DVT fear again :( D dimer accuracy

[misskittie]

Well once again I'm having pain in my left leg. It's in my calf and the inside of my leg going all the way up to my groin. I've been trying to be really strong with it and telling myself it's just another muscular pain like last time but when I went into Dr's yesterday to get a requisition for a urine test I mentioned I had been having this pain since Wednesday so he wanted to take a look and said it was a little bigger then my right and a little warmer so he was suspicious and sent me to the emergency room. There the Dr didn't even look at it really but ran a d dimer and it was negative. Today it hurts worse then it has since it started but I'm trying to convince myself that's because I went for a little hike and stuff with my husband last night. And I'm feeling breathless but that could be my low iron as it doesn't feel like there's a weight on my chest at all. Is the d dimer accurate enough that I can give up these blood clot concerns and try not to worry?

[Booboo111]

It absolutely is! As a matter of fact, I had the same fear last year and I tested positive for D dimer last fall, though it was only .12 over the labs refererence range. They sent meor an ultrasounds of both legs and both arms, at my request, and they all came back negative. 2 weeks later I ended up in the er with lower abdomen pain and they did a CT scan and I had a burst cyst on my ovary. So that's what they attributed the slightly elevated d dimer to; the inflammation of my cyst that eventually burst. The dr explained to me that the ONLY really use for a d diner is to say whether there is the POTENTIAL for a clot to be present. If it's positive, they do further tests, but in my case they were clean so they dismissed it because the level was ever so slightly over the range and j did have inflammation, which can also cause a positive result. So if it was negative, you absolutely do not have a blood clot. And this is coming from someone who has severe health anxiety! Easier said than done, but try to remain positive and calm!

[misskittie]

Thanks so much. I don't know why I let myself do this. It's so frustrating cus I can be so rational with anyone else but as soon as it's me I get all like no I'm going to end up being the exception and all rational goes out the window. It makes me feel a bit like a hypocrite at times to reply to others post on here saying oh no everything sounds like it's going to be OK meanwhile I'm freaking out about the exact same thing.
I've gotta learn to trust myself in my reassurances. I super appreciate your reply now I can hopefully move on. :)