By far the most common form of pulmonary embolism is a thromboembolism, which occurs when a blood clot, generally a venous thrombus, becomes dislodged from its site of formation an...
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How strong should you be at four months post?
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Hi All, It's almost four months since my PE. (five weeks in hospital and the rest at home)
I'm working on rebuilding my strength and stamina. I can walk a mile slowly, do some exercises carefully and do a little reading and get to healing appointments with someone driving me, but that's about it. One doctor thinks I'm doing O.K. and the other I saw at the hospital hoped I'd be farther along by now - it's confusing - my physical therapist hoped I'd be able to climb stairs by now - my leg strength needs more work. Does this sound normal? I have no idea how long this recovery takes, and I did have bad side effects from the blood thinner arixtra, which held me back. I'm trying to get other opinions on that now... I'm wondering when I can get up stairs (I have been living in one room of our downstairs little house, as the bedroom is on first floor and all else is up a flight of stairs - going bonkers here for three months now.) Any advice or thoughts? Any things good to do to speed up recovery? I'm eating a healthy diet and thinking positive. thanks! hugs to all, clairejean Posted on 07/02/08, 01:07 am |
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Hi I am nearly 4 months post my PE too and up until recently felt very much the same as you. Three weeks ago I saw a respiratory doctor who was great and listened to all my worries about it taking so long to recover. He did point out that although an INR range of 2-3 is fine for the majority of people sometimes a higher level is needed for it to be theraputic. He decided to up my warfarin and keep the INR at 3-3.5 instead. It may be coincidence or maybe even psychological (I dont really care) but the past few weeks I have begun to feel so much better and even managed a few hours at work yesterday. Have been told too that need to count 6 months of treatment from now instead of when I had PE as it is only now that I have reached 'my' theraputic range. But that is fine by me. Not saying this is the case for everyone but does show that making the treatment 'individual' is important.
Hope you begin to feel better soon. I found that setting myself small goals helped. Kate 
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Hang in there clairejean, It takes some time to heal depending on how many clots, size, et al. My clot(s) infarcted which means it damaged the upper right side of my lung. This occured because I wasn't diagnosed right away and was treated for severe bronchitis. Anyway bottom line is it took me months to recuperate. I wasn't able to climb stairs with ease either.
I can tell you things get better. Keep reading this site and you will find a plethora of stories and lots of help understanding what we are going through. Hugs, Nan
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hey clairejean, i think first of all you are doing the right thing - which is to stay positive. that will really aid your recovery.
sounds very similar to my recovery, it was long and very boring! but you'll get there :) and like you, i was told all kinds of different time scales from doctors, one as low as two weeks! but like you, i was in hosp for almost 6.... ah well! but yes, in regards to speeding up recovery... very gentle exercise, that will help your blood flow. also try going online and looking up breathing exercises, and when you feel strong enough i would recomend a beginners yoga class. breathing exercises will train you how to utilise the maximum lung capacity and will really strengthen your lungs helping you to breathe better, and will help speed up recorvery from infarction if you have it (scarring of lungs). it helped me no end, and i am happy to say that after almost 10 months (wow it seems like yesterday though!!) i am fitter, stronger, healthier and happier than ever before. in fact my lungs are probably in better shape now as i quit smoking!! good luck with your recovery!
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Hi All, Thankyou sooooo much for your kind replies and support! I will look for breathhing exercises and go gentle as I can.
It sure helps to know I'm not alone in this and others have walked thhis healaing path. hugs, clairejean
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What helped me was Yoga.... the breathing technique helps open your lungs, I have had great results since I started! I wish you the best.
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