Constant worry about 1 specific problem

[Powerathlete9]

Hey all,

I was wondering if anyone else dealt with being worried about a specific illness constantly. I have been constantly worried about having Pulmonary embolism, I had a DVT 2 years ago that was caused by knee surgery. I never dealt with anxiety until the last 3 months, since then I have been freaking out that I have an undiagnosed PE from a DVT.

I went and had ultra sounds done on both calves and a d-dimer on my blood, also had a chest xray. No evidence of clots and no clotting in my blood, yet I still get freaked out that I might have something going on. I get chest pains then I start thinking it's from a PR and then I start analyzing my legs and breathing deep and seeing if I feel any pain from it which then gIves me real chest pain from trying to breath deep and thus the cycle continues.

Anyways, the chances of a recurring DVT are very minimal when they were brought on by a surgery but I just keep getting stuck on this specific problem. Does anyone have any helpful tips on getting through this and how to keep my mind at ease. I'm sure I'll find something new to freak out about later on but this has been getting to me and won't leave!

Thanks for responses

[Gary A]

There's no reason to think that you're at anymore risk of a pulmonary embolism than anyone else. As you said, your clot was brought on by surgery, it wasn't a naturally occurring clot.

You're actually probably at less risk than most people considering the testing you've had.

[ella32]

I've never had a dvt but I constantly worry about it myself. My leg has been in severe pain last few days so I'm freaking out incase it is a clot. I don't have any swelling or redness or hot to touch but because of the pain I can't get the fear out of my head. Xx

[Powerathlete9]

Thank you for the reassurance, I know I am just gettingredients myself worked up but it just gets to me when I don't take control of my anxiety. And ella, I would maybe just have the GP take a look at it if it continues to bother you for abothering couple of days. My DVT was a really deep ache like a charlie horse that wouldn't go away, it was also in a specific spot that didn't move like a normal calf cramp would be. I had already had swelling from the surgery on my knee so that wasn't really something I could tell from the dvt anyways.