bike today (see 'Your Ride Today' thread later, when I have had a chance to write it up) and was pleasantly surprised with how the ride went!

 

[coffeejo]

Yes, patience is the key.

I'm sorry, who are you and what have you done with the real ColinJ?

 

[ColinJ]

I'm sorry, who are you and what have you done with the real ColinJ?

He got tired of hanging about, so he wandered off and I have taken his place!

 

[Joshua Plumtree]

Suffered a DVT after a long haul flight in 1989 at the tender age of 28. Spent 10 days on a heparin drip in a ward where 2 patients died from complications caused by pulmonary embolism. Still remember the almost unbearable pain through the night and living for the next dose of painkillers! Might sound melodramatic but, at times, I almost thought that my life was over
However, despite being mis-diagnosed by my numpty GP, and the clot building up from my calf, through the left knee and into my thigh, I now realise that I was one of the lucky ones. The clot stayed in one piece and didn't cause other problems.

So I can really empathise with you Colin and, although I realise that you've suffered more than I did, the good news is that, 25 years on, I'm kinda in training for my first ever TT and allowing my heart to race away whilst on the turbo without a care in the world (medical first!).

It took at least 2 years for the pain and tightness in my calf and knee to disappear but, trust me, it will eventually.

Recently a club member recommended one legged pedldling on the turbo to isolate weak spots. Tried it and couldn't work out why my right leg was stronger than the left, and then I remembered- that damn DVT in 1989!,

The only time I'm reminded of it now is when I'm wearing shorts -damage to some of the valves means left calf is larger than the right one - so I tend to wear longer leggings and suffer through the summer heat!

My sincere best wishes for your recovery Colin, on bad days it might seem a long way off, but it will happen given time - the human body's a very resilient and adaptable piece of engineering! David

Ps. Still rest my left leg on something (even if it's only the wife!) when sitting down.

 

[ColinJ]

Hi Joshua. (Or is it David?!) Thanks for that.

I think I was lucky in one respect - that I didn't get the horrific leg pain that some people suffer from DVTs***. I got a badly swollen left calf (it still swells to 2 inches bigger than the other one now if I don't elevate the leg or keep moving) and my leg went a sickening purple colour. The discolouration has largely gone now, but I think the swelling will be a long-term thing.

The things that really freaked me out were the shortness of breath and crazy heart rate when I was lying around in bed doing nothing! Those problems are becoming much less significant as time passes though, so I am hoping that I can eventually make a good recovery.

*** I did get horrible leg pains at other times in the upper thigh of the right leg, which I now think may have been due to superficial thrombophlebitis caused by long rides in overtight lycra.

 

[GaryA]

Pleased your pulling round Colin.
Logged in because I have been prescribed the first hypertension medication of my life, Ramipril 5mg capsules to try to get the blood pressure down.
160/100 today, 180/115 yeserday 130/80 in October
Been suffering tinnitius light headedness and that awful spaced out feeling on and off since xmas.
They say high BP/hypertension doesn't have symptoms- I don't believe it.
I was wondering if anyone has experience in the effectiveness/side effects of Ramipril?
One can get paranoid reading the side effects on the data sheet but I've looked at the sheet for Ibuprofen and that's scary too! I've never had any problems with medication in the past-Ive never been regularly medicated before.

I'm on no other medication at all but have annoying ectopic heatbeats which I've come to live with

 

[ColinJ]

(The Like is just for the first sentence, Gary!)

I am sorry to hear about the hypertension. I don't know much about the subject so I'll let others comment on that. (My BP numbers were high when I first became ill, but they steadily fell as I started to get better.)

 

[Effyb4]

Hi Gary

I started taking Ramipril 5 months ago, although not for high blood pressure, alongside a cocktail of other medication following a heart attack and heart surgery. I have to say that I haven't experienced any noticeable side effects and my health has been steadily improving ever since. I don't actually suffer from high blood pressure (quite the opposite), but I take the Ramipril to ensure my damaged heart doesn't have to work too hard.

I would take your doctor's advice and I wish you much improved health in the future.

 

[Joshua Plumtree]

Colin

I can remember, whilst being assessed in A&E, the junior Docter taking my heart rate with his rubber stethoscope and commenting - "oh, well that's very interesting!" My heart rate was apparently bouncing up and down like a rubber ball!

"Keep you on a troshing!" as some of us here in Norfolk say!

 

[ColinJ]

Colin

I can remember, whilst being assessed in A&E, the junior Docter taking my heart rate with his rubber stethoscope and commenting - "oh, well that's very interesting!" My heart rate was apparently bouncing up and down like a rubber ball!

"Keep you on a troshing!" as some of us here in Norfolk say!

I know that feeling!

I got worried when the doctors looked at my first ECG and got into a huddle and whispered about it. Then one announced that it might be a good idea to do another one ...

They then did a CT scan and an ultrasound scan. I asked one of the doctors what they had found. He told me that they could see irregularities on the ECG, but this was not surprising because there was a huge clotted artery (or vein?) rammed up against my heart, which was bound to cause problems!

When I had been fit, my resting heart rate was 34-35 bpm. When I got fat and unfit, it went up to 55-60 bpm. When I got ill with the DVT/PE, it went up to over 120 bpm, but with random fluctuations to about 170 bpm. At 10 second intervals, it might be doing this kind of thing ... 120-130-150-170-120-160-120-150-150-120-120-120-120-170!

It was like having a terrified bird trapped in my chest, flapping about trying to escape, and it certainly terrified me!

The rhythm is improving all the time now. It is back down to 60-70 bpm at rest most of the time. When it does start beating quickly for a while, it is usually more like 110-120 bpm. If I get too stressed/angry, or take in too much caffeine, I can have problems so I try to avoid those situations.

I can't make real explosive physical efforts on the bike, or by running, or trying to lift really heavy objects, but I can cope with my heart doing 150-odd bpm without too many problems.

 

[gbb]

Wishing you all the best Colin and hope the recovery continues. You seem like a very strong bloke with no end of mates both real and 'virtual' on here - I'm sure that's a good combination to help get you through.

Amen to that. Thoughts are with you Colin .

 

[ColinJ]

My younger sister rang me yesterday morning. On Friday evening, one of her friends started experiencing a lot of pain in her upper left thigh/groin area and the leg was swollen and inflamed. She rang an out of hours service and they were on the ball - they told her to go straight to A&E and to ask for a D-Dimer clotting test and an ultrasound scan of her leg. She did that and the doctors found a DVT (in the same location mine was, by the sound of it).

They gave her a shot of heparin and prescribed more to keep her going, showed her how to give herself the injections, and then discharged her.

She had a bad night's sleep, and by Saturday morning she could barely breathe and her heart was racing. She phoned her GP and he told her not to come to the surgery, but to go immediately back to A&E. A subsequent CT scan at the hospital revealed a Pulmonary Embolism.

Scarily familiar stuff ... It sounds like most medical staff did the right thing in this case, but I would like to know why they don't routinely do the CT scan once a DVT is found in that part of the leg, since the risk of PE from that is high. I suppose that the treatment would probably be the same, but they could keep the patient in for observation for a day or two when a PE is found. (If you collapse from a PE at home, you have something like a 1 in 3 chance of dying from it. I'm not sure how much better your odds would be in a hospital, but it would be reassuring to receive immediate treatment rather than having to wait maybe an hour for an ambulance to get you to A&E.)

 

[martint235]

Pleased your pulling round Colin.
Logged in because I have been prescribed the first hypertension medication of my life, Ramipril 5mg capsules to try to get the blood pressure down.
160/100 today, 180/115 yeserday 130/80 in October
Been suffering tinnitius light headedness and that awful spaced out feeling on and off since xmas.
They say high BP/hypertension doesn't have symptoms- I don't believe it.
I was wondering if anyone has experience in the effectiveness/side effects of Ramipril?
One can get paranoid reading the side effects on the data sheet but I've looked at the sheet for Ibuprofen and that's scary too! I've never had any problems with medication in the past-Ive never been regularly medicated before.

I'm on no other medication at all but have annoying ectopic heatbeats which I've come to live with

Gary I've no experience of Ramipiril but have experience of other drugs that can cause side effects. The one bit of advice I can give is that your relationship with your doctor should be a two way one. If you feel you're not getting along with the medication prescribed, go and have another chat. There may be some other suitable medication.

 

[GaryA]

Gary I've no experience of Ramipiril but have experience of other drugs that can cause side effects. The one bit of advice I can give is that your relationship with your doctor should be a two way one. If you feel you're not getting along with the medication prescribed, go and have another chat. There may be some other suitable medication.

Thanks martini
yes I'm due to get another BP checkup tomorrow; so far so good..... no side effects and I am feeling better and avoided taking my own BP as I dont entirely trust my wrist monitor
Doest help I was in A&E 6-11.15pm last night when my dad was taken in by ambulance after suspected heart attack (it wasnt, thankfully)

 

[ColinJ]

First, the good news ... my health and fitness continue to improve. I did a strenuous 65 mile lumpy forum ride last Saturday and felt good all day!

I do still have times when I don't feel well (last night, watching TV, for example) but the feeling good to feeling bad ratio is improving all the time.

There is always the ongoing bleeding risk from taking warfarin, but so far I have only experienced minor signs such as bleeding gums after toothbrushing, and the odd nosebleed.

The local clinic have been reducing the frequency of my blood tests and I don't feel comfortable with this. I am currently tested every 2 months and that will probably go out to 3 months. With tests that far apart, there could be a serious bleeding risk for many weeks before it was picked up. I think I will invest in an INR meter and test myself once a week!

************

I just heard some shocking news ...

I know that many of you think that I am obsessed with DVT/Pulmonary Embolism, but after nearly dying from it in 2012 and suffering a relapse last year, I am rightly very alert to the dire possibilities of this terrible condition.

Several weeks ago, I was chatting to my ex and she mentioned that one of her uncles was ill. Cut to the chase ... it sounded to me like textbook DVT/PE and I told her that she should phone her mum immediately to pass the information on to her uncle.

I was told that I should get a grip, stop imagining blood clots everywhere, did I really think I knew more than his GP, who had prescribed antibiotics for the cough etc. etc.?

Under protest, I let it drop, but I was muttering about it for several days afterwards.

You can see where this is going, can't you ...

I just got a call. The uncle has collapsed and is now receiving emergency treatment for DVT/PE ... I don't know if he will make it - 30% of emergency PE admissions don't. I was 56 and strong, but only just survived. He is old and frail ...

I am finding it hard not to feel guilty about not persuading the family to take the old man's illness more seriously, but I can only do so much.

Fingers crossed for the old man.