Pulmonary embolism.

Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff


Pulmonary embolism is blockage in one or more arteries in your lungs. In most cases, pulmonary embolism is caused by blood clots that travel to your lungs from another part of your body — most commonly, your legs. Pulmonary embolism is a complication of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which is clotting in the veins farthest from the surface of the body.

Pulmonary embolism can occur in otherwise healthy people. Common signs and symptoms include sudden and unexplained shortness of breath, chest pain and a cough that may bring up blood-tinged sputum.

Pulmonary embolism can be life-threatening, but immediate treatment with anti-clotting medications can greatly reduce the risk of death. Taking measures to prevent blood clots in your legs also can help protect you against pulmonary embolism.

Other sites:

http://www.lung.ca/diseases-maladies/a-z/embolus-embolie/index_e.php

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/pe/pe_what.html

http://www.wikidoc.org/index.php/Pulmonary_Embolism#For_Patients

http://www.utmedicalcenter.org/adam/encyclopedia/1/000132.htm

http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic490.htm

http://www.wellsphere.com/general-medicine-article/pe-a-commonly-missed-fatal-disease/731631

A cute video of a blood clot traveling from a lower part of the leg to the lung which is called a "Pulmonary Embolism " .

I am curious to hear from those who have had a PE, what it actually feels like. I have read the symptoms of wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath. I would like to hear how you knew you had PE--are there sharp pains like pluracy? Does it happen suddenly or come on gradually? Anything you wish to share is appreciated.

For me there was sharp pains, wheezing, and couphing purple like blood.
When I was a kid I had asthma and bronchitis often, so to me (stupidly) I thought it was just me being sick. A week later (stupidly again) I went to the ER. They thought I had pnuemonia, so they gave me a shot in the ole butt and sent me home. I felt great for the first four days but my leg still hurt,,,,,,,,,hmmm so I put a warm pack on my leg and rubbed it a little then when I stood up my heart started raciing uncontrolably and I passed out My wife was at work so I just laid there when I came to, scared as hell and waited for her to get home/ Stupidly again guess I couldve called 911 but I was too scared to even move to the phone,,,, So anyway that is my dumb story. Now I am doing so much better and the PE scared me out of smoking forever.

Wow--

Guess I have had some of those symptoms while I was home for a week between hospital stays in the summer. My wheezing didn't last long tho and seemed like it was only when I laid on my left side. If I had a PE, it must've been very small. When I got out of the hospital the last time, a guy in my church, younger than me dropped dead in his bathroom from PE. 2 teenage kids. It is still pretty sad. His wife can hardly talk to me for some reason. We didn't know them very well. Must be hard for them to wonder why I made it and he didn't. Thanks for telling me your experience Justin. I'm glad you made it thru for your family too. --sb

Hello all

Well to share my story of my own PE

For about a week i felt a sharp pain in my left side as though i had knocked and brusied it. i did ignore this thinking "oh well it will go away"
but into the second week i could not even lay on my left side to sleep and i started to get short of breath.
climbing the stairs became hard , so I took myself off to the GP surgery
on the Friday and he told me because I had recently had flu maybe it was from that and to rest up etc and sending me on my way with stronger painkillers, he listened to my chest said well it sounds clear etc, " great GP huh"
I took myself off back home as the doctors I felt knew best.

By the Sat night early hours Sun morning I knew something was not right
the pain got so bad I could hardly breathe by this time and it became a struggle to inhale and exhale as each time i tried this sharp pain would kick in, so I took myself off to the emergency dept and i was treated straight away given a CT scan which comfirmed I had a PE
I stayed in hospital for a week was put onto warfarin, and was told my levels should be between 2.5 and 3.0 had blood tests done every couple of days until my levels settled.


I have to admit it was scary and a wake up call to how and what life is all about, and with the help of this site now i hope i get to understand my condition more thanks to all your posts.

I had the same symptoms as mentioned - sharp chest pains and wheezing. Every time I took a deep breath I would have a stabbing pain in my chest.

There was not much warning really, I woke up with the chest pain and when it did not go away overnight, I went to the doctor the following morning and was hospitalised the same day after PE was discovered.

Another symptom worth mentioning is that I could not lie flat on my back because of pain and shortness of breath. I packed a lot of pillows behind my back the night at home and also the next week in hospital I raised the bed so that I could sleep more upright. I found it easier to breathe and less painful.

After reading posts from ya'll and speaking to others in person who have had PE, I feel 99% sure that I had one when I was 23 y/o and 9 months pregnant. I had sharp stabbing pains that hit me while I was minding my own business, eating bacon and eggs and watching Amoir Sadat (sp?) be assassinated on TV in 1981. All of a sudden I could not take a breath w/o it feeling like a knife was stabbing under my ribs on the right side and turning, twisting after it went in. I could hardly get enough breath to speak to my husband and ask him to come home to take me to the hospital. I had pain the whole afternoon and received heavy pain killers at the hospital and they thought I was having an accute gallbladder attack. It lasted several hours and they decided to induce my labor and I had a c-section just in case they needed to do an emergency gallbladder removal.

Who knows what it was at this point?

Hi all,

Funnily enough, I had only minor symptoms... a bit of heaviness/tightness in the middle of my chest (they said at the hospital, at the time, it was due to a bit of asthma from the stress, and cleared my angiogram... till we got the results back today over 2 wks. later!)... my back was a little sore, but nothing that would make me think I had PE.... but then again it was only a small clot... PHEW!

I have had 2 PEs, with different symptoms each time. I was on coumadin for a year after my 1st one. Now, after 2, I am on for life.

First PE:
I almost passed that morning. Everything went black while I was in line at a bagel shop. The staff tried to call an ambulance. I didn't let them.
My resting heartrate was around 125 beats per minute.
I had trouble breathing after walking across a room.
I slept most of the day, but if I got out of bed to walk to the bathroom, my heart would beat so fast that I would have trouble falling back to sleep.
I had no pain.
My PE was massive and bi-lateral.

Second PE (4 years later):
I had heaviness/pressure in my chest on the L side.
I would wake up in the middle of the night with my heart pounding.
I couldn't sleep on my left side w/out my heart pounding too hard.
I sometimes felt the presence of my heart, like a hard heavy baseball in my chest.
I could breathe just fine and my heart rate was not elevated.
The second PE was small and only in my left lung.

Im 19, 20 in July this year, healthy nothing wrong with me
I had a massive PE on the 23rd of febuary of this year
I randomly just collapased and blacked out on the bottom of the stairs which caused me to have a really bad black eye and bit a chunk out of the inside of my lip and gave me a nose bleed
I was sick and just started to lose energy
Ambulance came and i had chronic pains in my chest back and stomach
I had 7 cardiac arrests all together
I bled for a whole day, as my body was in over drive
I had 5 units of blood given to me
Doctors said there was a high chance of me not surviving, and if i did i could be brain damaged
so i am so so thankful i'm not and so lucky

Cause of this Unknown at present
I'm currently on 10-11mg of warfarin, i was on the fragmin injections as my blood wasnt at the right INR level

Hi, I am Avtar Arora From India.My friend Ajay suffer from PE.
3 months ago, he told me that he has severe pain in back.Even he could
not sleep for whole night for two or three days.he takes medicine and physiotherapy and his pain gone.After 2 or 3 weeks he told me that he has problem in breath and pulse rate is 130-140. and have some chest pain.we
have gone to doctors and they check his heart.His ECG and ECCO report
is normal.Doctor say nothing to worry its ok.they give some medicine and Ajay feel good.One and half months going ok, no problem at all.On 28th August, He come back from business tour, he told me that he has some problem in Breath.His breath is fast and short and pulse rate is 140.On 29th morning he have go to Doctor(Heart specialist).he check his heart and ECG,ECCo all ones ok.Doctor ask him to admit , but Ajay postponed it to next days.But at night 1.00 his body is going cold.His wife touch him and worry for some mishapening.She pull him and check his blood pressure.its 50-90.Very low.Ajay wake up and insist to go washroom.he say something wrong in stomach, some butterflys were fly in stomach.
He has attach washroom with bedroom.when he comeback from washroom
he falls on bed senseless.His wife cried, and all his family gethered.They massage his feet and hands.When Ajay open his eyes, they give him some salt in soft drink.After taking salt his Blood pressure is going little high.Within half hour we reached heart specialist hospital.Doctor again check his heart.its Ok.He had not diagnose the problem.He reffer to another doctor.Thank god, another doctor see the simptums and diagnose it and start treatment.On Morning he take Ajay's 4D ultra CT scan. One clot is occur in Lungs.He told us its PE not Heart attack.We all family and friends thanks to God, that its not heart Attack.Because we don't know what's PE before.Doctor is fast friend of my cousin.So he try to solve this problem with light dose.Ajay admit in ICU for two and half days.He feel better and shift to normal room.Next day early morning, He has same attack of Blood pressure low, he has go to washroom and come back and fall on bed.Doctor take it seriously and give him Heavy dose on Injections.We all ones were very very worried.After three days he had discharged from Hospital.But our worries are on same height.He feel weak due to hospitalised.We understandit.But after two days he has same problem of Low blood pressure(not much serious like earlier), he told the family some thing is serious.The whole family sit around him for three hours.They gave him salt with soft drink.Because doctor already told us not to give any medicine with his advice(He suggest Ajay only two tablets at 6PM every day ).Next day we go to doctor he have strong the medicine from 4mg to 5mg and he told us nothing to worry.And ask Ajay to walk as maximum as he can.After come home Ajay try his best to walk more.But one more problem arise.When he try to walk, after 10-15 minutes his hands going red and fluffy just list some allergy simptums.This is also worried us.Now Ajay worried from walk.After every walk his hands going fluffy and redish.Then we decide to go to old doctor(Now he also came to know about PE and already discuss with others doctors).He told us nothing to worry.In PE these low blood pressure and others simptums are normal.He told us that the other doctor have already give strong injections to AJay and Clot were dissolve and/or in process of dissolving.so there may be in some problem in future also.About redish and fluffly hand he has give antiallergic tablets(one a day).It had work great.Now Ajay can walk and no problem occur.Sorry this page is already so long.I will discuss other things tomorrow.

I never had any real symptoms other than low level chest pain for months. But I have a very high tolerance for pain. I almost collapsed one time in Laredo after working really hard. I'm not sure this was linked to a blood clot. But I was diagnosed with a massive saddle embolism in April of 2012 and I only noticed some heavy breathing while climbing the stairs. I went to the ER because of the DVT in my leg and just happened to tell them about the 3 years of low level chest pain and they did an MRI on my lungs,and they found a two massive DVT's in my lungs. They immediately moved me to intensive care and placed an EKG monitor on me and the rest is history. I still have some trouble breathing months later, and I'm not sure how much residual clot is left in my lungs, but I'm glad to be alive!