This is an important update to my previous post about bilateral pulmonary embolisms (blood clots in both my lungs) that were diagnosed about four months ago and have since cleared up as a result of being on Xarelto, an anticoagulant drug, for about two months. I am still taking the Xarelto and had a follow up visit with my Hematologist yesterday.

After having sent her some articles I found noting that PMR is a form of Vasculitis and that Vasculitis could cause blood clots, she acknowledged that my blood clots may have been a result of the combination of PMR and having taken a long car ride about two weeks before the blood clots were found inadvertently on an abdominal CT scan. Despite my wife and I stopping every two hours on about a six hour trip to walk and get the blood flowing in our legs it appears that the blood clots formed anyway.

This is very important for sufferers of PMR who I am sure know that when they sit for any extended period of time they get stiffness in their legs. You should be aware that blood clots could form in your calfs and eventually break up and migrate through the heart to your lungs, which if not detected and treated could be fatal.

My hematologist wants me to continue taking the Xarelto for at least two more months (which will bring it to six fall months). At that point she will make an assessment as to whether I should stay on the Xarelto at half of my current 20 mg per day dose for the rest of my life or is its safe to stop taking them. She commented that my PMR is likely to go on for quite some while and it might be advisable to stay on the Xarelto at least for the duration of the PMR.