DVTs & Recovery

[Phil]

So anyways I had a bout of Pneumonia in May this year, which pretty much laid me up for the first time in years, I was quite immobile and I ended up getting a good dose of DVTs in my left side in a very short space of time (6 in total, calf, behind the knee, groin (the real doosey) and 3 in lower abdomen. Diagnosis was 16th May - lets not talk about the incompetent locum that said it was muscle soreness and to see a physio - who I did see the next morning who sent me straight to hospital.



So anyway I am on Warfarin and probably will be for another year. My specialist (Haematologist) did a heap of tests and sure enough I have factor 5 Leiden Thrombophilia, which basically means I clot very easily. And the prognosis to try and avaoid more was - stay active and drop down to the lower end of the BMI range.

I was cleared two months ago to start exercise after a lot of lying with a leg up in the air. I did not expect to be a star athlete, but I was expecting more improvement that I have gotten in two months. so around March I was consistently around 315 Watts for 20 mins, currently I am struggling on 145 watts, My left leg basically gets "heavy" and struggles to put any power out. Swelling is generally pretty low, although it does puff up a bit with exercise, although it also drop back to normal fairly quickly. If I stay at a moderate pace (<30kph) on the flat its fine, any sustained climb over 30 seconds though and it flags.

Has anyone else had similar issues? If so how long did recovery take and how close to your previous form did you get to?

[BaldPatch]

I hope you recover soon from the DVT, i have heard the side affects from Warfarin can be unpleasant but better to be safe than sorry.
Im guessing they had a thorough investigation of your circulatory system in your legs, and I'm not a medical person but some symptoms of Cyclists Iliac Syndrome are a numb and heavy sensation in a leg and an inability to produce much power output from that leg.

[petie]

That's really cool that you have power figures pre and post illness! Not cool for you but interesting from an evidence perspective. I can't help you with the dvt side of things, I am in the health field though. I wonder whether, due to the pain etc, in the left leg/side you have lost comparatively more muscle mass than the right?

Having had a solid pneumonia myself, maybe you are still recovering your aerobic capacity and hence your endurance under load is not good? I was constantly amazed at just how far backwards my fitness went and it took a good six months before I was even close to pre-illness fitness (being very cautious I might add).

[ValleyForge]

Get a repeat venous duplex ultrasound of your pelvis and legs. The veins do not always recannalise completely and you may have to wait longer for the veins to return to their normal calibre.