Tell me about it! I was certainly lucky and incredibly grateful nothing horrible happened. Thank you for your tips!
As for what's been going on with me currently...
Following the DVT diagnosis, I took sick leave for 2 weeks to prevent exertion and to get over a minor cold. At this point, I was taking the following:
-75 mg of Promacta once daily
-10 mg of prednisone once daily (for dropping platelets)
-5 mg of Eliquis twice daily
-10 mg rosuvastatin
The pain in my leg was subsiding, I was feeling better, and I decided to resume work 3 days ago. The day wasn't particularly stressful, and I was glad to be back and ready for my life to return to normal. I drove home and went to pick up some dinner for my girlfriend and me when I felt a dull pain (5/10 pain) in the left side of my chest. Simultaneously, my left arm began to feel tingly and almost numb. I'm aware that these are potential symptoms of a heart attack, so I pulled over to get my bearings and update my girlfriend with a text. After a minute or two, the chest pain and arm tingle subsided (total of 3-4 minutes from the start), and I felt fine but a bit concerned.
Because of my recent DVT diagnosis, I went straight to the hospital to get checked out. They tested my blood, monitored me on the EKG, and gave me a CT scan with contrast. My blood looked fine. There weren't any enzymes present that indicated dying heart muscles. EKG looked great, and my vitals were tip-top. But, they did find something on the CT scan: 2 acute pulmonary emboli in my right lung.
My attending doctor did not attribute the chest pain and arm numbness to these PEs as they are in the right lung and concluded that the pain may have been musculoskeletal. Their hema suggested Lovenox for the time being until I was able to see my primary hematologist, so I got the injection. I spoke with my hematologist the next day, and she suggested keeping my drug regimen the same except to switch Eliquis with Lovenox. She concluded that I got the PEs while on Eliquis and that it was not working as it needed to. She also hit me with some results from additional blood tests that she ran that I am positive for lupus anti-coagulant which makes me more prone to clotting. She thinks this risk factor in addition to the potential increased clotting brought by Promacta may be the reason why I had DVT.
My takeaways from this entire ordeal:
-If you are taking Promacta and your calves or thighs hurt greatly with no obvious cause, demand an ultrasound. No matter your platelet count. Just do it. There was no obvious cause for my calf pain, and I made a story that would explain the pain, which was completely wrong and potentially fatal.
-Don't be stubborn and just go to the ER if you have a new chest pain event. I was resistant to go because I wasn't sure what pain I felt. As a former smoker and a current sedentary office worker, I get all these aches and pains in my body regularly, and I thought that I may be overreacting if I went to the ER. While we didn't find the cause of the chest pain on the left side of my chest and my tingly arm, we spotted the PEs in my right lung, determined Eliquis wasn't working and switched to another beneficial drug, and most importantly got peace of mind.
-Do your due diligence and research. Own your condition. Everything comes a lot easier when you know about your condition and your drugs. You'll naturally be more confident in speaking with medical personnel, ask the right questions, and ultimately optimize the treatment you receive.
Hope this helps!