hi everyone! sorry this is a bit long but please read.
well basically last week i had a bit of a scare (well, a bit of a scare is like a fully fledged nightmare for a hypochondriac like me!)
i went to a&e with intense chest and back pains - it was like a knife was digging into my lung everytime i breathed in or out. now the doctor's office is pretty much a second home for me - but this was crazy painful, i've never had that before, and it shook me up a bit.
well the nurse ran some routine blood tests and all came back fine except the 3rd one - d-dimer/blood clot test - which took a little longer. the nurse finally came back and said 'i'm afraid the blood clot test has come back positive - which means you might have a clot in your lungs - which could be causing the pain.' well i almost fainted there and then and almost burst into tears. i got some blood thinner injections in my belly and was told i'd have to wait another 2 whole days before i could get a scan! which is absurd - the hospital only does scans 2 days a week, on tues and thurs - i think that's shocking! what if you came in on a friday? you'd have to wait 4 days!
anyway to cut a long story short, after a lot of tears and panic, the radiation tests came back fine so i was finally free to go - thank god.
why my d-dimer was raised however is a mystery - and it still worries me, because i don't have any injuries, pregnancy etc.
anyway the last 3 days i've developed this nagging pain in my left leg. mostly up my calf. it feels like a cramp but it comes and goes and is worse with movement. it's very achey and occasionally there's a very sharp twinge, especially when flexing my toes upwards. it's like i can feel my blood moving or filling up or something. and i keep getting pain in the vein near my groin too, behind the knee, and up the shin/thigh. it isn't painful to touch or tender. it's just nagging twinges of pain.
i thought it looked a bit swollen today, too. but no other symptoms. i would say the ache is about a 5 or 6 out of 10 for pain. uncomfortable but not excruciating or too hard to walk on.
however this whole positive clot blood test has got me very worried. i had this test last year and it was almost 0. now it's shot up.
yesterday i went to the a&e again and the nurse examined my leg and squeezed it and said she didn't think it was a dvt. she said it would be a lot more painful if it was, but don't a lot of people have no symptoms? i begged for another d-dimer test but her senior thought it would be a waste of time, especially since i'm only 19.
however i am about 10kg overweight and lead a very sedentary lifestyle. i've been moving my legs a lot more and walking but i'm still worried. there are a few stories of teenage girls having dvts and being ignored by doctors. however i noticed most of them were on the pill at the time, i am not. still, i'm very shaken by my first hospital admission, and am very worried to the point i can't sleep and the pain seems magnified.
i think i will go to a&e tomorrow and demand another blood test. i can't take all this worry, it's really getting to me! im feeling quite dizzy and very tired too :( has anyone had experiences of a dvt?
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