Originally Posted by ol'cs

For the last , at least five months, i have been like a bear, hibernating. I sleep in two daily "cycles" one that starts at around 5:00 pm and lasts until around 9:00 pm, and a more unpredictable one which lasts from around 2:00 am until 11.00 am. I am getting much worse at typing and so don't post in the forum anymore (it's too frustrating). The too much sleeping, is no doubt connected to depression, but I take an antidepressant that works pretty well, I just don't want to be awake anymore becaus of the home situation.
What I wanted too get across in this post is the dangers of lying in a prone position most of the day, and sitting down the rest, with little excercise. This has been talked about before , but i wonder how many people have experienced this and don't know what's going on.
What i'm talking about is DVT or phlebitis. Both are caused by blood "pooling" in the legs, but deep vein thrombisis (DVT), is in the deep veins of the thigh and is the more dangerous of the two problems . Phlebitis is near in surface veins of the thigh or calves and is less serious of the two conditions , but still painful and it freaks you out, you feel loss of touch, or a weird feeling upon touching the affected area and a tingling feeling in any appendage, like your arms or your feet. This is a clot formation disease, and can be deadly. especially with DVT because a clot can break off and get lodged in your lungs (pulmonary embolism). You know when you have phlebitis when you feel pain and have redness and swelling in your thigh or calf. This is a condition usually seen in people with surfaces varicose veins , but can be found in anyone. You can often feel the vein affected by putting your fingers over the area and feeling a swollen vein along the surface of the skin. Don't be alarmed too much but phlebitis, see a doctor soon, but DVT, pain deep in the affected area, should be treated at once, as it could be life threatening. The best way to avoid both condiitions is to get enough excercise, but sleeping with your legs elevated and conciously "sqeezing" and moving your leg muscles even in bed will help a lot. If you are hospitalized with this condition, you will probably have to take blood thinners for the rest of your life, and you don't want that; yucch