Recent DVT and PE - wondering how to recover?

Been there! I would direct all those questions to your doctor first and foremost. Have you identified the reason/situation which caused the DVT to begin with? I think that is important to ensure you aren't repeating that same behavior if it happens to be exercise related. I took it easy in the beginning because I was scared but everything was fine and I haven't had any problems since.

Was on bedrest/in hospital when I had my DVTs, so I wasn't up to doing much exercise right then.

Did they put you on any blood thinners? If so, be very careful about following the dietary restrictions.

I flew from Los Angeles to Melbourne in June 2009 ... at the time that was the longest flight there was, and I was crammed in next to the window with two large men with bladders the size of the Atlantic Ocean blocking my way out. I got up once in the entire flight.

About an hour before landing, my left calf cramped. "Oh well", I thought, "I'll just stretch it out when I'm finally on solid ground again".

6 weeks later, I kept telling myself that the cramp would eventually stretch out. But things had changed a bit. It wasn't just my calf that was sore, my whole left leg ached and had started to feel like I was dragging a dead tree limb around with me.

Then one day, I started to walk my usual 2 km route to meet my husband on his way home from work ... and ended up sitting by the side of the path about 500 metres from home, unable to get up the strength to walk. I couldn't breathe ... I felt so weak ...

That night I was in the bath and had my feet propped up on the end of the tub and that's when I noticed ... my left leg was about twice the size of my right. That's odd ... that's never happened before. My husband guessed that maybe it was a spider bite, and we figured we'd keep an eye on it for a while.

The next day, I was trying to sweep the floor and just couldn't ... it seemed to take so much effort ... I was struggling to breathe ... when all of a sudden the door burst open and my husband rushed in, "Get in the car now!" he demanded. "We're going to the Dr!" He said he just felt an overwhelming need to get me to medical attention immediately that he left work early.

The Dr took a look at my leg, and had me lined up for a Doppler ultrasound the next day at one of the local hospitals. Halfway through the ultrasound, the technician (a lovely woman I got to know a bit) told me that she could not let me leave the hospital. My left leg from about 6 inches above the knee all the way down to my foot was absolutely blocked by clots ... one big mass of clots.

I was in the hospital for 2 weeks while they tried to sort out my INR levels and ran all sorts of tests. Turns out I have a genetic predisposition for developing clots ... one which also explains a few other things as well.

During those 2 weeks, the nurses got me up once or twice a day to go for a walk. The first few times, I barely made it around the block and had to stop and rest periodically. I kept thinking my 87-year old grandmother could do laps around me! But I kept plugging away at it.

I was on Warfarin for a year and spent that whole year feeling like I was moving through mud all the time. No energy, so much effort to do anything. And it took a good 6 months before that clot mass cleared.

I was a long distance cyclist. I had ridden 1000 km in May before my flight to Australia. I had fairly recently ridden 400 km and 600 km rides within the audax/randonneuring time limits. I had ridden heaps of shorter rides like centuries and 200Ks and 300Ks. But during that year, I was busy DNF'ing even just short 100 km rides.

I finally got in to see a blood specialist a year later who took me off the Warfarin and it was like emerging from the mud and coming out into the light. Within weeks I felt so much better! And I started getting back into long distance cycling again.

However, because I have a genetic mutation ... every time I fly for more than a couple hours, I have to acquire Clexane and do a series of Clexane injections into my abdomen. So a flight back to Canada (which I've done a few times), for example, requires an injection 12 hours before the flight, and injection right before the flight, an injection mid-trip, an injection when I land in Canada, and an other injection 12 hours later. Unfortunately Clexane has a similar effect as the Warfarin did ... I'm a zombie for about 2-3 days.

I also need to wear compression stockings if I'm going to be standing or sitting for any length of time ... so, for example, when I write 3-hour exams at uni, I wear compression stockings.
I need to keep my hydration up.
I need to get up and move once an hour (or more frequently) as often as possible throughout the day ... at work, I get up and climb stairs several times a day + walking as part of my commute + walking at lunch + standing through meetings whenever possible.
I will take aspirin if I'm going to be stationary for one reason or another ... like those 3-hour uni exams.
And I cannot take hormone replacements of any kind ... no birth control, nothing to help me through my perimenopause.