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Feeling in throat/upper chest preceding and following a PE. Anyone else?

Posted , 3 users are following.

ellynad
ellynad

Hello,

I had knee and leg surgery two weeks ago. A few days ago I ended up in the hospital with multiple clots in my lungs.

I am home now.

Anyways, the day before my trip to the ER, I woke up with a feeling in my lower throat/very upper chest like I swallowed a golf ball. It wouldn't go away all day. It wasn't heart burn. I thought maybe it was indigestion or something, so I took a couple doses of Maalox through the day, but I couldn't shake it. After about 14 hours, it was bedtime again, so I went to sleep, only to be woken up an hour later with the shortness of breath, sharp lung pain in my rear lower right lung, and unable to draw a deep breath. Off to the ER to start the whole PE journey.

Interestingly enough, when I woke up with the lung symptoms, the "golf ball" feeling had subsided almost completely. The ER doc dismissed it.

Then after being admitted and started on IV blood thinners, the second day in the hospital the golf ball feeling returned. Not as severe, but very bothersome. The doctor making rounds also dismissed it, not really knowing what it could be or if it was related. A nurse suggested anxiety, but how does that explain me having the golfball feeling the whole day preceding being diagnosed with PE?

The feeling has now subsided, four days later.

Has anyone experienced this odd symptom with their PE?

0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • peter54321
    peter54321 ellynad

    Posted

    Hi Elly,

    Can't say I experience the same thing, but I did get some odd sensations when I had my PEs. In my case I had a pain between my neck and my shoulder. It felt a bit like a cramp knot.....but it felt like it was above the shoulder. Somewhat strange. The specialist said it was referred pain associated with the clots. 

    I hope you get better soon.

    Peter

    • ellynad
      ellynad peter54321

      Posted

      Thanks for the reply, Peter!

      That feeling now has gone away. Now of course I am just left with the pain from the clots. I didn't realize it would be this bad. Really a set back in my leg recovery.

    • peter54321
      peter54321 ellynad

      Posted

      It seems recovery can be quite variable, depending on individual, cause etc. etc. I can only speak from my experiencee - the major pain went fairly quickly. No doubt because the anticoagulants did their job and prevented further clots. Discomfort was another matter and took a fair while. Even now, still have pangs. Breathlessness took months to resolve - although in fairness, I did have a lot of very large clots.

      Information on recovering from PEs is pretty hard to come by, so ask away and I and others will try to answer. I found exercise very helpful, but in your circumstances that's not very helpful. 

      The good news is that they diagnosed fairly quickly. Not always the case.

      What anticoagulants did they give you?

      Peter

    • ellynad
      ellynad peter54321

      Posted

      I went home from the surgery on warfarin, and had my INR done every three days. My level never got higher than 1.6. Then I got the PE. In the ER and the first two days in the hospital, they have me IV Heparin, then tranisitioned me to Lovenox injections in my belly that I take at home. Also still on Warfarin orally. Tomorrow I get my INR drawn again to see if they can take me off the injections.
    • peter54321
      peter54321 ellynad

      Posted

      Just checked my yellow book for last year's readings. Looks like my start was similar, as I struggled to get my INR up for the first few weeks. Finally got up to 2.5 after 6 weeks. Since then, it's mostly been around that, with the odd drop or spike. Never less than 2 or higher than 3.6. 

      HTH

      Peter

    • ellynad
      ellynad peter54321

      Posted

      I ended up in the emergency room yesterday evening. The lung pain and shortness of breath were worse then it was when I first got diagnosed with PE last week! It was scary. They did all the tests and a new CT scan to make sure new clots hadn't somehow formed. Checked my heart as well. Everything looked good. They said that some PE patients just get severe inflammation, and that I need to surrender a bit to the higher doses of pain meds. I've been really conservative since my knee surgery.

      Feeling icky today but a bit better.

    • peter54321
      peter54321 ellynad

      Posted

      Sorry to hear you had a flair up yesterday.  I reckon the ER is right - your lungs are going to be pretty sore and inflamed after the clots. It is a real nuisance that you cannot use the very pain medication that suits the condition (ibuprofen and the like), due to its interaction with warfarin. Chest pains are one of the characteistics of PEs that are not explained well (possibly because the cause is not well understood). My specialist said there are no nerves in the lung tissue (!?) and the massive pain is when the clots are in the pleura. I have no idea if that's right, but it sure felt like my lungs hurt like hell early on. Many on here have chest pains and they do get better over time.

      Just to make sure you are informed, as I am not sure what your people have told you - but depending on the number/size of the clots, recovery can take a while. (Not trying to depress you as it can be a quick recovery, but not always). Took me a while, but I suspect I am fitter now than before :o)

      Hope things improve this evening.....put your feet up!

      Peter

  • christie2610
    christie2610 ellynad

    Posted

    hi i have had this feeling since goin on rivaroxaban was told it was oesophageal reflux given gaviscon, it still persists and i am now off the blood thinners, i get a peppery tast in my throat and mouth and my nose is also sore and bleeding, anyone had symptoms like this? 

    chris

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