I am a 69 year old woman....I work in my home office and I was working late one night when I felt like I was going to pass out (I had been particularly tired for weeks so I was sleeping round the clock and then getting up to work a few hours and going to bed again.....when I almost passed out I called 911 and 6 strapping young men came and helped me slide down my stairs on my bum before we reached first floor where there was a rolling gurney to carry me out to the ambulance.....after three days in the hospital and multiple tests the doctors finally ordered a CT scan and diagnosed PE; and I figured out I had been a bad girl -- I was taking HGC - a weight loss product that was a hormone.. the heart doctor who came in to see me said -- you know, taking hormones can cause blood clots! Well then I remembered too that 3 months before, I had fallen hard against the corner of a table where the corner dug into my hip really hard and that may have caused the long blood clot I had deep in my leg.....and it threw off multiple tiny blood clots in both lungs -- the hardest part of the whole thing was...after they determined I had blood clots in my lungs they became real scared for me. I had to wait an afternoon and all night through without seeing a doctor who could tell me if I could get out of bed to use the toilet....so I had to use a bed pan in bed because they wouldn't let me out of bed -- and I hate bed pans! Now I am on Coumadin, but I am not very happy to read here that Coumadin - Warfarin is rat poison, only in different doses!

I am a 20 year old female. I was diagnosed with several blood clots in both lungs about 3 months ago. I was admitted into the hospital for over a week, receiving warfarin, and another blood thinner injected into my hips twice a day. I have been taking warfarin since I have been home. Three months later I am still getting blood work done every week to ensure my INR levels at a safe place (without being too high, or too low). I have been told I will be on warfarin for a minimum of 6 months, but could possibly be on a blood thinner for the rest of my life. Upon being admitted, I was close to having a stroke, or going into cardiac arrest. If anyone is ever faced with any symptoms of a pulmonary embolism, go to the ER right away, it could mean life or death.

I had pulmonary embolism in both lungs. Was in ICU for 7 days and in the hospital another 7 days. It is almost six months and due to extreme inching all over my body my doctor took me off Coumadin. He had planned to take me off in two weeks anyway. I still have some shortness of breath and itching and it has been 4 days that I am off Coumadin. I hope it disappears in the next few days. I am 69 years old and have always been fairly healthy.

I had a PE in Sept 2010. I was admitted and it took quite a while to regulate my Coumadin level. Once stable they sent me home. They could find no source, though I had had a DVT in 2008. My doctor checked the INR level for a while. I was surprised when my INR went from 1.5 to 1.4 and he didn't adjust the Coumadin. A week later I had a second PE. They immediately started me on Lovenox with Coumadin. My hematologist was out of town when I was admitted and when he returned he said "no more monkeying around!" and had me taken off Coumadin and just treated me with Lovenox. I have been giving myself 2 Lovenox injections per day without any further problems. Apparently it is very hard for them to regulate Coumadin levels for me. I was told I would be on Lovenox for a few months and then they would try to switch me to Coumadin and would likely be on that all my life. It's been 4 months on Lovenox. As long as I have no further embolisms, I don't mind the injections.

I recently had an episode at work walking up the stairs and I was short of breath that evening driving home. I had sharp pain on left side/ shoulder area, I went to the doctor and he sent me to the emergency and diagnosed a blood clot in the left lung. I am on Coumadin and 2 shots per day of Lovenox for 4 days now and had a sharp pain. Just short sharp pains on the left side of my neck, but I am fine now. Probably just a pain, but doc said the blood clot is stabilized and won't break off and even if there are other clots they are stabilized with medication.

My best friend was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism. She is in consist pain. She has clots in her groin and a new one has formed on her lungs, with smaller clots. The clots don't move, and harden up. She was treated with pain meds, but they aren't working any longer and the doctors say there is nothing else left for them to do. She is giving up. She has been like this for two years. The doctors say it's too risky for them to operate.