[unnecessary quoting removed]
Hey Caged,
I remember I was at the gym on a Monday, warming up on the elliptical trained, and my legs seemed really tired. I initially thought it was due to a heavy leg press workout I'd done the day before. I cut my workout short and figured that I be better the next day. On Tuesday my legs were still tired, and my left leg was starting to hurt in kind of a strange way, clearly not from the leg workout on Sunday. By Wednesday my leg was hurting a good bit more and I was beginning to suspect that it might be a blood clot. Thursday morning it was worse, and by the evening my left leg had swelled up like a sausage and hurt a lot when walking or was standing, so I headed over to the emergency hospital late that evening. They did an ultra sound and found a major clot in my left leg. They immediately put me on a blood thinner, and when I left they gave me a recommendation for a vascular surgeon.
The vascular doc put me on blood thinners for 3 months, and by the end of that time the clot had significantly dissolved. There was a lot of pain when standing or walking for the first month to month and a half, then the pain pretty much subsided. I could start back to the gym after a couple of weeks, but no strenuous leg type exercise for 3 - 4 months, upper body and core were OK. I really didn't get back to a regular schedule for 5 - 6 months, and I'm still paying for the weight gain during that time. The weight's been very slow in coming down.
The most important thing is to get on the blood thinners asap, because that should stop the risk of a major bit of the clot breaking off and making it's way to your lungs. That can kill you pretty quick.
I think I have a pic around of my legs showing how swollen the left one was, I'll look for it this evening and post it if I find it.
BTW, I don't think my leg workout that Sunday had anything to do with causing the clot. I believe it was already forming.
Best regards,
chuckM