Possible PE in 24 male? Should I go to the hospital?

Hello.

I am a 24 YO male. At 22 I had a spontaneous pneumothorax. Had chest tube and VATS surgery. Stayed in the hospital around five days then went home. A year later at 23 I had similar symptoms, difficulty breathing, chest pain and coughing, and went back to the ER. No new pneumothorax but it turns out I had pneumonia. Received breathing treatment, albuterol inhaler and antibiotics. Got better after about a week.

Now two weeks ago I went on a three hour flight. The next night, I started getting chest pain. I wrote it off as nothing, but then the next day had difficulty breathing. Throughout the week I had chest pain, difficulty breathing and was light headed, almost fainty at times. Finally since I wasn't getting better, I went into urgent care, fearing a new pneumothorax. However, chest xray showed nothing, oxygen sat was normal, ekg was normal and blood tests were normal. Doctor brought up possibility of PE but said she thought it was unlikely. I opted to just go home and wait to see if my symptoms got better. Two days later... I still have chest pain, difficulty breathing, shortness of breath walking, and pain in my jaw and arm. Also feel lightheaded, spaced out, and fainty. Don't want to go to the hospital but reading about PE symptoms sounds like my symptoms line up. Right now I am taking my old albuterol inhaler to help my breathing and taking inuprofen to deal with chest pain and maybe thing my blood. any thoughts? Am I totally screwed?

I really don't want to deal with going back to the ER and having to take blood thinners the rest of my life. Thanks for any advice.

in ClotSurvivorsby Worried-Reason3987

50%

catseyecon

If you have a possible PE, you need to go to the ER. Do you know how many people have died from a PE or complications from a PE? A lot. Without treatment, 1 out of every 3 of people that have a PE will die. I get it, going to the hospital sucks. Being on blood thinners for life sucks too (I am a lifer) but what would suck more is not being able to stay alive. The only way you are "totally screwed" is if you have a PE and refuse to treat it. It will cause permanent damage in one way or another if you really have a PE and keep doing what you're doing. May not be the answer you are looking for but life or death stuff is not something I sugarcoat.

Worried-Reason3987

thanks for the reply. Obviously people on the reddit are not doctors, but I haven't had the more severe signs yet (haven't coughed up blood, haven't fainted, and I can still walk and talk, my chest pain is more a 1 or 2 out of 10 instead of the crushing 9 out of 10 chest pain people describe).

To some degree I'm in denial about my symptoms to another degree I am just wondering if people without the most severe symptoms have just recovered on their own without the blood thinners and spending time in the hospital.

Or I'm wondering if it's caused by another lung infection, or partial pneumothorax or something and my anxiety is making the symptoms worse.

Travelling_oz

I had a catastrophic bilateral PE that I was told by two different ER doctors would kill me if untreated. My symptoms were tachycardia, mild shortness of breath. I had no pain. Go to the ER.

catseyecon

When I had my PE, my primary care physician attempted to diagnose me, at first, with an anxiety attack then a week later, after a d-dimer being done in the ER, the doctor there said I had to have had a heart attack. I never coughed up blood, I didn't faint. I could walk, talk, and my chest pain didn't hit a 9 until my pulse ox was at 84% in the ER which was at least a month after I started showing symptoms (I had scheduled a checkup with my PCP that took a few weeks to get in). By the time I went into the ER, my lips were blue. They weren't blue even 2 hours before I finally went to the ER. I was 34 and a 5 mile a day walker. When I insisted they do at least a chest x-ray, they humored me. After the X-ray, they said they think it might be something else instead of a heart attack and off I went for a CT. I was admitted to the hospital and told I needed to get my final affairs in order because they didn't think I would make it through the night. Mind you, I had just done 2 miles of my daily walking less than 9 hours before I went into the ER with a little labored breathing but I thought I just had a respiratory infection because that was what it felt like. I had 58 clots between both lungs and a 3 inch bilateral embolism. They had no idea how long it had all been there. That was almost 9 years ago and a day doesn't go by where I think if I had ignored my symptoms and just not gone in, I would not be here right now.

If you want to alleviate your anxiety, go to the ER. Please. Worst case you have a PE. Best case it is nothing. The likelihood of surviving a PE untreated is not great. Also, a PE increases your chances of going into cardiopulmonary arrest, like the late Rowdy Roddy Piper. It isn't something to ignore. If it is a PE, you will need blood thinners.

ObjectSmall

I thought I had heartburn. Tylenol made my PE pain go away, even in the hospital. My EKG was totally normal, as was my oxygen saturation level. Go to the ER if you're having chest pain. Ask for a chest CT and a D-Dimer test.

Paleosphere

Eliquis (Apixaban)

Go to an ER. People die of clots every day. Blood thinners are not a big deal.

Lazy_Cap1320

Go now!!! Chest pain and shortness of breath led me to ER a year ago—they saved my life.