Blood Clot

[foxyrider]

Just been diagnosed with a blood clot in my thigh - looks like a lengthy treatment and time away from exercise. (currently I can barely walk )

Anyone been through this? Advice/experience appreciated.

[Tangled Metal]

My dad had it. Ended up with a bypass being done. Was up and about not long after the operation. Nice line in surgical stockings given to him! Seriously stockings right up his leg were necessary but he was glad to be able to take them off. He took anticoagulant drugs for a while too IIRC. He wasn't one to talk much about his health so other than the op and recovery I don't recall it being a major problem for him.

One added benefit was that his last b every cigar was in the doorway of the hospital on his way in. He was told to give up in that appointment so he didn't know he was giving up with that last drag on the cigar. A good incentive to give up i think. Last one in our family to still smoke.

[meic]

My dad gave up smoking on the day that the doctor said he had thrombosis. The thrombosis seemed to go away because of it.
I doubt that Foxyrider is a smoker though.

[531colin]

Just been diagnosed with a blood clot in my thigh - looks like a lengthy treatment and time away from exercise. (currently I can barely walk )

Anyone been through this? Advice/experience appreciated.

OUCH! Thats pretty unexpected in somebody who takes regular exercise.
no experience, I'm happy to say.
Advice? Question everybody who will talk to you.....usual stuff....why me? what can i do to stop it happening again?....best route to recovery/back out on the bike?
I'm guessing its a clot in the (femoral) vein?....I don't want to alarm you, but any shortness of breath, chest pain, dial 999 and don't be put off....if a lump of clot breaks off, it will lodge in your lung, and might require urgent treatment.

[foxyrider]

Just been diagnosed with a blood clot in my thigh - looks like a lengthy treatment and time away from exercise. (currently I can barely walk )

Anyone been through this? Advice/experience appreciated.

OUCH! Thats pretty unexpected in somebody who takes regular exercise.
no experience, I'm happy to say.
Advice? Question everybody who will talk to you.....usual stuff....why me? what can i do to stop it happening again?....best route to recovery/back out on the bike?
I'm guessing its a clot in the (femoral) vein?....I don't want to alarm you, but any shortness of breath, chest pain, dial 999 and don't be put off....if a lump of clot breaks off, it will lodge in your lung, and might require urgent treatment.

Yeah i've had the lecture at the hospital - scared the crap out of me, I was riding as late as Sunday night!

[Vantage]

What is the exact medical term for your condition?
I ask because the doc said I had a blood clot in my femoral artery about 3 years ago after I complained about very painful calves.
They had me in surgery within a few weeks to open up the artery with a balloon. They hoped the artery would stay open on its own and so no stent was used as that itself causes narrowing in the vessel.
A couple months went by and the pain returned. I told the doc I thought the artery had collapsed again and this was proven to be so. Soooooo, I went in surgery again and they used a 'chemical stent'. Basically the balloon is coated with a chemical which removes the arteries elasticity to stop it collapsing again. So far the pain has not returned but I'm on a crap load of pills for thinning my blood, reducing blood pressure, cholesterol and god knows what else. My legs tire really quickly and I use a walking stick although it was not prescribed.
The op for this wasn't too bad imo. If this is the course they take for you, you can expect to be put under a local and the doc shoves a big needle into the artery from the inside of the top of your thigh...just below your 'bits'. Forget about your modesty being intact here...everything is on show. You'll be in maybe a half hour or so and back on the bike within 2-3 weeks. I chanced it at a week but there's risk of the incision opening up and bleeding to death. Mine leaked on the hospital ward the day after.
The doc said my condition was a very severe one and that there was the high chance that in years to come I might be losing a foot or leg if they started going blue. This is all thanks to being an ex smoker and more so because of uncontrolled diabetes.
Now, getting back to the exact medical term, my doc said at the first appointment that it was a blood clot. I have since looked at the report from the diabetic centre and they have me as suffering from peripheral vascular disease...which is a little bit different.
Hopefully you'll not have that as it really sucks.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
I had thrombosis in 82. "venous thromboembolism" Artery.
Took a long time to get the medical profession to take me seriously as I was running marathons at the time.
Mine was after a operation to remove my spleen and I was not on blood thinning meds which I should of been if today, but this was 35 years ago.
Worrying when you are in a ward, where one has just had his leg amputated through gangrene, another smoker at 53 had a tube inserted for artery disease but developed a clot and lost a leg, all that day as I am waiting for tests.
Its been nearly thirty years and its not bad apart from loss of sensation and some mild swelling at times.

Good luck with recovery.

[A1anP]

Foxyrider - sorry to hear of your blood clot and its effects. I had a blood clot on my thigh a few years ago, although my experience seems to be a little different.

I first felt a sharp pain in the inner right thigh when cycling which made me stop and get off. Luckily it subsided and I was able to ride home. The next day my right leg was hugely swollen. I was referred to the hospital but they got the diagnosis wrong at first (thought it was cellulitis). After 2 weeks of antibiotics, no cycling and no difference, the next doctor sent me for a scan which showed up a superficial vein thrombosis. It was only a few centimetres away from a deep vein though, so I was given a month's supply of heparin syringes to inject. I asked about cycling and was told it was fine, so I spent the next month out and about on my bike sporting a compression stocking on my right leg

I hope you have a speedy recovery and get back to cycling ASAP.

Edited for spelling

[foxyrider]

Just an update

Blood clinic on Friday and I'm a little clearer what the problem is. It is a venal clot in the main vein above my knee, very worryingly it's about 20cm long! The cause still hasn't been identified, none of the usual markers seem to be applicable so further investigation goes on

Treatment so far is blood thinning tablets, support stocking and keeping elevated. When the pain has abated some i'm allowed 'light' walking but standing still is out. As is cycling - there's a real danger of material breaking free and heading to the lungs - the pumping action would promote this.

It may well be several months before I can return to even light cycling, it will be dependent on how quickly or not the clot clears. Frustrating but i'd rather be sorted than not.

[531colin]

Its the agitator again.
What anticoagulant therapy are you on?
What are they doing to monitor the effectiveness of the therapy? (eg regular blood sampling and coagulation parameter investigation)
What therapies were discussed with you?
Its part of the consultant's job to make sure you understand both your condition and any alternative therapies that might be offered......however, you may have to be prepared to stand between the consultant and the door until you get an explanation.

[foxyrider]

On Rivaroxaban - will see consultant in a fortnight when i'm expecting more tests etc - until then it's elevation and sitting on my butt with no hard effort exercise and definitely no cycling!

Until then - all I can do is rest

[531colin]

Knowledge is power. Quite a lot here on dose etc. https://www.xarelto-us.com/blood-thinner/xarelto-vs-warfarin
....they also say that regular blood monitoring is not required. (it is if you take Warfarin, there is a narrow line to walk between too much and too little.)

[foxyrider]

Just a quick update.

It's now seven weeks since my diagnosis, seven weeks of misery

The experts have been unable to work out the cause of the clot which means preventative action has to be very general. The treatment of blood thinners and compression leg wear is finally having some results -it's a big clot so it's taking much longer than most people experience. At the current rate I hope to at least be able to sit on a bike again in about a month, I can at least walk a bit now!

Every time I see someone riding, pass my own bikes, see an event invite or report - well it's depressing to say the least to not have the option right now.

[531colin]

Thats tough.
Rivaroxban is an anticoagulant, the aim of treatment is to stop new blood clot forming. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Deep-vein-thrombosis/Pages/Treatment.aspx
After 7 weeks, your clot won't be a red jelly thing, it will be somewhere down the path of fibrosis and vascularisation towards being a bit of scar tissue, which should eventually shrink to a size where your vein can once again function as a length of pipe.
First thoughts are that its odd that medics are quite happy to insert a mechanical device into a patients furred-up coronary artery to open it out (stent), which sounds much too exciting to me, but there is a reluctance to surgically remove DVTs. A bit of googling suggests this is because surgery is likely to promote new DVT formation.
So i think "treatment" consists of anticoagulant to prevent new clot formation and waiting for the existing clot to shrink, or at least scar to a stage where bits aren't going to break off. As for cause, you didn't crash bruise your leg?

[foxyrider]

Thats tough.
Rivaroxban is an anticoagulant, the aim of treatment is to stop new blood clot forming. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Deep-vein-thrombosis/Pages/Treatment.aspx
After 7 weeks, your clot won't be a red jelly thing, it will be somewhere down the path of fibrosis and vascularisation towards being a bit of scar tissue, which should eventually shrink to a size where your vein can once again function as a length of pipe.
First thoughts are that its odd that medics are quite happy to insert a mechanical device into a patients furred-up coronary artery to open it out (stent), which sounds much too exciting to me, but there is a reluctance to surgically remove DVTs. A bit of googling suggests this is because surgery is likely to promote new DVT formation.
So i think "treatment" consists of anticoagulant to prevent new clot formation and waiting for the existing clot to shrink, or at least scar to a stage where bits aren't going to break off. As for cause, you didn't crash bruise your leg?

Nope, no crash, no long flight, no long period of inactivity, recent surgery, medication or serious illness. From all the tests I come out fit and healthy with nothing unknown lurking so I come into the tiny percentage of unidentified cause clots.(shrug)