Anyone else had a blood clot?

axisus

4 years ago I got a very bad case of DVT, took 8 months to get over physically. A big factor in that was the moron young Dr who I saw in hospital. I went to my GP with serious leg pain and swelling. She said it looked like DVT and that I needed to get to hospital Immediately. I rolled up at hospital having been sent with serious symptoms, and the tw*t of a Dr that saw me said it was an insect bite and sent me away with antibiotics. 3 more days of pain and swelling getting worse and I decided to go back to A&E. Saw an intelligent human this time who immediately recognised the symptoms, and got onto treatment, but the week of build up permanently damaged my leg unfortunately. Oh yes, and Dr Tw*t ordered blood tests the first time I was in, but did not bother to enter any of the results onto the computers. He probably didn't even look at them as they would have indicated the problem. Anyway, enough of the past ....

I got another 4 weeks ago - not DVT this time, a more superficial vein. I am 4 weeks into 6 weeks of getting a painful injection into the stomach every day. It is no fun at all! The nurses all say that it hurts because I don't have enough fat! Sometimes I can feel the needle jabbing right into my muscle. I have always HATED needles, and I was majorly stressed out at the thought of a jab every day - didn't sleep the first night. I've kind of got used to it now although the moment is always horrible.

I just feel worried for the future - two in 4 years is not good news at all. 

Anyone else had a blood clot?

Emp_Fab

Yes, in my circumflex coronary artery.

skunkwerx

I never have, but sorry to hear of your trials. 

Now, I have however suffered the various fools within the nhs that seem to have brushed my symptoms off due to 'only being 30 and young'. 

Its not very reassuring. 

But. 

See your doctor as often as you like, get checked up often, don't be afraid to push them if you're not happy with their help. 

Keep records of everything. 
That instance you described sounds like negligence. 

Have you written to PALs and copied your DR in? 
Sometimes thats a decent kick up the arse for them for your next visit. 

My step-dad has had 2 heart attacks within 3 years. He needed stents both times. He is also worried, but would never admit it to anyone but my mum. 

I try and say, look, you're being proactive and resilient in seeking support and healthcare, so thats good. 
I've written many stern letters to whichever specialist or DR I've been under in the past where they simply werent giving me the correct healthcare path, and demanding to be transferred to say Guys n St Thomas, who have been better.. 

The stress of these things and worry is natural but counter productive. 

So as long as you're doing all you can to seek the correct healthcare, get fully checked out by a competent person, follow their advice, then try and relax and take it as it comes. Not easy. 

The stomach jabs arent nice though. 

I used to be petrified of needles. As in so scared I'd have nightmares before a jab, then run away the next day and not get it done. 

I then went though a few years of ill health, diseases, liver problems, kidney problems, which all came with several blood tests, injections etc a month. 

Last year saw several direct into my face before an op.. It was the anaesthetic.. but I thought it would be 1 injection, and not on my face! Lol. 

Now I don't blink an eye at them. So like you say we get used to them. 
They're actually not as painful as we make out either. An awful lot of it is in the mind, the fear.
Yes they obviously hurt a little, but compared to other stuff, not so much or for so long! 

Try and fully relax when you jab yourself. You might not realise how tense you're becoming, which will make it a bit worse and remember to not get fat to compensate ;p 

Roland

DVT can be triggered by other medical conditions. It’s worthwhile going back to your GP for a checkup.

WezV

skunkwerx said:

Have you written to PALs and copied your DR in? 
Sometimes thats a decent kick up the arse for them for your next visit. 

I will second this.   PALs normally respond with a brush off answer, but things do seem to happen quickly after that.

My recent eye checkup was 30 mins instead of the usual 2 hours.   This was shortly after pointing out to PALs that a consultation following a scan had been cancelled 4 times, so  the eye scan they did was now 3 months out of date.  They had me in and out quickly, did extra tests and gave a much more thorough explanation of the issue.   

rlw

axisus said:

4 years ago I got a very bad case of DVT, took 8 months to get over physically. A big factor in that was the moron young Dr who I saw in hospital. I went to my GP with serious leg pain and swelling. She said it looked like DVT and that I needed to get to hospital Immediately. I rolled up at hospital having been sent with serious symptoms, and the tw*t of a Dr that saw me said it was an insect bite and sent me away with antibiotics. 3 more days of pain and swelling getting worse and I decided to go back to A&E. Saw an intelligent human this time who immediately recognised the symptoms, and got onto treatment, but the week of build up permanently damaged my leg unfortunately. Oh yes, and Dr Tw*t ordered blood tests the first time I was in, but did not bother to enter any of the results onto the computers. He probably didn't even look at them as they would have indicated the problem. Anyway, enough of the past ....

Almost identical to my mother who was sent to A&E by her, on the ball, GP.  A&E did their tests and sent her off with some powerful antibiotics which made her really ill.  She went back to her GP who said he was reluctant to interfere if the hospital had done their tests and showed it wasnt a DVT.  She died a couple of days later.

Cnuts.

axisus

I should just add that most of the hospital staff that I have seen over the past few years have been absolutely wonderful. The nurses doing the daily jabs have all been great.

Shrews

Had a clot where my cruciate joins my shin bone, basically when playing football somebody jumped on my back and my thigh bone went over my shin bone. Instead of my cruciate tearing it pulled the top off my shin bone with splinters exploding everywhere. My body then panicked and clotted up the whole area!

Emergency op then to remove it and a 50/50 chance that I'd be left with one leg shorter than the other. Thankfully that didn't happen, but it ended my football playing days both physically and mentally.

No problems with clots since.

My Mrs has battled terminal cancer now for five years, I could write a whole website (let alone a post) on the calamitous cock-ups she has endured.  Thankfully the very top people know what they're doing but all the other stuff around it has been truly disastrous. Including one evening where I had to kick-off (very unlike me) to basically stop her dying in her bed. Thankfully when the nursing staff realised that they were in deep, deep shit if that happened they decided to sort her out. Turned out that the person who had tried to drain one of her lungs stuck the needle in the wrong one, resulting in her good lung collapsing and surviving on the cancerous lung that needed draining. How the nursing staff couldn't spot her going blue is beyond me. 

Next day she was moved to Stoke and had an emergency drain that put her right after a few days.

Oh, and let me tell you about the time...........

Grunfeld

axisus said:

I just feel worried for the future...

Understandable; glad it wasn't a DVT this time. 

Funnily enough this afternoon I was reading a health update from a guy who had to cancel his seminars at the Royal Free last month because of DVT and PE.  He's a well-respected Australian professor of pain research and he's a fit middle-aged bloke who likes rock climbing etc. "...I will likely be on anti-coagulants for life and no-one has any idea how I ended up with a leg and lungs full of clots. I rarely drink, I exercise an hour a day…. probably work a bit too hard…. but I am told that doesn’t do it...  The amazing thing was that in-spite of not being able to breathe – the thing that threatened my life ( the PE’s) was not associated with any pain at all – no warning system operating for me…..the pain came later with a DVT…. bloody painful…and still is.  I am now on a slow road for recovery – and this will likely take some time. I am back working reduced hours...." 

So these things can come from nowhere in otherwise healthy individuals and they're not fun. 

axisus

It's pretty annoying as I don't drink, don't smoke and get on average over 1.5 hours of exercise a day - and pretty strenuous stuff, not poncing about in the gym looking at my phone like a lot of people I see! Such is life

Electro_Ham

To the OP. Can't you just take an anticoagulant tablet? If it had been another DVT, I thought you'd have been put on lifelong anticoagulant. (I'm not sure if the superficial Vein Thrombosis warrants only X weeks of the anticoag jab)

axisus

Electro_Ham said:

To the OP. Can't you just take an anticoagulant tablet? If it had been another DVT, I thought you'd have been put on lifelong anticoagulant. (I'm not sure if the superficial Vein Thrombosis warrants only X weeks of the anticoag jab)

I'm waiting to see what the consultant says when the 6 weeks is up. It may well be a lifetime of warfarin tablets, bit of a pain in the ass but then if it keeps me alive I'll take that as a trade off!

Blaendulais

Probably not warfarin now - there are newer safer more effective alternatives.  

Electro_Ham

Blaendulais said:

Probably not warfarin now - there are newer safer more effective alternatives.  

That's why I wondered why an injection is being given first......for several weeks too.

ArchtopDave

Blaendulais said:

Probably not warfarin now - there are newer safer more effective alternatives.  

This isn't true. There are now a number of anticoagulants treatments available these days, but they all have pluses and minuses, and Warfarin is still a useful drug.

Thrombosis in a superficial vein is usually a different condition from deep vein thrombosis in terms of cause, though, in either case, they can occur spontaneously for no obvious reason. In most cases of superficial thrombosis, long term anticoagulation isn't needed.  The only particular concern here is the occurrence of the two episodes within a few years. This could be pure "bad luck", though I would guess the Hospital, or GP, will investigate the clotting status of your blood - some people have blood that clots abnormally easily.

I had the abdominal injections after some major surgery 5 years ago. I found the best thing to minimise the immediate "stinging sensation" after injection, was to press on the injection area immediately after the injection for a minute or there about. This also minimised the bruising.

axisus

ArchtopDave said:


This could be pure "bad luck", though I would guess the Hospital, or GP, will investigate the clotting status of your blood - some people have blood that clots abnormally easily.

Actually I didn't mention before, but I was investigated the first time and I have a defective gene in my blood that gives a slightly higher risk of blood clots. I inherited that from my dad, who had DVT in his 50s. I asked if that was the cause and they said not necessarily, it is just a slight risk raise. Needless to say we got our kids checked and they have the same thing. Doh!

ArchtopDave said:

I had the abdominal injections after some major surgery 5 years ago. I found the best thing to minimise the immediate "stinging sensation" after injection, was to press on the injection area immediately after the injection for a minute or there about. This also minimised the bruising.

Maybe it's different advice now but they tell you specifically NOT to to that, best to not touch the area at all for a while afterwards. 

Electro_Ham

Best to read the advice from the manufacturer on whatever injection you take. You might be advised to NOT expel the air bubble. And take your time depressing the plunger. It's not a speedy operation.

ArchtopDave

axisus said:

ArchtopDave said:


This could be pure "bad luck", though I would guess the Hospital, or GP, will investigate the clotting status of your blood - some people have blood that clots abnormally easily.

Actually I didn't mention before, but I was investigated the first time and I have a defective gene in my blood that gives a slightly higher risk of blood clots. I inherited that from my dad, who had DVT in his 50s. I asked if that was the cause and they said not necessarily, it is just a slight risk raise. Needless to say we got our kids checked and they have the same thing. Doh!

ArchtopDave said:

I had the abdominal injections after some major surgery 5 years ago. I found the best thing to minimise the immediate "stinging sensation" after injection, was to press on the injection area immediately after the injection for a minute or there about. This also minimised the bruising.

Maybe it's different advice now but they tell you specifically NOT to to that, best to not touch the area at all for a while afterwards. 

Did they give a reason for not touching the area? I can see that there is a minuscule risk of infection getting in before the needle hole seals over, if you are careless. However, if you are using a swab to clean the area first, or have a bit of clean gauze, then you can protect yourself by using this afterwards to apply pressure.

I decide to do this myself, based on some personal observations, and 40 years of medical experience, working mainly as a surgeon. I occasionally have small blood vessels burst in my fingers, which cause small bruises that sting like mad to begin with. These bleeds may relate to the fact that I've been on low dose Aspirin for quite a few years. I've found that I can reduce the discomfort, and limit the bruising by rapidly applying firm pressure for a while to allow normal clotting to occur.

I reasoned that the injection sites bleed and cause bruising because the local concentration of anticoagulant immediately after injection is relatively high, and slows down local clotting in relation to any small blood vessel damage caused by the injection. I found it a useful thing to do, as the stinging was markedly reduced, and the bruises were smaller. You certainly are not going to alter the function of the drug by doing this simple manoeuvre.

Blaendulais

ArchtopDave said:

Blaendulais said:

Probably not warfarin now - there are newer safer more effective alternatives.  

This isn't true. There are now a number of anticoagulants treatments available these days, but they all have pluses and minuses, and Warfarin is still a useful drug.

Thrombosis in a superficial vein is usually a different condition from deep vein thrombosis in terms of cause, though, in either case, they can occur spontaneously for no obvious reason. In most cases of superficial thrombosis, long term anticoagulation isn't needed.  The only particular concern here is the occurrence of the two episodes within a few years. This could be pure "bad luck", though I would guess the Hospital, or GP, will investigate the clotting status of your blood - some people have blood that clots abnormally easily.

I had the abdominal injections after some major surgery 5 years ago. I found the best thing to minimise the immediate "stinging sensation" after injection, was to press on the injection area immediately after the injection for a minute or there about. This also minimised the bruising.

Your first sentence says that is not true.  You will confuse a non medic.   The NOACs have several practical advantages over Warfarin, such as the rapid onset/offset of action, the lower potential for food and drug interactions, and the predictable anticoagulant response.    The safety profile of the newer anticoagulants compares favourably with Warfarin.  In cases of AF, DVT and PE I havent prescribed Warfarin for a while. 

Be wary of dispensing 'That is Not True' advice.  It in itself was not true. Review the recent evidence first

axisus

ArchtopDave said:

Did they give a reason for not touching the area? 

They did say something but I don't recall why now. At the end of the day they are professionals so I just did what I was told! It was said several times though so definitely a thing I guess???