Hi, I know there has been many threads on Deep Vein Thrombosis and Pulmonary embolism etc. But I would love to hear from anyone on this site who has had a DVT or is on Warfarin and if they have gained weight?
I had a DVT 2.5months ago, so still have it but I’m pretty much cycling and swimming as usual or even more, I am just still struggling with the running so I’m doing more cycling than before. In fact I’m on average 14 hours a week of training already. The reason I tell you this is to show that I’m not exactly sitting around being idle which is every ones first answer to my weight gain question,“you are gaining weight because you cannot train” So that’s not true!
I did gain about 2 or 3 kgs in hospital and the week or so after that while I couldn’t train, but since then for the last 1.5 months I started eating really well and training and heres the wierd part… not only did I not lose one gram, but I gained another 3kg’s (I hear people saying its muscle) which would be fine except for the fact that my stomach has grown about 7cm since I started eating well and training? So clearly not muscle and my stomach has not looked like this ever, even when I was a non triathlete 10 years ago and weighed 25kg’s more. And it just feels so uncomfortable all the time.
So obviously I have spoken to doctors ( about 3 of them now) and they all refuse to acknowledge that the Warfarin could do this and I must just be eating badly or not training…even after I have tried to explain my training load and eating habits. I guess they hear people saying this all the time when its actually not true so I can see why they don’t believe me, also I’m still not exactly obese or fat for a non-athlete so they don’t see the need for me to lose weight and think I’m “normal”. But I don’t need to tell the slowtwitch community how much the extra 6 to 7kg’s and 7cm can affect a triathlete.
So…has anyone experienced this before or know of someone with similar issues? The internet is full of people saying the same thing but again, I’m not sure if they do actually train and eat right or just looking for excuses as to why they are over weight? The problem is that I have the Factor 5 Leiden gene from both parents so I am on Warfarin life long so I have to find an answer for this as I’m only 35 years old and don’t intend being over weight forever!
During my training for an Ironman I had pulmonary embolism and put on some weight while on warfarin but felt it was more of retaining fluids since the doctors stressed to stay hydrated. There are doctors that do not fully understand athletes, triathletes or realize how much training times folks actually put in while training for an event. It’s been a while since my PE and I still struggle with running and swimming even though I put the training time in each day. Against the physicians advise I went off warfarin and oddly enough dropped quite a bit of weight in no time. Check with your physician to see if you have to stay on warfarin or if you could possibly take aspirin each day as long as you stay well hydrated - just a thought.
I’ve been on Warfarin for 2.5 years now, thanks to a DVT and a PE. Like the OP, I have Factor V Leiden and will be on this cr@p for the rest of my life.
However, I have not had any issues with weight gain. In fact, the last 2 seasons I have been as light as I have been in over a decade.
I am hopin the new class of thinners get approved for DVT treatment soon. They don’t have the dietary restrictions and don’t require monitoring.
I was diagnosed with really massive blood clots in my leg with numerous pulmonary embolisms back in February, started the Coumadin and Lovnox routine after they installed a IVC filter and removed most of the leg clots. The vascular surgeon said within a couple of weeks I could get back to some training slowly which I did, only to have a very large internal bleed, hematoma rupture in my right groin, so since then it has been nothing but pain management, I could never in my life thought there was such pain. I was on morphine for 12 days, and then I had to have two nerve blocks in the groin, which have helped, but it has really messed me up. Apparently my blood went way too thin INR was really high so since then I have my blood tested twice a week as it is so unstable with me and they try to keep me around the 2.1 range. I just wanted to let you know to be careful when on Coumadin and really watch that INR don’t let it get too high as pushing your body can punish you back in ways I never would have thought possible.
As for you question about weight gain I have seen none, especially as I lost about 15lbs leading up to my diagnosis when I didn’t know what was wrong with me. This Coumadin is nasty stuff, seems like I am totally allergic to it, and suffer many of the nasty side effects. I hope to get off it in July time frame and get this IVC filter removed later this month, lungs have resolved quite good so far and only a couple of clots remain in the legs from the last ultra sound a month ago.
Here’s the kicker though all of this probably was started by wearing a unloader brace too tight on my leg as last November when I had the brace refitted with new straps and thought I would give it another try when running… if only I knew it would almost kill me!
Good luck to you in your health. Cheers LA Rob
Thanks for the replies, wow Rob your issue sounds nasty, think I’ll be happy with my DVT now! Actually I did kind of get my issue sorted out after a while, but I definitely wasn’t making it up and there was certainly something going on because recently I took a month off of training and ate really bad, and although I picked up a fair bit of weight my stomach was nowhere close to the size it was when I just started using the Warfarin/Coumadin.
It took a while but after about 3 months of training properly and eating very selectively on the deficit side calerie wise it started to fall away slowly. I have a feeling it was more a case of something slowing my metabolism down to almost non existent, so I focused on just trying to speed it up by eating often like grazing and eating metabolism boosting foods etc. And eventually I ended up pretty lean actually, although the scale was still a bit heavier than at my leanest but I felt leaner so who knows? Either way it all worked out eventually, unfortunately I am still on the Warfarin or Coumadin, a rather high dose as my INR is always low, probably because I refuse to stop eating vegetables and the training seems to make me metabolise the drug faster…well thats the docs best guess anyway?
I still have a pretty swollen leg though and there is still a bit of hardened clot left hindering blood flow but it is not dangerous as long as I don’t develop new clots, thats why I wont go off the drug until its all clear. But it hasn’t really hindered me too much as far as triathlon goes, I just changed my focus away from running that much, I don’t really want to run too much until its all sorted so I’ve become much better on the bike and swim and I just hang tough for the run now In fact it was my best season ever and ended up winning two races so I cannot complain. Just wish the swelling would go away now so I can start doing some serious running again without fear of doing some damage. I wear my compression socks everyday and when I race I use proper athlete ones, and I honestly think that has been key to my getting back to triathlon.
I have studied this subject at length and experimented with a lot of things and learnt even more since I posted this original post. So I am as knowledgeble as one can be without a degree on this subject. And even then it seems most doctors are just as clueless as their patients are when it comes to this, and even more so when it comes to training and DVT. So if anyone wants any help or needs some advice please feel free to message me, I know how helpless I felt so hopefully I can help someone else, even if its just to tell my story and give them hope. My doctors told me that triathlon was over for me so I have a feeling a few others got the same advice.
my wife was on the rat poison for a while after a pulmonary embolism. no weight gain that we noticed. maybe a couple pounds from not training at all for a month. She only stayed on it for maybe 3 months? Doctors suggested 6 but the drugs made her more nervous than the risks of not taking them.
this was ~3 years ago she has since gone on to do a couple duathlons, start bike racing, all the way up to the cat 1 level and a couple of pro races recently.
athletic dreams are certainly not over necessarily. she is faster on the bike than I am now by a lot.
In fact it was my best season ever and ended up winning two races so I cannot complain. Just wish the swelling would go away now so I can start doing some serious running again without fear of doing some damage. I wear my compression socks everyday and when I race I use proper athlete ones, and I honestly think that has been key to my getting back to triathlon.