how accurate are d dimers??

[flutterbuy]

I was in hospital the other day after I saw an out of hours gp there for a swelling and pain behind my knee, he wasnt 100% sure so sent me round to aeu i think its called to be tested for dvt and have full blood work done, all came back ok except raised white blood cells and something else that they weren't worried about as I have a cold/flu type thing (congested nose, cough wheezy chest etc) I was in all night waiting for d dimer results as they took a lot loner then the other blood test results, and was told in the morning that the d dimer was negative and the doctor checked my knee and said no dvt, well today iv had chest pain and pain in my back (shoulder blade area) and iv been trying to put it down to wind as iv been a bit gassy and a tiny bit of heart burn, iv also been getting some left arm discomfort so been a bit worried about my heart, I had 2 ecgs at the hospital that were normal and I had a chest xray that was normal, well whilst talking to a mum from the school I got a very brief but sharp stabbing pain just under my left breast where iv been having achey pains all day, now im back to dvt or PE, my sister told me just now here partners friend had what they thought was a chest infection but turned out to be a PE im freaking out big time as I have cough tight heavy chest the chest pains and been having dizziness since yesterday plus randomly vomited last night and felt very sick, as you can imagine im terrified I have a PE!! how accurate are d dimers?? and would a PE have been seen on an xray at all?? they did say they would send me for a scan the next day on my knee but never mentioned it again I assume as the d dimer was negative.. I remember from last time I had health anxiety that someone said d dimers aren't 100% accurate, I don't know weather that means a negative d dimer doesn't always mean no clot or weather a positive doesn't always mean a clot or even both if that makes sense? are d dimers always accurate at determining no blood clots?? I know other issues in the body could mean a positive result and it not be a clot.. now im rambling and talking cr*p sorry just a very worried lady here, still getting pains in that area of my chest :'(

[Yogi]

You said you've had a cold... I've got a cold right now and the exact same chest pains that you are describing. Last night I had pains in chest (centre and left side), between shoulder blades and in left shoulder/arm. Was worried I was having a heart attack but chose to wait it out and see if it got worse (figured heart attack would present increasingly horrible symptoms!)
Managed to fall asleep and bit better today although still have niggling pains.
I am betting it has something to do with the cold virus.. Yours probably is too!

[flutterbuy]

thank you hun, just cant seem to stop this worrying, its so hard when you hear about doctors missing things :( this pain I had that worried me was so brief but very sharp and unsettling and kinda stopped me in my tracks a bit xx

[Vida]

D-dimers that are negative rule out a clot 100%. Rest assured that you don't have a PE or DVT. When they say d-dimers aren't 100% accurate they mean if they come back positive it doesn't mean there's a clot and further studies need to be done to confirm it. I hope this helps. I'm an ER nurse if that helps a little more. Sorry you're so worried. But try not to.

[flutterbuy]

oh my gosh vida thank you so so much, it really means for certain no clot? I feel tuns better thank you xx

[Yogi]

Yeah the pain scared me too hun. It's pretty intense but like I said fairly sure just part of this virus that's doing the rounds xx

[Vida]

Yes negative ddimer confirms no clot. :)

[popejoan]

I think they are accurate enough to be used to test DVT :) Hospitals wouldn't use it if it was useless right? Chest pain due to PE would be so severe, it wouldn't cause a dull pain, it would be crushing pain. Believe your doctor, you're fine. Blood clots are rare, are you on the pill? I'm on Yasmin and I'm not worried. I had my fear with blood clots though, it faded away in time.

[flutterbuy]

Yogi - thank you hun I still have the pain but more so in my shoulder blade xx

Vida - thank you, some one just told me they are only 97% well ik say only that's quite accurate but anxiety only needs half a % :( lol xx

Popejoan - your right hun and if they ws concerned theyd of scanned me right? then again the issue was in my leg then not chest :( I cant help but be scared about PE its awful! im not on the pill hun xx

[popejoan]

Then there's nothing you need to worry about. The pill increases blood clot risk slightly but still chances are too small. You got the all clear I think it's time to leave this worry behindxx

[flutterbuy]

I agree with you popejoan im using my cbt skills to rationalise and its working a little, its the little bursts of anxiety that comes with the pains :( I have sore shoulders and a little heart burn, only a little and been burping today so trying to think its tension and wind and anxiety perpetuating the pains etc, I guess what makes it harder is what my sister told me about her partners friend being misdiagnosed with a chest infection when she had a PE and I have a bad chest but with it iv had a congested nose and it started as a cold with sore throat and sneezing so again im trying to rationalise, im really trying to use what I learnt in cbt for my ocd as its pretty much the same for health anxiety, about allowing the anxiety to be there and rationalising the thoughts etc xx