Any experience with DVT blood clot from walking boot?

No boot, but I have had a 14” DVT and PE that went with it. Unreal pain. Pain went away pretty quickly after beginning Eliquis treatment, although as I understand it the Eliquis doesn’t actually break up the clot. Have had no issues with the calf other than paranoia. It has taken time for my lungs to improve—much longer.

I’d personally be wary of the boot after the DVT, but I’m no doctor. Best wishes.

Sorry to hear about the PE. This is tough enough with just the calf and no lung issues. Were you able to walk around soon after starting meds once the pain subsided? My calf is in so much pain I can't do any weight bearing right now, let alone imagine walking anytime soon. I'm hoping it is just the pain limiting my ability to weight bear and walk, and not functional issues from the clot.

I was able to walk normally after a few days to a week. I started running again after a month or so, once released by the doctor. I'll tell you: the DVT was one of the worst things I've ever felt.

Thanks for the info. I'm looking forward to walking again. The one thing I'm thankful for in regards to the intense DVT pain was that it made me go to the doctor's. I didn't think I had DVT because there was no redness, swelling, or warmth, but the pain was so intense.

By the time you were diagnosed with the DVT had you already developed the PE? If the PE occured later, it's there anything you would have done different after the DVT to avoid PE? Fortunately I don't have PE yet, and I want to keep it that way.

Nunky wrote:

I little over a week ago and got into a medical boot and on crutches for an ankle issue I was having and after having intense pain in my calf the last couple days I've now been diagnosed with a blood clot (DVT) in my calf and started on a blood thinning medication.

Has anyone else developed a DVT while in an exercise boot? Any experience you can share on what that recovery looked like? Honestly, my ankle issue wasn't that bad and I'd rather have just pushed through that then have intense calf pain and a DVT to deal with. But hindsight is 20/20.

Thanks!

- Nunky

Did the doctor not recommend for you to be put on low dose Aspirin when they put you in the boot? If not, that's a bit negligent as DVT is essentially the #1 concern with pneumatic walking boots. I used to work in a podiatry office and educating the patient on the importance of low dose Aspirin and daily calf massages was part of the SOP for dispensing the boot. Happy to hear you got it checked out before a PE occurred, though. In the experience of my previous patients they had success with blood thinning medication like Xarelto.

I’d been having breathing problems for about two months before I went to the doctor for the calf pain. He’d been treating me for pneumonia with no improvement for several weeks and immediately sent me to the ER when I told him about my calf pain in addition to the lung issues.. If I had to guess, I’d say I had the PE for quite some time and am immeasurably fortunate. The scan of my lungs showed multiples in both lungs. The ER doctor expressed surprise not only that I walked into the ER on my own but also that I was alive. She attributed my ability to do this to all of my years of running.

Not negligent - starting people on ASA for walking boots (or even full casts for that matter) is not standard of care.

Nunky wrote:

Sorry to hear about the PE. This is tough enough with just the calf and no lung issues. Were you able to walk around soon after starting meds once the pain subsided? My calf is in so much pain I can't do any weight bearing right now, let alone imagine walking anytime soon. I'm hoping it is just the pain limiting my ability to weight bear and walk, and not functional issues from the clot.

Doesn't sound normal, Nunky. I'd encourage you to speak with your primary care doctor regarding a "hypercoaguable" blood condition- i.e. more susceptible to your blood clotting faster than it otherwise would a normal person. There are a panel of tests that would be ordered (factor 5 Leyden, anti-thrombin 3 deficiency, prot c/s deficiency, etc). Of course, trauma to your ankle or an ill fitting boot might compress your calf just enough to cause stasis of your venous blood and precipitate a blood clot (thrombosis).

The reason I got into the boot was because I got a PRP injection (platelet rich plasma) in my ankle. Could that have somehow increased the couagability of my blood in my leg? I assumed it was just the immobility in the boot, but maybe that was another trigger to it. I don't think my PRP doctor had seen it before, but maybe it was a perfect storm of the boot, the PRP, and maybe my body. A prior time I was in a boot I didn't have an issue, but several other factors were different then (no PRP, didn't sleep in it, was weight bearing and walking rather than on crutches)