Woke up with a tender calf

[ChocoOrange]

Hi everyone, episode three of my health anxiety relapse nightmare here. Two or three days ago I woke up and my right calf felt really tender, it wasn't red, warm or swollen, but super tender. Like just rubbing my other leg against it caused pain. It went away after two or three minutes but I'm terrified it was a DVT, and I've felt breathless on and off for the last day or so. Any reassurance/experience with this would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

[ChocoOrange]

Atm I feel like I can't get a full breath, really scared

[NotDeadYet]

ChocoOrange

If you genuinely feel that you had DVT that went into your lungs and you can't get a full breath, then you need to go to A&E.

If you think you're inability to get a full breath may be caused by the heightened state of anxiety you are experiencing, then take a few deep breaths (as deep as you can) and calm your sympathetic nervous system down. Your calf could have been hurting for thousands of other reasons unrelated to a DVT.

Best Wishes

[ChocoOrange]

ChocoOrange

If you genuinely feel that you had DVT that went into your lungs and you can't get a full breath, then you need to go to A&E.

If you think you're inability to get a full breath may be caused by the heightened state of anxiety you are experiencing, then take a few deep breaths (as deep as you can) and calm your sympathetic nervous system down. Your calf could have been hurting for thousands of other reasons unrelated to a DVT.

Best Wishes


I mean I can go upstairs without being out of breath and stuff, it just doesn't feel right, yknow?

[NotDeadYet]

Absolutely. So it sounds like it isn't an emergency situation and may be more related to your heightened anxiety. Your fight or flight is in overdrive. Do you have some coping skills like meditation, journaling or the like that have helped you in the past?

[ChocoOrange]

Unfortunately none tht have consistently worked

[ChocoOrange]

I woke up today breathing well, but now it' going bad again. Does that mean it's most likely anxiety? Would a PE do that?

[NotDeadYet]

Considering you stated your breathlessness didn't occur when exerting, I stand by my original comment that it is anxiety related.

Think back to what you were doing or thinking right before you noticed your breathing being strained. What was it you were thinking or doing?

[ChocoOrange]

I remember I had a stabbing pain right below my ribs in the center (the diaphragm) and I thought to myself 'that was the embolism'. And since then I just can't seem to catch a deep breath, I'm constantly yawning trying to

[NotDeadYet]

Ok excellent!! I'm actually really glad you were able to remember two very important things: a trigger & a thought.

You were triggered by a stabbing pain below your ribs. This could have been caused by so many things! Because you're brain has been thinking about DVTs and PEs, it automatically associated this pain with those issues. You then had an immediate thought of "that was the embolism" which reinforced your thinking. You then began initiating behaviors to reinforce your thinking even more: checking your breathing, yawning etc. These behaviors/thinking patterns then activated your sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and you began experiencing shortness of breath.

Our brains & bodies are so powerful that we can convince ourselves so matter-of-factly that something sinister is happening when it really isn't. Just as we can turn on the process I described above, you can just as easily shut it off...with practice. Instead of going down the path of believing the pain was an embolism, you could have challenged that believe with any of the thoughts below:

"That was just a random pain from my body. It has now gone away so no worries."
"If that were an embolism, I'd be experiencing complete shortness of breath and other emergency-like symptoms. I'm not, so it isn't an embolism."
"I've been thinking a lot about DVTs and PEs so my brain is going to go straight to that conclusion. My thoughts aren't reality"

You could probably come up with a lot more but the point is to challenge the thought...and keep challenging it. I like to say my challenge phrases out loud and then I promptly do something I enjoy doing: call a friend, go for a walk, go out to eat etc. The thoughts won't go away competently at first because you're brain is trained to dwell on scary things. With practice...lots and lots of practice...you'll get to a point where your brain won't become hijacked with unrealistic thoughts.

HA sucks but you've got this!

Best Wishes

[Halle0587]

Wow, thank you. I’m dealing with similar only I’m post c section and I’m freaking out. This reply is something I’m going to try-to challenge the thought and move to something I like to do quickly.

[ChocoOrange]

I second Halle, thanks so much for your in-depth reply and I'll try challenge my thoughts more. I've done it succesfully in the past but right now I'm feeling particularly bad mental health wise and didn't think of it. Thanks!

@Halle Does it feel like you can't take a deep 'satisfying' breath? That's how mine is atm, constantly yawning trying to get air I clearly don't need haha