Have you ever had a blood clot?

Question

I fell and broke my leg, and due to the injury and improper setting of the leg (on a cruise ship) I developed 2 clots in my leg (one below the knee and one right above). They were discovered on May 9th, and I was on Lovenox for 2 weeks, and I've been on Coumadin (Warfarin) ever since. I currently take 4mg's a day and I've been told I can get off of it in August. Have you had a clot, taken Coumadin for a few months, and surrvived? I'm so afraid the clot will come back , I kind of feel like this medicine is my safety net. (SERIOUS ANSWERS ONLY PLEASE - Do not answer just because you want a point.)

Thanks!!

Answer 1

No I have not personally had clots that required therapy before.  But I can say that in case you have a clotting disorder, generally the clots do not return.  Coumadin does a pretty good job of thinning the blood and preventing clots, but you have to come off of it at some point.  It is a good thing you caught it and got treated before it turned into something more serious.  No need to fear just be cautious of the preventive measures such as not crossing your legs, walking around if travelling or sitting long periods of time, watching that your diet is not too high in Vitamin K, staying hydrated and sticking to your doctor appointments for blood tests.  If you feel shortness of breath, have severe headache or extreme cramps in your legs seek immediate medical attention.  Otherwise, I'd have to say you'll be fine with the therapy they have started you on.  Most people do survive therapy for clots.  If the clots are too large then they would have possibly given you a fibrinolytic but it doesn't sound like that was the case.

Answer 2

Yes, I have.  I developed blood clots in one calf after taking birth control pills for about 6 months.  It was small and resolved itself quickly.

Two years later, after the birth of my daughter, I developed blood clots in my deep pelvic veins.  Turns out that estrogen and my liver don't get along.  This time I was in the hospital for a week, taking heparin injections every 6 hours.  After discharge, I was on heparin twice a day for 2 or 3 weeks.  

I fell and broke my leg 16 years after my daughter was born.  Because of the prior blood clots, the surgeon put me on Lovenox twice a day, and that lasted for 2 months, I think.

I've never been put on Coumadin but now that I'm getting close to 50, my doctors do want me to take a regular aspirin every day.

The clot developed as a result of the surgery and your inactivity afterwards.  After the doctor takes you off the Coumadin, he may tell you to take a baby aspirin every day (or he might not).  Other things that you can do to prevent a recurrance of blood clots are to stay active and drink lots of fluids.  Drinking lots of fluids helps keep your platelets from accumulating simply because there is more fluid to separate them.  Staying active - and this means walking frequently during the day, changing positions, not being a couch potato - helps keep the blood circulating so that it doesn't pool behind the valves in the leg veins.

You're going to be fine.  It's scary, and you have every right to be scared.  But your doctor sees this quite often and he won't take you off the Coumadin if there's good reason to suspect the clots will return.

Good luck to you.

EDIT:  You can also ask your doctor to have you tested for the gene abnormalities that cause problems with the various factors that trigger blood clotting.  I have a specific abnormality - Factor V Leyden? - that causes me to develop blood clots when I take estrogen or when my estrogen levels are high, like during pregnancy.  We didn't know that when I was pregnant.  Fortunately, we did know before my daughter got pregnant, so her doctors knew to test her for this same abnormality.  She has it, and was on baby aspirin during her pregnancy and on Lovenox every day for 8 weeks after.  Not everyone who develops clots has the abnormality, and not everyone with the abnormality develops clots.  Knowing if you have the abnormality is just another tool for your doctors to have.