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Slightly Elevated D-Dimer (Third Time)

Posted , 11 users are following.

Kytherra
Kytherra

Hello everyone! 

I'm very scared at the moment and would really appreciate your advice. I'm 25 years old and stopped birth control bbout 4 months ago after I went to the hospital complaining of chest pain with a high heart rate and shortness of breath. After testing my blood they told me that my D-Dimer was elevated and rushed me in for a CT scan (which was negative).

In May I went back in complaining of similar symptoms and my D-Dimer came back elevated once again, but the CT was negative. Apparently my D-Dimer is slightly elevated recently and it has been causing me a lot of stress wondering why this is happening. They also did a dopplar ultrasound of my leg, which was clear.

Last night I felt worse than ever before, pain behind my sternum and right side of my chest and back. I felt like I couldn't take a deep enough breath. My heart rate was up and I was crying because of how constricted my breathing felt. Once again they tested my D-Dimer and of course it came back elevated (0.77 on a < 0.5 scale). this time i denied the ct scan and now i'm terrified, not knowing if the third time is indeed the charm in this case. i don't know what is causing my pain and why my d-dimer came back high again. i am afraid of excessive radiation from all of these scans but i'm also afraid that this time something is wrong and i could really be doing myself harm by waiting to re-test my d-dimer.

i have been having a lot of bloodwork recently and do have some brusing on my arm from that, which might explain the elevation. even so, the chest pain and shortness of breath are leaving me terrified and perplexed. i don't know what to do. right now i'm waiting for my brusing to go away and ceasing any bloodwork for a week to re-test but i'm scared i'll do myself harm by doing this. i'm also scared of possible cancer in the future with 3 chest ct scans in a 4 month period.

i'm reaching out because i'm so scared i can't sleep at all. 

  0.5 scale).="" this="" time="" i="" denied="" the="" ct="" scan="" and="" now="" i'm="" terrified,="" not="" knowing="" if="" the="" third="" time="" is="" indeed="" the="" charm="" in="" this="" case.="" i="" don't="" know="" what="" is="" causing="" my="" pain="" and="" why="" my="" d-dimer="" came="" back="" high="" again.="" i="" am="" afraid="" of="" excessive="" radiation="" from="" all="" of="" these="" scans="" but="" i'm="" also="" afraid="" that="" this="" time="" something="" is="" wrong="" and="" i="" could="" really="" be="" doing="" myself="" harm="" by="" waiting="" to="" re-test="" my="" d-dimer.="" i="" have="" been="" having="" a="" lot="" of="" bloodwork="" recently="" and="" do="" have="" some="" brusing="" on="" my="" arm="" from="" that,="" which="" might="" explain="" the="" elevation.="" even="" so,="" the="" chest="" pain="" and="" shortness="" of="" breath="" are="" leaving="" me="" terrified="" and="" perplexed.="" i="" don't="" know="" what="" to="" do.="" right="" now="" i'm="" waiting="" for="" my="" brusing="" to="" go="" away="" and="" ceasing="" any="" bloodwork="" for="" a="" week="" to="" re-test="" but="" i'm="" scared="" i'll="" do="" myself="" harm="" by="" doing="" this.="" i'm="" also="" scared="" of="" possible="" cancer="" in="" the="" future="" with="" 3="" chest="" ct="" scans="" in="" a="" 4="" month="" period.="" i'm="" reaching="" out="" because="" i'm="" so="" scared="" i="" can't="" sleep="" at="" all. ="">

i have been having a lot of bloodwork recently and do have some brusing on my arm from that, which might explain the elevation. even so, the chest pain and shortness of breath are leaving me terrified and perplexed. i don't know what to do. right now i'm waiting for my brusing to go away and ceasing any bloodwork for a week to re-test but i'm scared i'll do myself harm by doing this. i'm also scared of possible cancer in the future with 3 chest ct scans in a 4 month period.

i'm reaching out because i'm so scared i can't sleep at all. 

 >

0 likes, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • titanium
    titanium Kytherra

    Posted

    Hello. You sound very scared and unsure.

    Have you thought about an MRI scan ? Apparently this scan does not use radiation. I`m thinking it would maybe show up any problems throughout your body,and not just your leg, which you say you`ve already had scanned.

    It seems these scans are quite costly to the NHS, which is probably why you haven`t already had one. The mental stress you are going through is not acceptable, therefore, if I were you, I would demand an MRI.

    Please let me know how you get on. Take care, Lyn.

  • Granny56
    Granny56 Kytherra

    Posted

    D-dimer alone is not a diagnostic tool for PE. It can be raised for other reasons such as pregnancy, rheumatoid athritis and some of the other inflammatory conditions and also controversially in obese patients.

    Was your ECG ok?

  • medhelp
    medhelp Kytherra

    Posted

    Hi Kytherra,

    Are you still having these symptoms? Have you figured out what's been causing them?

     

  • Amy1976
    Amy1976 Kytherra

    Posted

    I know your post is older, but I hope this can help someone else. I had pain under my left rib and I thought maybe it was my gallbladder. This had been happening for a few months off an on over the years. I came back from a trip in Jan 2017 via plane and about a week later, my sternum and left ribcage hurt to the point it hurt to move much. Unusual was I could press on my sternum and aggravate the pain. The sternum thing was completey new since it had always been an irritation in my lower left ribcage and I thought it was a gallbladder spasm. I went to my doctor who ran a d-dimer test on me which was slightly elevated so the next step was to rule out Pulmonary embolism. I had a CT scan and there was no PE. It turned out to be costocondritis. The doc told me to take a week long course of ibuprofen, lots of it. It helped the pain but messed up my stomach badly. I read online how someone said it was a vitamin D deficiency for them. Well, I live in the pacific northwest and that is very likely. I don't tan nor supplement with vit D. I also realized I would get dry eye about the same time in January. I took vitamin D and it completely got rid of all my costochondritis pain and fixed the severe dry eye problem I'd been having for at least a decade. It's worth trying if you have costochondritis.

    • ceev41418
      ceev41418 Amy1976

      Posted

      Thanks so much for this . I have same elevated DDimer result and several test was done. But they cannot fully rule out why . I will try the vitamin D since I live here in PNW too.
  • Brookesaimee
    Brookesaimee Kytherra

    Posted

    Hi there,

    Just wondering if you got sorted and found out what was causing your elevated d dimer? I had similar the other day, chest pain and shoulder tip pain. Went to walk in and got sent to A&E. had elevated d dimer so had ct for PE. CT scan was negative but worried now as I've had this vein in my arm which keeps sinking in for no reason (I can feel it sort of pulling down and can see it sunken). worries I think could be a clot in my arm.

  • sammie2help
    sammie2help Kytherra

    Posted

    Hello Kytherra i know some info that might help you about a high d dimer on a blood test...the sad thing is an elevated or high d dimer isnt specific on what is causing it....of course there is dvt (deep vein thrombosis) blood clot or pulmonary embolism but there is also a possible sepsis or a cancer...people with cancer have high d dimers..cancers like lung breast brain...or u could have a serious disease...u are way too young for this to happen to at 24...i read that u r having a hard time breathing...does your doctor have u on a nebulizer or an inhaler?? Certain cancers as well as certain autoimmune diseases have to be specifically tested for...im wondering if u r getting the right care from your doctor?? If u have copies of your blood test can u see anything else out of the norm that u can tell me?? My suggestion is for your doctor to take a biopsy of some tissue of your lungs baby girl...the sad but true thing about lung cancer is by the time it shows up on blood test its kinda too late...a biopsy of the lung is the best way to catch it before it progresses...U need a pulmonologist (lung doc) and a hematology (blood doc) ASAP A HIGH D DIMER IS NOTHING TO PLAY WITH!!! How many CT scans?? 3? Of your lungs??
    • maureen09477
      maureen09477 sammie2help

      Posted

      I have had varicose veins in my legs for over 20 years and also get frequent leg ulcers. The last week in January i went to see my GP with a hard lump on a vein in my right leg which was painful. He gave me antibiotics and i had a d.dimer test. The results came back as being 2000 which gp said was high. He arranged a ct scan for the next day. I had a blood clot in my leg but it wasn't a DVT. I had to inject myself every day for 6 weeks with clexane blood thinner. I saw my gp on 15th January for a follow up appointment. He seemed to think everything was ok even though the lump hadn't gone completely . As my d dimer test had been so high i asked if i could have have another test to see if it had gone down any. He refused saying there was no need. I said i was worried if it was still raised there could be something else wrong as 2000 was extremely high. He said the clexane is very good and that i would now be ok. He knew i wasn't satisfied but kept saying he was running out of time as my appointment went over the 10 minute slot. It's the next day now and I'm still worrying about it. I just wanted reassurance

      from him and i didn't get it. Has anyone got any thoughts on this........

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