I was diagnosed with a DVT three weeks ago. The perfect storm of sedentary lifestyle (though I do work standing up about 66% of the day), overweight, smoking and falling asleep for 10 hours straight on a flight from Vietnam to NYC with my leg folded underneath me.
The only symptom was a charlie horse feeling in my left leg the next day. No swelling, no redness.
My clot was controversial though, apparently they weren't 100% sure it was a DVT or a clot in the muscle close to the deep vein. We are treating it like is a DVT though. I'll be on blood thinners (Xarelto) for the next 3 months. Already quit smoking, am walking twice daily.
The flight back to Vietnam was a little anxious though.
I try to get up every 1-2 hours and walk around and do some exercises when I'm on a long-haul flight. I'm that weird guy doing squats and other exercises at the back of the plane. If there is no room outside I use a bathroom. I also drink a lot of water, which causes me to get up anyway because I have to go to the bathroom more often.
Yep, I should add in that flights are a very common catalyst for DVTs. So common that they often call it "economy class syndrome" (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=15...) - my clot was possibly catalyzed by a flight but that is not yet conclusive. Needless to say, try to move around as much as possible on a flight (even it means wiggling your toes or legs), and stay healthy (you are much more likely to get a DVT from a flight if you are already unhealthy).
If there's a possibility that this came from a flight then you may want to add that to the story. When was the last flight you took prior to the 2 weeks of the pain starting?
Will do - there was about a one week gap between the flight and the first symptoms. So, I'd say the flight likely accelerated something, if it wasn't the direct cause. However, I also think that my sitting for very long periods of time was also a contributing factor regardless (I should add in that the chair I have been using recently is a little long in the base and sometimes cuts off my circulation slightly)
The only symptom was a charlie horse feeling in my left leg the next day. No swelling, no redness.
My clot was controversial though, apparently they weren't 100% sure it was a DVT or a clot in the muscle close to the deep vein. We are treating it like is a DVT though. I'll be on blood thinners (Xarelto) for the next 3 months. Already quit smoking, am walking twice daily.
The flight back to Vietnam was a little anxious though.