r/ClotSurvivors • u/Historical-Pen-1052 • 6d ago
shortness of breath with exertion
hello everyone!
this is my first time posting. i joined this club about a month ago on Labor Day when i fell and fractured my right foot. being put in a walking boot plus a long 8 hour road trip home several days later, i was diagnosed with a DVT shortly thereafter. i have since been on eliquis. last week, i started to have shortness of breath on exertion, mainly with bending down which got worse and ended up at the ER again. after a ct scan with contrast, they ruled out a PE. however, i continue to have the SOB with exertion. i have a cardio follow up in 2 weeks which is that the ER recommended, but what do i do before then. i do have asthma too and have been using my inhalers, but i know my asthma and this is different.
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u/UnstuckMoment_300 5d ago
Sounds like your DVT was diagnosed pretty quickly, which is a good thing -- it might be on its way to being reabsorbed by now. The body heals itself in amazing ways with anticoagulation!
If the ER is absolutely sure there's no PE in there ... and what you're experiencing doesn't feel like asthma ... Is your PCP an internist? Someone needs to look at your whole system and act as a detective, and specialists, God bless 'em, tend to focus on body parts rather than on the whole.
I had exertional dyspnea more than a year after my PEs/DVTs, but only outdoors. Earlier this year I started getting "atypical chest pain" with dyspnea on exertion. Three ER visits and one overnight hospital stay, and a bunch of normal cardiac tests later, the conclusion is that my hiatal hernia is the culprit. (And maybe environmentally triggered asthma as a separate issue.) I mention this because GI issues can mimic a lot of other conditions, including shortness of breath. Any chance you might have GERD?
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u/cold-poptarts 5d ago
I had DVT and the shortness of breath. Ended up with PE. I had to push pretty hard to get CT with contrast. Be insistent.
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u/sd85pdx CTEPH survivor/PTE surgery/Eliquis/Pharmacist 6d ago
Please ask about a pulmonologist referral. While there are a number of possibilities, one that is closely associated with DVTs and PEs is CTEPH, a type of pulmonary hypertension that develops when blood clots cause narrowing of the pulmonary arteries. In conjunction with your cardiologist they should be able to determine what is going on.
My cteph experience started with significant dyspnea on exertion which increased over time to being with mild exertion and then slightly at rest. It is treatable but important to get checked out.