Has anyone ever done international travel after having a pulmonary embolism? What did your doctor suggest that you do?

1. Do it
2. For flights within Europe, just do it
3. Transatlantic and further: Preferably fully-extensible Business seats. Lots of getting up and walking on dayflights (so avoid US carriers at all costs). Compression hosiery. Take heparin supplies and inject yourself before each flight.
4. If on regular INR bloodtests, get them done wherever you are, and get the local hospital to email the results back to whoever's keeping track of your results.

Sloppily written.

That was my understanding of the advice I got.

Should have added: unless you've got a full lie-down seat, or are confident you'll be able to walk around every 90 mins, try to avoid overnight flights. If you're able to sleep on them, you can easily find yourself in one position for too long overnight.

My friend and travel companion suffered one of these 6 weeks before we were set to travel from the US to southern Africa. (Two long, back-to-back flights)

She got clearance from her doctor and did exactly what Flanneruk suggested. She did not need to inject Heparin, but she was taking Coumadin/Warfarin.

She did need, and was able to get, a blood test in a CapeTown hospital. The trip worked out just fine! (I only wish we all could receive such good service in a local hospital!)


Obviously your doc would be the one to give the final word..

I had multiple massive pulmonary emboli several years ago but am healthy now and will be on daily coumadin therapy for the rest of my life (turns out I have a genetic mutation that predisposes me to blood clots; supposedly 1 in 20 of us have one of these mutations). I still travel internationally every chance I get, but for flights of four hours or longer I always fly in business or first so that I have plenty of room to stretch my legs and can elevate them -- no more coach except on shorter flights. I wear prescription compression stockings in flight (I despise them but enjoy being alive so I wear them when I fly). I always wear the medic-alert bracelet that says I am on the coumadin therapy just in case anything ever happens to me. I also drink lots of fluids on the plane and get up every 90 minutes or so and walk around the plane. On two occasions I brought a blood testing device on my trip with me to monitor my PT/INR but usually if it has been good lately I only need to have it tested once every four weeks.

Doc also forbids me from horseback riding.

Thanks for the responses. I had the blod clots and PE as a result of birth control pills. It was a very scary time. I was in the hospital for about 8 days and I had to give myself injections when I came home. I took a blood thinner for about a year, but I am off of it now. I was just worried because I was told that because I had one before, I am more likely to have another.

I will check with my doctor before I go, but I just wanted to know what advice was given to others.

Depending on where you are flying from, there are several US carriers which offer day flights to London so there is no need to "avoid" them

lfnzach -- Did they test you to see if you have a genetic mutation like Factor V Leiden or Prothrombin II? I assume they must have, before they took you off the blood thinners.

I was in the hospital for a week also (most of it in the ICU; I had two cardiac arrests) and also had to do the subcutaneous heparin injections myself when I got home (ugh).

I had also been on birth control pills in addition to having flown to Australia and NZ in coach class -- which, combined with the genetic mutation we subsequently discovered, was a bad combination of risk factors. I never would have thought it would have happened to me -- I was in my thirties and healthy.

Anyway, it has not curtailed my travel in the least -- thank goodness.

Here's to our continued good health!

Hi Lisa, they did do genetic testing. It was negative. I was surprised because I have 6 members in my immediately family, and 3 of us have had PEs (2 since me). One has died. They said it was just coincidental.

I was very shocked. I am also in my early 30s. I had only been on the pill for 3 months. It was that 90 day pill. My doctor had given it to me to solve other problems, and it created more problems.

I have a different doctor, now. I am doing the test again.

Hi lfnzach

What did YOUR doctor suggest?

Hi Lisa, I have not been yet. I have an appointment next month.

Interesting cultural difference.

The day I was diagnosed, practically the first thing the specialists told me (without prompting) was how, after a month or two, to handle intra-Europe and intercontinental travel.

The standard pack our local anticoagulation team hands out when you start INR tests goes through it again - including keeping the tests going while out of the country.

To us, it would be shocking, going on downright unethical, for doctors not to explain about plane journeys as a top priority.

Presumably there must still be communities these days where doctors don't automatically assume patients are frequent plane users.