thigh dvt

Hi yes I am on apixaban and have a compression stocking during the day, I feel it is lack of medical information being passed on leading to me not knowing what to do .

Having done some research today it seems that a thigh dvt is rather rare and therefore the full length of the thigh is gonna a a be a tough one to shift

Lack of info is annoying, we had to get a referral to a more specialist hosp to get the right diagnosis and what to do after the warfarin and the gen hosp said dont exercise wheras the Vasc dept at G&St T said exercise all you can, pain doesn't matter, take pain killers as you are helping circulation. The Thrombosis UK charity is useful as is their facebook page, I found help there. I share there too. 

My son had serious abdominal surgery and wasnt anticoagulated after discharge. He had no advice so had a DVT prob for 2 days, started in calf, thought it was pulled muscle, built up to "massive" DVT, huge swollen, red, hot calf, couldnt walk so went to A&E. At Guys they scanned after 8 months and said scarring from ankle to abdomen. Still angry that they didnt stop him from getting a DVT, could have got a PE which can be v serious. The size of the DVT did the damage. I hope you find it helpful that the advice is try and exercise, wear stocking, you should improve but it takes time. MTS and PTS are complications which you may not have or get. Swimming is good as not weight bearing. Sheila.

What are MTS and PTS?

I am finding I am getting alot of foot pain when at rest almost as if the stocking is too tight.

I wasn't anti coagulated straight after discharge , I was sent straight home , no stocking I was really poorly after discharge just as I was getting better I got excruciating calf pain

It's been just over a month now and this is quite enough !

Have a look on the internet, lots written about both, esp on Thrombosis UK. PTS occurs as a result of an extensive DVT where scarring is left behind after DVT has dissolved and reduces the blood flow, like a traffic jam, and leads to swelling and pain. Hopefully you wont get it. But whilst the body is healing the DVT, and it takes time, the blood flows more slowly, the stocking should help to compress against the vein. The muscle in the leg helps to encourage blood flow too hence the need to exercise. May Thurner syndrome is where the vein is compressed by blood flow  through the artery in the groin and causes reduced blood flow and circulation. Have you received any advice about collaterals forming? Do you know if you were risk assessed for DVT or VTE whilst in hosp and were you given any advice about post surgical DVT and how to avoid it ? I pressume you had injections daily when in hosp. Do you work at a GP surgery? I get cross as this is avoidable, my son was 14 days in hosp after going in with DVT and wasnt able to walk for 5 days as his leg was like a tree trunk. Poor care. Sheila.

I have had no advice re collaterals so am going to take this and contact my guy on weds thus us when he is available

After the surgery I was supposed to stay in 1 night but was encouraged to go home after a few hours, no stocking or injections

I work in a GP surgery yes to be honest they are being more helpful than my useless misinformed gp surgery I am going to request a choose and book referral to guys & st Thomas for some proper advice I live in birmingham but if I have to travel then so be it.

I have no consultant I am under the anticoagulation team at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham

I am trying to work out an option at the moment where I can possibly cut down hours but I have a mortgage to pay ,im dreading tomorrow but I may as well get paid to be in pain I guess, sorry to moan and groan but nice to know someone understands x

Hi, sorry you have so much pain and that it's affecting your ability to work.

I'm not sure that MST and oromorph are the best pain killers for the pain you have, but I know that's a bit of a difficult one on anticoagulants. Something like Brufen and co-codamol might work better, as a lot of the pain will be from inflamation. Might be worth asking about a non-steroidal.

I think the reason they didn't give you injections was because you went home very soon after the op. The heparin injections are only indicated in certain operations. To be honest, if you've never had a DVT before and it was minor surgery then I'm surprised you've ended up with such an extensive clot, or indeed one at all.

If your under the Anticoagulation team then you will have a Consultant as the team is probably headed up by one. All DVT/PE patients should be referred to a haematologist, so you need to check with the team that the appointment is in the pipe line, so to speak.

if you work for a GP surgery don't you get sick pay? I really don't think it's wise to be going to work unless you can sit with your leg up and be able to get up and walk around for a while every 20 minutes. Even then, you're on some pretty heavy pain meds. I wouldn't be able to stay awake on them, never mind achieve anything useful at work.

Also wanted to add that you can't drive for at least 6 weeks after a DVT and you have to tell your insurance company. Good Luck.

Sorry to hear about your dvt but thanks for sharing your experience, every day is a struggle at the moment I'd love to wake up one morning pain free

Sorry to hear about your dvt and thank you for your advice it's nice to know im not on my own , I thought I'd have my surgery and feel better not be left with this

I'm gritting my teeth and trying work but it's hard going crumbled on Friday spent the weekend laid up

Trust me it does get easier, just listen to your body and don't let it control your life. I hardly know mine is still there and hopefully in a month scans will show that it has cleared. Yours may well clear faster, fingers crossed.

I am finding as usual that the hospitals are not very helpful and I am having to try and find the information for myself,

My dvt is the length of my thigh, iv been seen once in a specialist clinic given my medication and sent on my way with little to no information about if I should be exercising a little or not?

Like I say iv got a knee length stocking for a thigh length dvt which seems daft to me

At the moment my life is so limited I can just about manage work luckily I work part time they have found me a stool for my leg bless um then home leg up

If I do go out I take crutches as so unsteady and painful and get exhausted after bout 20 min party lifestyle I lead haha.

I had a really awful 6 months leading up to this as had gallstones, mine was a provoked dvt so they tell me I aquired it after the gallbladder removal surgery lucky me 😀

It's nice to know there is light at the end of the tunnel cos at the moment it's quite hard to see im trying not to let it get the better of me.

Sorry for going on and on

Sometimes it's good to go on and on lol. The hospital was much the same with me, once they had the PE clots under control they weren't overly worried about the DVT clot, they told me nothing about what to do about it. The stocking they gave me was useless and it wasn't until I did some research of my own that I found I should be wearing a properly fitted medical compression stocking. If you Google thigh compression stockings you will find manufacturers and suppliers near you. Definitely do it though, as I said I still wear mine 8 months later. Also M make sure you get regular scans to check on its progress as far as dissolving. I though they could remove clots in the thighs. Stay positive, the wo4st should be behind you.

Re scans they say they won't rescan until 6 months and thats if my gp requests, but he will be as I want to know how much it has broken down

However I have a scan on sat for the pain behind my knee hoping this may shed some light ......

My GP insists that I get scanned every three months. Next scan due early July, hopefully showing clot has fully cleared.