Episode 492: My Blood Clot Diagnosis

I was recently diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or a blood clot. I was traveling for a race when symptoms presented. This is a timeline of the events that led to me getting checked and confirmed. DVT is a situation where if you don’t act soon, it can get very bad. Getting checked when symptoms present is very important, and I hope to highlight that with my story.

Episode Sponsors:

True Nutrition:truenutrition.com/hpo Code: HPO (20% Off)

LMNT: drinkLMNT.com/HPO (free sample pack with purchase)

deltaG:deltagketones.com Code: BITTER20 (20% Off)

ProBio: probionutrition.com/enduranceCode:Endurance (20% Off)

Support HPO: zachbitter.com/hpo

Zach’s Coaching: zachbitter.com/coaching

Timestamps:

0:00:00 Introduction

0:01:28 Unexpected Episode

0:02:43 Race Plans and Travel

0:04:03 Calf Tightness and Swelling

0:04:46 Clinic Visit and Decision

0:07:18 Urgent Care Ultrasound

0:08:09 ER Findings and Treatment

0:10:48 Recovery Plan

0:13:54 Risk Factors for Runners

0:15:31 Symptoms and Awareness

0:17:19 Wrap Up and Contact

Episode Transcript:

Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode. For this episode, admittedly, I have a podcast episode I was not planning on sharing. So, my original intent was the next episode was going to be a recap on the most recent 100-mile race I was targeting. But as fate would have it, I ended up having a totally different experience.

Didn't even get to the race itself. So I want to share that with everybody because I do think there's an important message included in here, along with just being transparent about what happened to me, so people who are following the build and follow me in general have some idea of what was going on.

So- I ended up getting a blood clot or what they would call a deep vein thrombosis or a DVT and I did not know it at the time. I did not even know it when I dropped out of the race. Found out about it a day later actually. But all the symptoms that led to finding it out were such that it would prevent me from thinking it was a smart idea at all to start the race.

So I'll just start from the beginning and kind of share with everyone kind of how things went and try to tell the story in a way that answers some of the questions that I've been getting online since I started sharing about it and hopefully be something that's a useful piece of information for everyone who decides to listen to this.

But I was targeting a race, for those of you who are new to this episode or to this podcast or my journey in general, I was doing a hundred mile race at an event called Six Days in the Dome, which takes place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at a facility called the Pettit Center, which is a, an Olympic training facility that focuses mostly on speed skating, but they did build a 443-meter track around the speed skating rink.

So every year around June, they have an event that goes all the way up to 10 days if you want it. I haven't gotten nearly ambitious enough to go anywhere near 10 days yet, but it's a really great f- f- format and spot to target a fast hundred miler. So that was the goal. That had-- That's what I had been training for.

That was what I was traveling to, to Milwaukee for that race. So I left Austin, Texas, Thursday evening, and the race was going to be on Sunday morning at 10:00 AM. It ended up being a little bit of a later trip than I anticipated because there were a few delays. So I got into my parents' house around midnight which is where I was gonna stay.

They live pretty close to the Pettit Center, so it's a pretty convenient spot for me to, to race and to hang out for a bit, visit family before races at, at the Pettit Center and woke up that morning with the same kind of plan I normally have before for a race two days out. I'm just doing some light running, finalizing the taper, and then getting myself sorted and ready to go for the race itself.

And what I noticed on that morning run was as everything was kind of loosening up, my left calf just felt like it was gradually getting tighter, and it got to a point where I didn't feel comfortable running on it, so I stopped, and ended up walking back. And when I got back, I took a look at it and it looked pretty swollen, so I took a picture of it just to kind of get a clear view of it.

My mom looked at it. We were just like, "Okay, there's something wrong here," and we were trying to decide what the next step was. At that point I was pretty skeptical that there was gonna be a path forward to do the race, but i- I thought it would be a good idea to get it looked at either way. So if there was, awesome.

If not, at least I'd have some direction as to what to do next from a rehab standpoint. So we ended up going to a place called Elite and Spine here near Milwaukee, where we actually know, know the, the, the spot well. So it was pretty convenient. They were kind enough to get me in within a few hours and take a look at it.

And they, they-- the-- it was-- it's a chiropractor s- elite sports performance clinic, so their, their, their specialty is not blood clots, it's not vein things, and, you know, they're not gonna be able to prescribe or do anything there. Theirs, it's physical therapy, rehab, and stuff like that. So, after they assessed it and took a first look at it, they did mention that blood clot is a potential, so keep an eye on that and be mindful of that.

But then I went through all kinds of different therapies and things to try to see if, if they could make it start heading in the right direction for me. And, and really, you know, nothing was gonna get solved then and there. It was basically, let's do some things that might be proactive, and then if you wake up in the morning and it feels better and you feel like you can race, maybe make a game time decision on that.

So we left with that in mind. It felt pretty tight, and I would say, I would describe it as almost kind of like a low-level throbbing for, for most of that day. So when I went to bed, I was not optimistic that I was gonna wake up the next morning and feel good as new. Woke up in the next morning and knew right away there was just a zero chance I should even go for a run, much less try to find myself on that start line in what would be 24 hours later at that point.

So at that point I officially dropped out from the race. Still was under the assumption it was possibly a strain. I had the blood clot in the back of my mind because of what they said at the clinic, and then as well as when I posted on social media after it happened, I had a few people reach out and say, "Hey, just so you know, I would maybe consider getting that looked at because it's possibly a DVT or blood clot.

And if it's that, you wanna address that right away. It's not something that will likely get better, and if it gets worse, it's gonna get quite a bit worse." So I had that kind of in the back of my mind, and I went through the rest of that day thinking, "Okay, let's monitor this. Let's pay attention and see if there's any improvements and things like that."

So a day passes. Things really did not improve. The swelling stayed there. That low-level throbbing stayed there. I didn't experience some of the other symptoms that you might have, like chest pains or shortness of breath or anything like that. So my thought was, at that point, you know, maybe there's a blood clot there.

It's probably small if it is, but I should probably go get it looked at. So I ended up going into the urgent care at nine o'clock Monday morning and just, you know, shared over the, the details of everything and asked them if I should get an ultrasound, and they thought, "Yeah, let's just go straight to the ultrasound, take a look at that, and see what we, we, we n- need to do next."

So- They did an ultrasound. They actually imaged my whole right groin and then left groin all the way down my leg to my ankle which in hindsight, I'm really, really glad that they did that broad of a scope versus just the calf area, because once they got the image results back, they said I had a, a large blood clot up towards my thigh and that it was bad enough that they want, wanted me to get treated immediately.

So they sent me to the emergency room after that. So within about 30 minutes, I was at the emergency room, and they're reviewing the chart, they're reviewing my symptoms there and everything like that, and they kind of give me an idea, a little bit of a better idea of what exactly showed up on the imaging at that point.

They told me then that I actually had a blood clot that went from my ankle all the way up to my thigh, and that if it had progressed further and gotten up into my pelvis, that's where I would probably run into a lot more issues. But it was severe enough where they wanted to check through some things and get a closer look at it because the range of solutions for where I had been at that point was still quite wide.

It ranged from, "All right, we're gonna put you on some blood thinners and send you on your way, and then check back in with your doctor back in Austin when you get home, and then keep exploring kinda causes and things like that when you get there," versus, "Okay, this is bad enough that we need to keep you here overnight probably inject some stuff," and then possibly even go in through the back of my knee and pull things out of there.

So that was a pretty big range of potentials, so I was, I was fortunate my sister's a nurse, and she was there with me. So we were sitting there waiting probably for a couple hours to get the word back and as to what the next steps were, knowing it could be anything within that range. And meanwhile, they were also, they also drew some blood and ran labs to kinda take a peek at that 'cause I think that would've also given some information as to whether I would be more ready to leave versus stay and everything in between.

And eventually they came back, and they said that the, the blood clot was not such that they thought that I needed to stay and that I would be fine with taking a blood thinner for a 30-day cycle, but, and, and go, go back home, and, and I didn't have to cancel my flight. They were okay with me flying as long as I got on that blood thinner right away and then followed up with my doctor.

So- Long story short, if I would have waited, it probably progresses up into my pelvis, potentially has a rupture and throws the clot and gets lodged in my lungs and then, you know, pulmonary embolisms and things like that are on the table at that point. So it was one of those things where I was really, really happy that I decided to go in when I did and didn't wait any bit longer.

In fact, if I could do it all over again, I would have gone in sooner. But, and I think that's probably always the case with things like that in hindsight, you would, you'd go in the second you, you could, you could possibly consider something was wrong. But luckily for me, I did go in soon enough where it didn't become a problem, nearly as problematic as it could have been.

So from there, it is a little bit to be determined in terms of what I can and cannot do. I'm definitely on the shorter side in most cases with respect to this sort of thing versus what it could be. But I do need to see my doctor in Austin before I can make any, like, real concrete, like, plans beyond, like, you know, the n- like, just managing things day to day more or less.

But based on what they did tell me and where I land on the symptoms and everything about it that they know at this point and available research and things like that, it does look like it's gonna be something where I'll have, like, a week or two where being on the blood thinners will allow that blood clot to stabilize.

During that timeframe, I have to be pretty cautious about just not doing too much. I do wanna move around. It's not like sitting around and doing nothing isn't really a great move either because being very stationary and and, and just letting things sit is not-- i- is actually a risk factor for blood clotting, so I need to move within reason.

But that, that's basically probably, like, light walking and things like that at this point, and allow that to stabilize. And once that stabilizes the rest of that blood thinner course will allow it to essentially dissolve the clot that's in there. And if if all things go well from there, and I don't show any signs of something that is gonna be a, like, a high risk of reoccurrence and things like that, I should be able to resume training or work my way back up to kind of normal training over those s- weeks three and four during that, like, last phase of the blood thinner.

But I do have to still be really careful at that point because, you know, you're on blood thinners. I-if, if you get, like, a bad cut, fall, hit, have internal bleeding or something like that, you are very much more at risk for problems to occur than you would in a normal case. And then obviously, you know, I do wanna make sure that that blood clot is not in a spot where it can still rupture and, and cause me problems down the road.

So that next month or so has to be pretty well planned out. That'll be working with my doctor to formalize. This is all just, like, assumptions I'm making at this point based on what I've, what I've read and what I've been told by the doctor so far. But that could all change based on what I, what I find out with the doctor in Austin.

But yeah, I mean, I just wanted to make sure I shared that story because it is one of those things where, you know, maybe I wait a few more days and end up having a situation where that blood clot becomes severe enough where, where they do have to be, what, much more invasive, and it's a much longer, harder process, or worst case scenario, you know, you have a pulmonary embolism, and you can die.

So I'm just really thankful that there are people who have had this experience and were willing to reach out and share too, because ju- just, just the frequency in which people suggested I did that was definitely something that motivated me to, like, keep it on the radar to a degree of relative urgency.

And I, I don't know that I would have gone in as soon had that not been the case. So I wanna make sure now that I'm someone who's experienced this, that I'm doing that same thing and, and speaking up when I think there's risk factors at play with respect to blood clots and deep vein th- thrombosis type situations.

One question I did get a fair bit was just like, "Wow, that seems odd that you would get that, like, given that you're pretty healthy, you know, endurance runner and things like that." And it is one of those things that's probably worth sharing that endurance running can have higher risk factors. They tend to be from my-- from, based on what I know, and I'm going to learn as much as I can about this and hopefully have someone on the podcast down the road who can speak with a bit more authority about just the, the processes here and the things around it.

But It's just one of those things where endurance athletes, you can, you can sort of like find yourself in a situation where things line up that make you higher risk. It's not necessarily the case that you're going to be high risk in general, but you know, things like having an injury or, you know, an area that has experienced some trauma and then following that by like very little movement plane rides, dehydration, all these things kind of can combine to create a situation where a blood clot's more likely.

So, you know, a lot of the things we do and try to recover from, the stress that we pre-present to our body to get better, to get faster, if they line up in a way that is such that you can, you can develop a blood clot. So I think it is worth knowing that that is a risk factor. If for no other reason than when you have issues, just to have that as a, as a potential thing that could be bothering versus just a- assuming it's a pulled muscle or a soft tissue or an overuse, because those are the ones that usually get talked about.

They don't get ta- blood clots don't necessarily get talked about as much when runners experience discomfort and things like that. So, another thing that's just worth sharing too is like all of my discomfort was in the calf area. I didn't notice any discomfort in the upper part of the leg, in my feet anywhere else really.

It was just that tightness and that low level throbbing that was fairly consistent that stood out to me and, you know, in, in hindsight, like I had a clot all the way up to my thigh, so it wasn't even necessarily that it was that specific spot on my calf that was the area of concern. It was that whole area.

So, it's just one other thing to consider that just because you have a localized pain doesn't mean that's where all the problems are. I think that's just generally good assumptions to make as runners too and, and thankfully there are people who know more about this that you can see and, and get help with if you need it.

So, I'd love to hear from people if they have questions, stories of their own and things that they'd like to know. I'm definitely gonna share my path back and what it is, what it takes and what I learn along the way. I'm assuming I'm gonna learn more as I visit more doctors in Austin and eventually get back to training again.

But for now, I thought it was just worth to kind of come in and share, share what I know so far and what happened and, and hopefully, Just raise a little bit of a, a, an awareness flag, so to speak, for keep an eye on potential blood clots if you are experiencing symptoms to mine. Because for me, it was one of those things where I've had enough running injuries.

I've been running for nearly 30 years now, so, you know, I've had enough of them where I kind of know how a lot of them feel and how a lot of them present. So, injuries aren't great, but having them mapped in your mind as to how they present is useful information, and it certainly was for me, too, 'cause at a certain point, I started realizing, "You know what?

I've had an upper calf strain before, and this isn't presenting like that anymore." And, you know, that combined with encouragement from other people and that sort of thing was definitely what got me to go in sooner rather than later. So, I think that's all, all I got for now. Like I said, if you, if you wanna reach out, feel free to do so.

You can find me on my website at zachbitter.com or hit me up on my socials on Instagram, @zachbitter or X @zbitter. But until, until necas- next episode, that's what I got.