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Pregnancy

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Original poster

Calf pain? - 2 weeks postpartum

11 replies

Zsoka · 01/11/2020 22:57

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone could shine some light or reassurance my way. For the last 2 days I have had a dull ache in my right calf muscle. No swelling, redness or inflammation. Muscle seems tight and sore. Has anyone else had this? My DS is 2 weeks old and I sit him on this leg all the time. Could it be that or should I be worried?

I have rang 111 and they advised me to speak to the pharmacy near me tomorrow but I cant get it off my mind. Help?

TIA x

OP posts:

subsea · 01/11/2020 23:16

You need to been seen by a doctor as it might be a deep vein thrombosis. Call maternity triage for advice. They may redirect you to GP or A&E depending on your local hospital set up. Dont wait, do it tonight.
I'm a doctor and do lots of work on labour ward

ArosGartref · 01/11/2020 23:18

Could be DVT. I had it and it started off with a full ache and about 2 days later I couldn't walk. They can do a scan to check and it's important to know as soon as possible.

Babdoc · 01/11/2020 23:25

Retired doctor here. I agree with subsea, you need to be seen. DVT is a recognised post delivery complication. If you do have a blood clot in your calf, it can throw off an embolus to your lung, which is potentially life threatening. This can be prevented with anticoagulant, but you need to get treated as soon as possible.
The staff would rather see you for a possible false alarm than miss something potentially fatal.

EatTheHamTina · 02/11/2020 00:02

When I saw calf pain DVT shot into my head. Could be nothing but best to get checked ASAP. You should ring now.

EmilySpinach · 02/11/2020 00:59

Yes, I thought DVT too. What kind of birth did you have, OP? Were you given any anticoagulants to inject? Call maternity triage or the emergency number for your midwife team if they haven’t discharged you yet. They may want to see you tonight.

Original poster

Zsoka · 02/11/2020 02:45

I had a normal vaginal delivery with 10 days anticoagulants course thay I finished on Wednesday. My other half thinks it might be a pulled muscle due to that the tension of tightness I had in it goes away once I've been to sleep and had it raised. Its not painful when I first wake up. Will deffiently get checked.

OP posts:

peachypetite · 02/11/2020 07:19

Just covered this in our antenatal class and you need to get this checked ASAP

EmilySpinach · 02/11/2020 07:37

It’s really unlikely that you have a DVT after ten days of Fragmin or similar but it’s not impossible so please do get checked.

wibdib · 02/11/2020 09:13

The fact you’re asking and have a niggling worry means that you know it should be checked out...

I had a similar pain when ds was about 2 weeks old and ended up going to see the gp 3 times before (the nice young female) go referred me to the hospital to get my leg scanned - the other gps I saw (older males) were very dismissive as there was no massive swelling, redness or heat and suggested taking paracetamol and giving it a couple of weeks to see what happened...

The nurse that did the scan and doc that dealt with me were both horrified that the first two gp’s I saw had told me that I couldn’t have a dvt because no real swelling/redness etc. They reckoned that being within four weeks of birth (at least - I was within that so can’t remember exactly) and having a calf pain should always be properly checked out because they don’t always present ‘properly’ and the risks of it going undiagnosed are so serious and quite a lot of them do turn out to be a dvt so very much err on the side of caution.

And from my experience - if they treat you with warfarin then make sure that your gp and dvt nurse at the gp’s surgery have access to treatment protocols for post partum dvt - mine didn’t and I ended up needing treatment for months longer than I should have done because they weren’t aware that they existed.

Good luck getting them to take you seriously and check it out. I was shocked how difficult it was to get treated seriously when I had a concern about this - and how little info there was pre and post diagnosis, especially given the stats re risks of serious complications if you do get diagnosed.

EmilySpinach · 02/11/2020 19:45

How are you, OP?

Original poster

Zsoka · 02/11/2020 20:58

EmilySpinach thanks for the thoughts!

After ringing the pharmacist, they asked me to ring my gp, after a phone consultation they asked me to go in just to make sure.

They don't suspect DVT(phew!). She has put it down to a pulled muscle and asked me to continue taking paracetomol and advised me to use ibuprofen gel 3 times a day.

She has also said just to keep my eye on it for any new symptoms or if I still have it in a week to pop back in.

Glad I got checked as it has given me some peace of mind to say the least. She said I need to alternate legs of which i sit baby on. DS is 2 weeks old and was 7lb 15 born, but is over 8lbs now. So she said it could be a factor.

OP posts:

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