Do You Know Blood Clot Symptoms And Risk Factors?

I usually write about my experience getting a blood clot in my leg on my birthday, but March is National Blood Clot Awareness Month, and I was invited to participate in a webinar so I could learn and share important information about blood clots, so here goes.

(click the image for a full-size, printable version)

Blood Clot Risk Factors

I always thought blood clots were a condition that threatened overweight business men, but looking at the risk factors I realize that I had a few of them:

• Trip over 4 hours by plane, bus, car, or train (I got my blood clot during/after flying from D.C. to L.A. and then L.A. to Australia)
• Birth control pills
• Family history of blood clots (although my Dad’s blood clot occurred after he had been partially immobilized after knee surgery, so that might not count as “family history” because the risk of blood clots after surgery/immobilization are so high)

When I landed in Australia with a sore calf, I did wonder if I might have a blood clot, and I even went so far as Googling “blood clot” and “DVT” as soon as I had checked in to my hotel.  (That little voice in your head–listen to it!) I just couldn’t imagine that a relatively fit, non-overweight woman like myself could get a blood clot. I had heard of DVT’s referred to as “coach class syndrome” and figured that since I had stretched out in business class, it couldn’t have happened to me. (In retrospect, I remembered curling up in my seat to get more comfortable ….)

Blood Clot Symptoms

The National Blood Clot Alliance lists the following symptoms for blood clots in the leg (also known as “deep vein thrombosis” or “DVT”):

• Swelling, usually in one leg (or arm)
• Leg pain or tenderness often described as a cramp or Charley horse
• Reddish or bluish skin discoloration
• Leg (or arm) warm to touch

I definitely had leg pain, and by the time I went to the ER (two weeks later!) I could tell that my calf was swollen, but the ER doctors didn’t really think so, and there was no discoloration or warmth. They tested me for DVT because of my recent trip to Australia, but even they were doubtful until they actually saw the ultrasound results.

This is one reason why I really want to spread the word that a blood clot can happen to you. I thought I might have a blood clot. I looked up the risk factors and symptoms. I decided that I didn’t have one. I was wrong.

During the webinar, Dr. Jack Ansell emphasized that if there is any question, you should go to the emergency room to get examined. My story has encouraged friends to get unexplained calf pain or shortness of breath checked out, and while most have been false alarms, one was not, and that’s the one that matters.

(click the image for a full-size, printable version)

I was really lucky that my clot did not dislodge and move to my lungs, where it would be called a pulmonary embolism (or “PE”) and become truly life-threatening. Symptoms of a blood clot in the lungs include:

• Sudden shortness of breath
• Chest pain-sharp, stabbing; may get worse with deep breath
• Rapid heart rate
• Unexplained cough, sometimes with bloody mucus

During the webinar, NASCAR driver Brian Vickers shared his blood clot story, which is even scarier than mine. The first symptoms he noticed were shortness of breath and chest pain with breathing. His doctors first thought he had pneumonia (at the time he was only 26 and in great shape), but luckily they detected the blood clots and he got proper treatment (blood thinners).

For more information, please check out the National Blood Clot Alliance StopTheClot® webpage. And remember, when it comes to blood clots, it really is better to be safe (and get checked out) than sorry!

Do you know anyone who has had a blood clot?

Do you have any of the blood clot risk factors?