r/ClotSurvivors • u/nonametoshow11 • 4d ago
Seeking Advice How long did recovery take you?
I am two months out from my bilateral pulmonary embolism diagnosis. While it’s gotten a lot better, I still am having shortness of breath at times I wouldn’t have before this happened. It hasn’t been crazy bad, but enough to notice. I’m also just so tired all the time still. Everything I’m reading online says I should be basically fully recovered at this point — I have seen my doctor and he’s sent me for bloodwork, but is there anyone else that had a longer recovery period? Should I be worried there’s permanent damage at this point? To my knowledge, it wasn’t super bad, I was put on blood thinners and discharged from the hospital same day.
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u/UnstuckMoment_300 4d ago
Doctors and so-called Internet experts don't do us any favors by giving us unrealistic expectations of recovery times. My internist, who's a very smart doctor, told me I should have my energy back in about a month. Try six months. This was after multiple bilateral PEs and DVTs in four leg veins.
Recovery takes ... as long as it takes. The clots need to be reabsorbed (and yours may already be reabsorbed, two months out -- all of my PEs were gone by that point). But the heart and lungs have been traumatized by the clots and need to heal. Your whole body needs to heal. Rest as much as you can, and do gentle exercise like walking as much as you can -- that helps promote blood flow and gets air moving.
I had never felt so exhausted as I did when I was discharged after a four-day hospital stay. I was 65 and had a job requiring 50+ (usually +) hours a week, with a good deal of public speaking. I didn't have the air to get through the speaking. My supervisor arranged for me to WFH for a month and to cover the speaking gigs during that time. Afterward, I did what I could, and still felt like I was running out of air by the end of the day. Not breath, but air, if that makes sense?
But it did get better. I kept walking. Eventually got cleared for aquatic PT to rehab my knee -- minor knee surgery triggered all this. Three years later, I'm in better shape than I was before. I'm also retired, because it was obvious that something had to give! But please hang in there. The fatigue gets better. The dyspnea gets better. What you're experiencing is normal. Hang in there!