Pulmonary Embolism and Afibb

[RagdollRagdoll]

Good Afternoon everyone my names Andrew I am 51 years old.

At the end of March I was admitted to hospital with PE in my lungs caused from DVT,my symptom's where shortness of breath with stairs etc., dry cough, dull pain in left calf, fast heart rate may be AFFIB, pale skinned. I travelled on a aero plane in Nov 2022 4.5 hours and my calf did hurt but i thought it was through gym work as my pain became dull 2 days after.

Was discharged after 2.5 days,Given Apixaban 5mg twice a day and told i would make a full recovery,i was told that my fast heartrate was because of the PE on my lungs. The fast heart rate was not addressed by the consultant at the time of discharge for follow up.My sports watch was alerting me that my heart rhythm was going in to AFFib sometimes for 36 hours at a time beat to beat ranging from 36-180 BPM. My GP asked me if I would consider Bisoprolol 2.5mg to slow my heart rate down, since last week my AFFIB as improved by 80% with Bisoprolol. Truthfully i did not want Bisoprolol but had too because of the AFFIB.I am booked in to see a Cardiologist tonight.

Any thoughts on how long blood clots last in lung area ?

Can you feel blood clots when you breath in deeply ?

Can you get a dull pain under your left Brest bone may be for less than 40 seconds of the whole day ?

How long do DVTs hurt for after being discovered and treated with medicine ?

AFFIB and PE together any thoughts please.

Its 3 months and 17 days to see my Consultant about my PE from discharge.

Thank you all very much for any information you can provide me with it is greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards

Andrew

[Summer133]

Hi Andrew,

My name is Sadia, I too have experienced a Pulmonary embolism but mine was in January 2023. I was trying to put my 6 yr old asleep and was home alone, suddenly felt sharp pain in ky chest 3 times..but this pain left my body shaking abit..it wasn't normal..then I coughed and had some blood come out of my nose and month. I knew this wasn't normal so I rang 111 they asked me to go A&E ..I spent 16hrs in A&E ..waiting to be seen as the dr and nurses were on strike..eventually they did see me ..I felt like a zombie..but I'm glad they picked the PE in the scan.. they put me on apixaban and after a week I had an ellergic reaction to it.. they the put me on adoxaban 60mg..and on month 4 they discharged me from the hospital. They said they don't know why I could have had the blood clot..although the first 2 drs I saw at the hospital said it was because of my vaccine which I had about through covid..they asked me which vaccine I had and I said Pfizer.

I'm on blood thinners for life im not happy about it due to the risks on Internal bleeding..I have been ok so far but can't say will be forever. The pain I get is in ky left side of the chest under the beast bone and underneath my left arm..I have to put a cushion underneath my left arm when I go to bed..ive had it checked by the drs they said its due to my PE..

I'm hoping to get seen by the cardiologist soon..will need to go drs for that..I have had my heart checked and its ok.

I do hope you recover soon..its not a nice thing to go through..when I happened to me I thought I was the only one with it and I felt in need for support ut on these forums reading everyone's stories..it does help.

I'm 42.. wasn't expecting this at this age.. I just have to careful and cautious about everything I do now..lifes changed after my PE.

[RagdollRagdoll in reply to Summer133]

Thank you Sadia I am glad you are ok now and thank you for your kind reply.

Hopefully being diagnosed can be a big help for the future.

Its been a difficult time but hopefully things will only get better for us both and others that have been suffering with PE and its symptoms .

Kind Regards

Andrew

[Jerry99]

I've had five PE/DVT incidents the first in 2008. Warfarin 6mnths. Taken off W. Reoccurence immediately. Three more while on Warfarin. Lobbied hard to get on Rivaraxaban. Finally prescribed in 2014. Touch wood, no reoccurence since and touch wood again, no side effects. Bleed a lot when cut and bruise easily but small price to pay.PE very painful and scary. DVT in both legs, reminded me of sports injuries from my youth. Veins incompetent which has put strain on my heart. Congestive Heart Failure

[Suebo2 Moderator]

Dear Andrew, first of all, so pleased that you have this forum to ask questions.

You have asked a lot of relevant questions and it’s sad that your consultants have not discussed the situation with you enough.

You ask ‘how long blood clots stay in the lungs’? This is a question that cannot be clearly answered. Everyone dissolves the clot at different rates - usually you know that it has gone because you begin to feel better and get back to your usual self. If you continue to feel breathlessness down the line, then this is a good time to discuss with a respiratory consultant

‘Breathing deeply’ - you may continue to feel discomfort until the clots have gone. Not sure about ‘feeling’ the clot persay

Pain will depend on size and site of clot but should resolve as clots goes

Afib and PE can coexist- speak to a cardiologist

It seems as though your DVT was caused by your long haul flight, so it’s possible that you might, might, be able to stop the edoxaban- but please do not until you have spoken with a doctor with an interest in thrombosis

Hopefully the Afib might settle if brought on by the PE, and you should not need Anticoagulation for that routinely as you are only 51- but this depends on many factors and your cardiologist will be the one to decide re this

I hope that it all settles down, and if you do fly again, take some general precautions- wear flights socks, stay hydrated and get up and walk regularly (if you can) - try sbd get aisée s’est

Good luck

[RagdollRagdoll in reply to Suebo2]

Thank you for your lovely email.Kind Regards Andrew ❤❤