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I also learned this the hard way after a 14 hour session of Diablo 3. I went to the doctor a couple of times because my leg felt swolen and it was hurting but t
by z9tree 8y ago
I also learned this the hard way after a 14 hour session of Diablo 3. I went to the doctor a couple of times because my leg felt swolen and it was hurting but they didn't think much of it for some reason - only after I developed extreme difficulty breathing did I end up in the ER. The DVT had migrated from my leg into my lungs and gave me a pulmonary embolism.
- beat 8y agoYou're lucky to be alive. Pulmonary embolisms are often fatal.
- arkades 8y agoThat’s a common misconception. Most are clinically silent. The ones that land you in an emergency room are dangerous.
- beat 8y agoYeah, I suppose. A few years back, I was blinded in one eye by a retinal vein occlusion (basically a stroke in the retina). They're actually pretty common, affecting 5-10% of the population, but unless it crosses your macula, you'll probably never know it happened.
- LoneWolf123 8y agoIs it curable? Has your eyesight been restored?
- beat 8y agoIt's treatable, not curable. Treatment lasted about a year, consisting of monthly injections into my eyeball (yeah), and a laser surgery that cauterized about 50 tiny veins. I have a blind spot and some unevenness, but it's usable. My bad eye is better than many people's good eye. It's about 20/40-20/80 now, depending (my good eye is 20/20). Hooray for modern medicine! It saved my eye. When the occlusion first happened, my vision went from 20/20 to 20/500 in moments.
- scruple 8y agoI recently suffered an occular migraine. My first and only (so far). Scariest moment of the decade for me. Thought I was going blind, thought I'd have to adjust to this new normal. Got myself to the ER just in time for it to clear out. Eye issues terrify me and I'm not sure mental state could handle a retinal stroke. That sounds truly horrible.
- beat 8y agoI've had ocular migraines my whole life, as long as I can remember (I clearly remember them happening before kindergarten, and was seeing doctors when I was six). Luckily, they've gotten far less common and intense as I've gotten older... they were completely debilitating during my early teens.
- crispyambulance 8y agoIf "Clinically silent" is jargon for "no symptoms at all", sure. But if it gets the point of even minor persistent chest pain or one is aware that something is not right, it's time for the emergency room. Chest pain is not to be trifled with. One clot may be followed by others which might be serious or fatal in a very short time. PE is common enough among people that sit for a living (most of HN), that I think it's important for folks to be aware of them and that they're dangerous.
- hopler 8y agoI've had mild chest pain for years. I'm not going to live in the ER.
- shrimp_emoji 8y agoWhat a terrible game to almost die for. I'm so sorry. Also, 14 consecutive hours? Did you literally not get up at all in that period? Did you have enough fluids and snacks nearby that you didn't have to?
- z9tree 8y agoIt was consecutive but I did get up from time to time for bathroom breaks, but clearly not often enough. As for fluids I'm fairly sure I was pretty dehydrated at the time. This occurred in 2015. Since this occurred and after I learned from a nurse about the leg muscles being critical to get the blood moving out of your legs I have developed a habit of constantly moving my legs around any time they have not moved in a bit. When this episode happened I remember that I would keep my legs very still during the gaming session.
- sizzle 8y agoDo you know if the chair you sat on was impinging the back of your upper thigh? Do you have any health risks associated with DVT e.g. Smoker, use birth control, overweight, etc. Any family history? Crazy how this happened from one 14 hour session or were you regularly doing this? Thanks.
- yodon 8y agoWhen it happens, it will result from one session. Whether it happens in any given session is a statistical question.