First time I had a DVT I was given Warfarin, which was a pain in the *ss to manage. Most recently I was given Apixaban (Eliquis) which was so much less hassle.
Good to see medical science moving on!
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Yeah I’ve heard so many complaints about the “old school” blood thinners, I am on Xarelto and have found it to be pretty straightforward, effective at reducing the swelling / getting blood moving with no side effects.
Thanks for your input @Nagden and @Textuality - appreciate it.
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Man, I was on Warfarin for several years and the constant INR tests were a complete pain! At times I was going in weekly, although sometimes I managed to stretch it out to 6 weeks at best.
Now I’m on rivaroxaban/Xarelto, which means no blood tests. \o/ The downside is, I believe, no reversal drug therapy. So if I had a massive stack on the bike I’d be a much higher risk of excessive blood loss.
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I also had a DVT in my left calf and thigh several years ago, and went through a Xarelto treatment. I was tested for Factor V Leiden in the ER which ended up coming back positive.
The thing I wanted to add to this thread is that I later did 23andMe and their genetic testing also confirmed that I had Factor V Leiden. I know this can be a hard test to get through normal medical channels, so I wanted to suggest this as an alternate means of testing. I can’t really speak for how reliable it is, so you might want to do your own research into before investing in a service like this.
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Oh that’s an interesting note - hadn’t thought of that, appreciate you calling it out. I had thought of doing 23andMe years ago as it looked interesting, but was still speculative / unprompted at the time so I didn’t see the value in it. But would definitely be useful to get insight into my risk factors / predispositions here.
Did you find the other information from them generally helpful, or was it mostly just this genetic factor confirmation?
I wasn’t very interested in the Ancestry report, but I found all the medical things interesting. The only thing that came back positive for me was Factor V Leiden, which is good because a lot of the things they test for can be serious. A lot of people avoid services like this because they don’t want to know that type of information and worry about something they cannot change.
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I’m supposed to get tested for it, but I’d rather not know. I’m not going on blood thinners for the rest of my life because it would make me too nervous to go out mountain biking (especially as I do some seriously remote stuff).
If I get another clot, I’ll deal with it when it happens.
Having Factor 5 Leiden simply increases your risk, and there are plenty of non-invasive things you can choose to do to reduce that risk that aren’t taking blood thinners. For example, staying hydrated, wearing compression stockings when you are going to be sitting on a plane for many hours, and some other lifestyle choices. Of course, you could do those things without knowing if you have Factor V Leiden, but most people wouldn’t really think about it. I guess my point is that now that I know I have Factor V Leiden, I actually feel better about my chances to not get another clot and go back on blood thinners because it’s forced me to be more aware of the situations that put me at risk. I don’t know about you, but I was told that if I get a 2nd DVT, I’d have to go back on blood thinners for life.
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I already do those things, I even use these on flights!
(I travel a lot, or at least I did)
…and yes on the “blood thinners for life”, though since then I’ve been told that it depends how I ended up getting a clot. I got one after a fairly big accident and they didn’t seem overly worried about taking me off the thinners.
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Well glad this thread is here.
My TLDR; if you think that there is something wrong, get checked.
I had what I thought was a jus a really stubborn calf muscle that did not want to stretch out for about a week. Even did two 4+ hour MTB rides last weekend and didn’t think much of it.
Since it had been 10 days and a handful of rides with no change, I finally asked my wife if my right calf looked discolored at all. She said “yes” and we went to Urgent care in less than 10 minutes. Had to to come back the following morning to see the doctor.
She said my pulse felt strong and uniform in each leg and thought that it was likely a bursa or a cyst, but ordered the ultrasound just to be sure.
When the ultrasound tech worked their way down to my calf and stayed in the same place for about 10 minutes I knew she found something. When she said “don’t leave the building until your doctor releases you.” I was a bit more concerned.
So here I am at the end of the season (fortunately) on Eliquis and seeing my GP who’s also a sports medicine specialist, for the treatment plan the end of this week.
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Hope you’re able to get the care you need. I had that same “it can’t be good that the ultrasound tech has suddenly slowed down” moment too, that’s definitely when it hit home.
I had my first DVT bout in March 2021, and thought it was kicked but am back working through it again now. My main piece of advice is push for as much certainty on why it happened and risk factors going forward. We (me and my doctors) all left my first round of treatment with “we’re not sure what happened but will monitor going forward” which felt reasonable at the time, but now that I’m back in treatment that ambiguity from the first time feels like a mistake.
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Hi.
Just to share, I got a DVT and PE 2 weeks after getting the Covid vaccine. Although i did not get diagnosed till 5 weeks later. Got my D-Dimer blood test showed greater than 999, they stated i must have had a blood clot. Thats when they gave me Heparin injection sent me home come back next day for CT scan, that’s when i found i was allergic to Heparin overnight total body rash and itchy hands really itchy. CT scan showed lots of clots in my lungs. I was put an apixaban, the clots clear themselves over time. The doctors were great, they said have 2-3 weeks off from training to allow the drug some time to get built up in my system. They stated exercise would help in clots clearing. They sort of said to see how you feel. Once back training i was able to get heart rate back up again, (one of the symptoms that led me to go to the doctor in the first place). 18 months on, lots of test since, i am now back on a very low dose of apixaban as it appears i am now at risk of developing clots. I am back training as hard as ever with no adverse issues. I just get on with life. If i ever get an unprovoked cramp and bruise in my leg, i now know to get seen urgently. Good luck enjoy the cycling.
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Glad you caught it before something bad happened…did they check you for pulmonary embolism as well? If not, keep an eye out for things like shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness, etc. in the coming days. Much less of a chance of it happening now that you are on thinners, though.
Make sure they you not only have a treatment plan, but also do an analysis as to what caused the clot. You need to get checked for genetic conditions such as Factor V Leiden, etc. That will also help guide your treatment plan.
In my case, I have Factor V so am on thinners for life.
Good luck…feel free to reach out if you have any questions. In the end, it isn’t that big of a deal now that you are aware of it. 
My wildcard there is that there’s a good chance I have Gulf War Syndrome. My cortisol has been wonky for a while, but more of an irritant than anything else, but now there might be something more to it. Time to let my GP and the VA do their thing.
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Finally got to see a Hematologist. I tested positive for Factor V and he’s going to keep me on apixaban for the six month stretch. He’s advised me to go off of it 48 hours prior to events and then resume after.
Likely I’ll either go off with hyper awareness of risk or drop down to low dose to mitigate. It’s one of those, “we’ll see when we get there” type things.
Side note: in the over 30 days I’ve been on apixaban, my whoop has said I’ve had maybe 5 green recovery days, so yeah the drug has changed my baseline.
Ooof…,sorry to hear about the Factor V, but welcome to the club anyway? 
Interesting that your doc is going to take you off thinners after 6 months. I’ve been on them since 2009 with no apparent hope of getting off them.
Did you test for homozygous or hetererozygous Factor V?
Heterozygous, so increased risk but not as high as homozygous.
The talk of taking off is just that, talk. I fully expect to be on them albeit at a low dose, for the rest of my life and an new bracelet to wear forever as well… yipie…
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Ah, gotcha…that makes a difference in your risk factor. I am homozygous, so blood thinners for life (probably).
ROAD ID is your friend…
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Yep already got one with thinners on it. It’s not something one wants overlooked…while you’re bleeding out.
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Feel free to DM me if you have any questions over the next few months….been dealing with it for 13 years. The good news is that I mostly just go about my life now with no major changes.
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