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How long will the DVT hurt in my leg?
First of all, this is going to be a long post... sorry!
Hey! I’m 21 years old and a week ago I was discharged from hospital after a months stay after a fatal fall from a horse. I ended up with broken ribs, collapsed lung, severe damage to my liver and damage to my kidney, pancreas and spleen. I had a pretty bad time in hospital, chest drain, drain for my bile leak and a biliary stent put in. After 2 weeks I had just started walking again but then suffered from an infarct by my damaged kidney, which ended up partly dying off. Anyway 2 weeks later I was finally discharged with a big bag full of pain killers, anti sickness and laxatives.
I was still fragile, but I could walk for several minutes at a time before I got to short of breath and the pain would kick in by my ribs, but of course I was over the moon to finally go home.
The second night of being home however I woke up needing the toilet and as I got up I felt a sharp pain in my upper left thigh. It was that bad that I could barely walk on it. I stumbled to the toilet and went back to bed thinking I must have laid weirdly. Several hours later when I tried getting out of bed again the pain had worsened and I couldn’t put any weight on it. Because I was only just discharged I was scared it was something serious so I made an appointment with my local doctor, who listened very well and thought it was a clot and sent me straight to hospital. Once I was there I got an ultra sound and it was was confirmed I had a DVT on the left side of my groin. I was sent home with enoxaparin injections and stockings and another appointment was made in a better hospital (yesterday) for further assessment.
Unfortunately I was told there was not a lot they could do for me as the meds that break the cloths down are way too dangerous for me to take as I will have cloths all over my damaged organs just sitting there doing their job. They have prescribed me a further 6 weeks of injections and then to go onto the tablet form for another 6 months. And to wear the stockings for at least a few years.
Now because I can’t actually get the treatment people would normally get and it’s all up to my body I’m scared to be in pain for a long time. I mean, after my month in hospital I know what real pain feels like.. and the pain I have in my leg when I try to walk on it is very severe. I have to cling on to my boyfriend to keep as much weight of it as possible and I still end up in tears moving from room to room.
Tomorrow it will be exactly a week since the pain has started. I understand it will need time, but the pain makes me anxious and I fear to walk anywhere. It’s really playing with my mental health as I am normally a very independent and active person and I’ve been pretty much bed bound for 5 weeks now.
At this point I’m desperate for things to get back to normal again and I was hoping there would be people with similar experiences that can help me out a bit.
Thanks for reading the long post!
Jane
Hey! I’m 21 years old and a week ago I was discharged from hospital after a months stay after a fatal fall from a horse. I ended up with broken ribs, collapsed lung, severe damage to my liver and damage to my kidney, pancreas and spleen. I had a pretty bad time in hospital, chest drain, drain for my bile leak and a biliary stent put in. After 2 weeks I had just started walking again but then suffered from an infarct by my damaged kidney, which ended up partly dying off. Anyway 2 weeks later I was finally discharged with a big bag full of pain killers, anti sickness and laxatives.
I was still fragile, but I could walk for several minutes at a time before I got to short of breath and the pain would kick in by my ribs, but of course I was over the moon to finally go home.
The second night of being home however I woke up needing the toilet and as I got up I felt a sharp pain in my upper left thigh. It was that bad that I could barely walk on it. I stumbled to the toilet and went back to bed thinking I must have laid weirdly. Several hours later when I tried getting out of bed again the pain had worsened and I couldn’t put any weight on it. Because I was only just discharged I was scared it was something serious so I made an appointment with my local doctor, who listened very well and thought it was a clot and sent me straight to hospital. Once I was there I got an ultra sound and it was was confirmed I had a DVT on the left side of my groin. I was sent home with enoxaparin injections and stockings and another appointment was made in a better hospital (yesterday) for further assessment.
Unfortunately I was told there was not a lot they could do for me as the meds that break the cloths down are way too dangerous for me to take as I will have cloths all over my damaged organs just sitting there doing their job. They have prescribed me a further 6 weeks of injections and then to go onto the tablet form for another 6 months. And to wear the stockings for at least a few years.
Now because I can’t actually get the treatment people would normally get and it’s all up to my body I’m scared to be in pain for a long time. I mean, after my month in hospital I know what real pain feels like.. and the pain I have in my leg when I try to walk on it is very severe. I have to cling on to my boyfriend to keep as much weight of it as possible and I still end up in tears moving from room to room.
Tomorrow it will be exactly a week since the pain has started. I understand it will need time, but the pain makes me anxious and I fear to walk anywhere. It’s really playing with my mental health as I am normally a very independent and active person and I’ve been pretty much bed bound for 5 weeks now.
At this point I’m desperate for things to get back to normal again and I was hoping there would be people with similar experiences that can help me out a bit.
Thanks for reading the long post!
Jane
Hey! My experience differs but let me try and help, I'm assuming having now been nearly 3 odd weeks from your diagnosis you still have pain. I had my clot about 3 weeks before I sought medical attention and I'd say the pain was fairly bad for a week after that as well, the primary pain should diminish as the clot dissolves.now thats not saying there won't be lingering pain, my clot area still has pain occasionally and probably will for a very long time. It's a thing disorder know as Post Thrombotic Syndrome and what it essentially means is that you may have lingering mild to severe pain for a very long time. But that not saying you will develop this. If your clot heals properly, then you may only deal with the pain for about a month, and you will minimal long term pain .hope I helped, I know how scary these things can be, stay safe!
1 Comments
Hey!
Not sure if you will read this but, for some reason I have only just seen this now! Thank you, I wish I would have seen your comment back when you posted it!
I am now pain free from my DVT and just on my last months worth of apixaban blood thinners. I did however, suffer a lot of pain for a good 4 - 6 weeks post diagnosis.
Reading it back I see I didn’t even explain how much it hurt, as I just assumed that everyone felt the same pain. I didn’t realise some people don’t even know they have DVTs back then. Walking from my bed to the door would have me in tears, and even if I made it to the sofa or toilet, I would have to sit there for a good 20 minutes before the pain was manageable and I could pull myself together. This was like this for the first 2 weeks, after that it very slowly became more manageable.
Even if you don’t read this, perhaps someone else with the same question will stumble across this and find it helpful!
Thank you!
Not sure if you will read this but, for some reason I have only just seen this now! Thank you, I wish I would have seen your comment back when you posted it!
I am now pain free from my DVT and just on my last months worth of apixaban blood thinners. I did however, suffer a lot of pain for a good 4 - 6 weeks post diagnosis.
Reading it back I see I didn’t even explain how much it hurt, as I just assumed that everyone felt the same pain. I didn’t realise some people don’t even know they have DVTs back then. Walking from my bed to the door would have me in tears, and even if I made it to the sofa or toilet, I would have to sit there for a good 20 minutes before the pain was manageable and I could pull myself together. This was like this for the first 2 weeks, after that it very slowly became more manageable.
Even if you don’t read this, perhaps someone else with the same question will stumble across this and find it helpful!
Thank you!
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