Pulmonary embolism?

[Stephenie.welch]

For the last five days I've had shortness of breath and chest pain on right side of chest. No leg pain at all and I had went to the hospital and they did a d dimer and it was a little elevated(I am pregnant though) cut off was .5 mine was .6 so not much at all.. And they did chest X-ray normal. And normal leg Doppler no clots there.. But In so scared that something is wrong. My pulse is also high at rest which really makes me more suspicious. But ER Doctor sent me home and didn't think I had a pe.. I don't know what to do

[Mi]

This is the main reason I'm on meds. I'm still scared that they've missed something. I had a very elevated d dimer and was sent for a VQ scan. The only thing I had at the time was very mild chest pain. I seem to have been living at the hospital recently with the amount of trips I've done due to chest pain and shortness of breath. They all say if it was a pe (which they are very sure if isn't) then my symptoms would have worstend by now. It seems that since I was made aware of pe's I have developed all the symptoms for one. The doctors share all lovely and all put it down to anxiety. I've been to 3 hospitals and seen 2 gps and they all say the same thing. We just have to have faith that they know what they are doing, after all they are the professionals. I'm actually getting a private ultrasound scan on my legs to help relax myself. Maybe you could do something similar that will put your mind at ease x

---------- Post added at 06:34 ---------- Previous post was at 05:55 ----------

How many weeks pregnant are you?
With my first son I remember being very breathless in my second trimester. I would be sat in bed huffing and puffing away and struggling to catch my breath. That was nearly 3 years ago so obviously it was nothing serious. Babies also push your ribs out by quite a lot so the pain that you are feeling is probably the strain on your ribs from baby x

[Stephenie.welch]

Thank you for your reply I really appreciate it as I feel so alone everyone keeps saying you don't have a blood clot stop! And I feel worse with the
Being like that. I'm 17 weeks so still relatively early. The chest pain just randomly comes and goes but the sob is almost always there except when I first wake up. I'm just so scared
. Surely my d dimer would have been more elevated right?

---------- Post added at 08:05 ---------- Previous post was at 06:37 ----------

I can't sleep I'm so scared

[Mi]

I know exactly how you feel! It's like "how do you know what's wrong with me, you're not feeling what I'm feeling". Apparently they are very cautious with pe's so they must be right, after all they are the experts but that still doesn't make it easier to accept you don't have one. I'm exactly the same! Chest and upper back pain come and go but breathlessness seems pretty constant. I think that's because we are focused on our breathing as this is what scares us the most. I've actually been looking up where I can get a private d-dimer test done as I don't think nhs will do another for me because they have no concerns. I'm afraid I'm not sure about how high they usually go but mine was over 1000 a week after giving birth and both leg Doppler and vq scan came back negative.
My doctor said she doesn't deny I'm feeling all the symptoms but it's my anxiety causing them. I've actually booked a repeat ultrasound on my legs because I'm still getting the aching and tingling and it should help me relax more when I've had it done.
Aw you're nearly half way �� I hope you can enjoy the rest of your pregnancy! Are you finding out the gender? How are you feeling about the pregnancy? X

[Stephenie.welch]

Hey got back from hospital.. Did a ct finally and nervous about the contrast part where it said it was suboptimal.. Do you think they still would have found something? Here is my chest results from ct. Ps we find out the gender Tuesday:)


Narrative
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############## F I N A L ##############
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REASON FOR EXAM: pregnant, short of breath, CP,

PROVIDED CLINICAL INFORMATION:

TECHNIQUE: Volumetric CT angiographic data acquisition of the thorax was obtained using the pulmonary embolism protocol after administration of 96 mL of Omnipaque 350 IV contrast. Standard axial and coronal and CT angiographic MIP sagittal and coronal
images are submitted.

COMPARISON: March 10, 2013

FINDINGS:

CHEST:
Lines and tubes: None.
Pneumothorax: None.
Pleural fluid: None.
Lungs: No suspicious pulmonary nodule or focal consolidation.
Thyroid gland: Unremarkable.
Lymph node enlargement: No significant mediastinal, hilar, or axillary lymphadenopathy is identified.
Heart and pericardium: Unremarkable.
Aorta: Unremarkable.
Pulmonary arteries: Although the contrast bolus is suboptimal there is no central or segmental pulmonary embolus identified within the limitations of this examination.
Esophagus/Esophageal hiatus: Unremarkable.
Other: None.

UPPER ABDOMEN:
Limited evaluation of the upper abdomen is unremarkable.

OSSEOUS STRUCTURES:
No acute osseous abnormality.

Impression
IMPRESSION:

1. No central or segmental pulmonary embolism within limitations of this exam.

[Mi]

I know what you mean - you want it just to say 100% all clear. But unfortunately they never can say it officially even though unofficially they are sure. All the other wording is very positive though. Maybe have a word with you're doctor about the wording and he/she can put your mind at ease, but from what I've read it basically says you have the all clear.
Aw at least you have something to look forward to. Will hopefully take your mind off things for a bit x