Pulmonary embolism- what were your symptoms?

[Starryalex]

I’m 30 weeks and have felt slightly breathless today. I did also recently do a 2.5 hour flight. Other than being a bit out of breath and having a slightly tight feeling on my chest I feel completely fine. I’m wondering if it’s just normal pregnancy symptoms as I’m getting further along or if I should be worrying that it’s something more serious. For anyone that’s had a pulmonary embolism what symptoms did you notice?

Please go to a&e or 999 if you get worse. I had a PE 2 days after giving birth. I had no chest pain but incredibly painful stabbing in my back. It started as being uncomfortable and by the end was worse than childbirth. I didn't feel breathless but I felt weak and cold. If I took a deep breath it was painful. No one including dh who is a nurse, midwife or family suspected a PE. Eveyeone assumed it was a trapped nerve.

Yea you should get checked out for this.
Pregnancy being a major risk factor on its own, and with your breathlessness/tight chest.
It's one of those diagnoses that you just don't mess about with.
There's no way anyone on here can rule it out.
You need ED. (D-dimer that can be done at done UTC) will not be useful due to the pregnancy)
(I am a clinician in a UTC, and we would without hesitation refer to ED)

@OctoblockBuild thanks so much for your reply. So can it be diagnosed with a blood test? I’d really rather avoid having an x ray or anything with radiation done while pregnant.
Also would I be right in assuming if it is something more serious than normal pregnancy symptoms that I would continue to feel more unwell? I rested for a while and feel like the tight feeling in my chest has gone now which id imagine would be unlikely to happen if it was a pulmonary embolism?

@ThisCantBeRightCanIt so sorry you went though that. Yes I’m keeping a close eye on it. At the moment it’s mostly just breathlessness, no other worrying symptoms. I feel like baby has got a lot bigger this last week so I’m wondering if it’s just that my lungs are a bit squashed! But at the same time don’t want to take any chances if it is something more serious.

I've had 2 PE's in my life. First time was stabbing lung pain with every breath. Second time the pain started just above my hip, by the evening it had moved higher towards my chest. Breathlessness was present in both occurrences.

I would just get yourself checked out. I had a friend who died from PE. She rang me to say she was going to hospital as she was breathless and collapsed in the street on the way there. I had no idea it was a pulmonary embolism when she spoke to me. I assumed it must be asthma, but at the time she was speaking to me I thought she didn’t sound bad at all, and told her I’d try to catch up with her later in A&E. She was 52.

The blood test that'd aid diagnosis normally is not so useful in pregnancy.
You can have small ones that are a precursor to a massive one which logically would affect less at rest.
Really truly, please stop talking yourself out of getting checked.
Literally nothing anyone can say here should allay your concerns.

Edited to say - to ED Dr will be able to weigh up investigation vs risk. But really if it was recommended, would you rather have a scan, or risk preventably dying? (sort to be blunt). Medics don't radiate people without considering risk.

Dd had a PE and was short of breath and chest pain. However PE is known as the silent killer and I have seen enough stories of people dropping dead with no symptoms. If you have symptoms you should get checked. D dimer blood test generally not used in pregnancy as not much use. So they would normally do a CTPA scan.

A VQ scan is more accurate than a CTPA and the radiation dose is not much more than a few trans Atlantic flights and the benefit definitely outweighs the risks

CTPA is first line scan in the majority of hospitals. A VQ scan will be done if they don’t feel the CTPA images are conclusive, at least that was the case for Dd after her second episode . 1st time she just had a CTPA scan. CTPA also has lower radiation for a fetus. Though vq scan has less radiation to breast tissue. Both are still in safe limits.

DH had PE with no symptoms but he did have a risk factor. Please get it checked out.

Thanks for all your replies. Had an appointment with GP today, blood pressure, heat rate and oxygen levels were all good and my chest sounded clear. For now he’s put it down to baby getting bigger and everything getting a bit squashed!

Hmmmm. Has he also checked your bloods to see if you are anaemic? Or were they ok at your 28 week appt?

@JulietteHasAGun yes all fine at 28 week appointment. A little lower than they were at my booking appointment but not anaemic. I spoke to a midwife today who said there was no harm starting to take an iron supplement anyway.