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Suggest Treatment For Severe Anxiety And Depression
Question: I am a 22 year old female, average weight and i eat a plant-based diet. I am extremely inactive, almost bed-bound due to depression.
The past three days, I have been getting a pain in my left side of chest, i dismissed it as anxiety until today i was unable to breathe and felt very faint.
I went to the Emergency Room, and they have done an ECG, which was normal. They then tested my blood, and it came back positive for blood clots. I then had a chest xray, and there were no clots to be found in my lungs. The doctors were not able to figure out what was wrong with me, and i was discharged despite feeling faint and short of breath.
About 5 months ago, i have been complaining of swollen ankles. I went to see my GP three times, and she only dismissed it, and said nothing was wrong.
I am worried that i have blood clots in my body that i am unaware of. Am i at risk? will it travel to lungs and heart?
The past three days, I have been getting a pain in my left side of chest, i dismissed it as anxiety until today i was unable to breathe and felt very faint.
I went to the Emergency Room, and they have done an ECG, which was normal. They then tested my blood, and it came back positive for blood clots. I then had a chest xray, and there were no clots to be found in my lungs. The doctors were not able to figure out what was wrong with me, and i was discharged despite feeling faint and short of breath.
About 5 months ago, i have been complaining of swollen ankles. I went to see my GP three times, and she only dismissed it, and said nothing was wrong.
I am worried that i have blood clots in my body that i am unaware of. Am i at risk? will it travel to lungs and heart?
Brief Answer:
I would recommend as follows:
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!
I carefully passed through your question and would explain that a chest X ray study is not a sensitive tests for detecting and excluding pulmonary embolism.
I would like to directly review your blood lab tests which indicated the presence of blood clots.
Anyway, although it is less probable at your age to suffer from blood to the lungs, the fact that you have been staying at bed rest for the last days increases the risk for deep vein thrombosis and blood clots to the lungs.
Coming to this point, I would recommend performing further lab tests to exclude pulmonary embolism:
-a Doppler ultrasound of the leg vessels to investigate for varicose veins or deep vein thrombosis
-a pulmonary angio CT scan or ventilation-perfusion lung CT scan to exclude possible blood clots to the lungs.
If all these tests result normal, this would be very reassuring that nothing serious is going on.
You should discuss with your doctor on the above issues.
Hope to have been helpful!
Kind regards,
Dr. Iliri
I would recommend as follows:
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!
I carefully passed through your question and would explain that a chest X ray study is not a sensitive tests for detecting and excluding pulmonary embolism.
I would like to directly review your blood lab tests which indicated the presence of blood clots.
Anyway, although it is less probable at your age to suffer from blood to the lungs, the fact that you have been staying at bed rest for the last days increases the risk for deep vein thrombosis and blood clots to the lungs.
Coming to this point, I would recommend performing further lab tests to exclude pulmonary embolism:
-a Doppler ultrasound of the leg vessels to investigate for varicose veins or deep vein thrombosis
-a pulmonary angio CT scan or ventilation-perfusion lung CT scan to exclude possible blood clots to the lungs.
If all these tests result normal, this would be very reassuring that nothing serious is going on.
You should discuss with your doctor on the above issues.
Hope to have been helpful!
Kind regards,
Dr. Iliri
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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