DVT and flying

poppysocks1

On January 1st this year I got a deep vein thrombosis, which i am still on medication for. It was quite a surprise to be diagnosed with this as only 34, hadnt flown recently. I had a pain in my calf but it wasnt overly painful initially (did get progressively more painful and couldnt walk for a week, but took tablets, injections etc and dealt with it). My question is - i would like to go on holiday soon - will i be covered by insurance, will it be safe to fly, and how likely is it to recurr?

Has anyone else had one and, having had treatment (i.e. medication) did you have any lasting physical effects.

Sorry if this is in wrong section - not quite sure where to put it.

Thank you

LilacLillie

I've been treated twice for DVT's after flights. Both were false alarms, thank God! I carry the gene that makes me more prone to clotting, so mine was done as emergency precautions, due to my medical history.
What I do know is that I have had the gene all my life, yet only in the last 2 yrs has my medical travel insurance added a supplement to my policy.......................meaning I pay more!!!!!!!!!
So it depends on if you have the gene, or if this was a one off DVT. I'm sure it will add a premium on your policy, and you must tell them, because it happened once and you'd need to be covered if it happened again. Better safe than sorry in this case.
LL

alison74

I am no medical expert, but I do think you have to allow X amount of months before you fly again and your GP would advise you on this. Depends what medication you are on and the length of your next flight.

You would need to declare it on your insurance as it would now be classed as a 'pre existing condition' ( or risk )

You of course need to buy some of those sexy socks for your next flight

Consult your GP I would say.

rdwarr

I really don't think we should discuss this further here. Poppysocks, hope all goes well for you but you should get proper advice from a doctor on this.

poppysocks1

OK - how do i close a thread - i didnt realise i shouldnt discuss this.

so3003

You'll probably have an extra cost on your insurance premium - and make sure you declare it, because it's unlikely to cause any problems but if you didn't declare it they could potentially not pay out for any claim you make.

In normal healthy people the clotting mechanism shouldn't be activated simply by flying - it doesn't happen to people who live at high altitude when they lie in bed every night! - and studies have shown this to be true. If you are taking anticoagulant medication (warfarin, aspirin, clopidogrel...) you should be ok, and in fact the thing you need to see your GP about is making sure if you are changing time zones that you don't over- or under-dose yourself when changing zones. You may want to go and say hello though, and please don't do the classic travellers thing of turning up in the GP surgery with a major question about ability to travel then casually drop into the conversation that your flight is the next morning!!!

Have a good trip!