(dvt) Deep Vein Thrombosis

[dirty-boi]

Hi All,

I know this is completely off topic, but I thought I would share my experience of this painful ailment as the main cause is operations and injuries.

With our sport being rather dangerous I thought it was a good idea to share my experience and the symptoms so you can identify this if you are unlucky enough to develop it.

The hospital never went through the details with me so mine got quite bad before it was diagnosed and as i had just had major surgery in the area I thought the symptoms were normal.

What is deep vein thrombosis?

Deep vein thrombosis happens in the veins deep inside the lower leg or sometimes the arm.

The veins in this area are surrounded by muscle.

Deep vein thrombosis is a clot in these veins, this is usually caused by pressure from sitting down too long or a cast/brace etc or incorrect elevation.

In my case both.

When the blood stops flowing due to the above causes it starts to clot just as it would if you had a cut but within the vein until it completely blocks the flow.

Parts of this clot can break off and travel up to your lungs, this is called pulmonary embolism (PE) and is extremely serious and can kill.

Symptoms

Extreme pain - this became so bad for me that I couldn't be upright for longer than 10 seconds without feeling like i was about to pass out.

It went away if the leg was above my hip.

Swelling - in all areas below the clot, this can get bigger very quickly when upright, this contributes to the pain.

Bruising and redness - a whole lot of bruising my leg was black and blue from top to bottom.

Treatment

These are the treatments i received, there may be others (heparin), both are drugs known as "anti-coagulants" which thins the blood and prevents further clots forming.

Clexane - this thins the blood almost instantly and is administered immediately after diagnosis.

it is an injection once a day into the stomach area either side of the navel (belly button).

this is like injecting vinegar, i had to do this myself, which is quite a mental barrier to cross when you know it hurts.

Warfarin - this is a tablet based drug, you have to build up a level of this so it takes a while to work which is what the clexane is for.

the dosage is regulated by the level of thinness of blood. for this you have to attend regular blood tests and your dosage is decided on this result.

Depending on the circumstances you can be on warfarin for the rest of your life, for me 3 months.

I hope this has been informative and even if it helps one person get diagnosed quicker then it was worth writing.

If anyone has any questions, post them and Ill try my best to answer them.

[JT!]

I think i'm going to pass out just reading that.

[monkeyseemonkeydo]

[Mockett]

lost it a t "Hi All"

[dirty-boi]

You might all take the p**s but trust me you wouldn't if you had to deal with it.

[Matt Vandart]

Is it mended now or will you always have to take warfarin (Which contains nitro glycerin which is in dynamite by the way) ferever?

Matt

[Pashley26]

You might all take the p**s but trust me you wouldn't if you had to deal with it.

Well copy and pasted that man !

[dirty-boi]

Is it mended now or will you always have to take warfarin (Which contains nitro glycerin which is in dynamite by the way) ferever?

Matt

Im off the Warfarin now and the clots have gone, but I still have the injury that required the operations and I will always be classed as "high risk"

So I have to declare it before any more operations or flights etc.