19F, ER dismissed me as just having anxiety
On Monday morning I had woken up with pain in the front of my right thigh. I thought I had just slept wrong but I became a bit worried when going up and down the stairs was painful and I took 6 pills to try and relieve the pain. 2 gabapentin, 2 tylenol, 2 ibuprofen. The pain continued to persist and it came up in conversation with my therapist that day and she told me to keep an eye on it since it might be a DVT and she's had one before and they run in her family. There wasn't any redness or swelling so I didn't think much of it. On Tuesday, the pain persisted but I still didn't think much of it. On Wednesday morning, I woke up and the pain in my thigh was gone but as I was in class, I suddenly felt light headed and had this mild sharp pain in my chest that was fluctuating on and off. I didn't think it was a big deal and after hours of this, I headed to the student clinic. I told a nurse about my chest pain and that it had been happening for hours. She was upset that I didn't come sooner and I told her I didn't think it was that serious but she told me chest pain was always serious. She took my blood pressure and put the oximeter on my finger. During this I start feeling a little short of breath. My blood pressure was normal but the oximeter was at 82 and she dismissed the reading as inaccurate due to my acrylic nails. She dismissed it as anxiety and I left. The shortness of breath didn't ease up though. After another hour I headed back to the clinic and told the nurse that I was now having trouble breathing. She just made me lay down and I heard her talking about me to the other nurses, saying that I *think* I can't breath, except I really can't breath. She looked annoyed by me and put the oximeter back on my finger and it read 76 but she dismissed it again as inaccurate. My breathing only gets worse and she acts like I'm inconveniencing her when it feels like I'm suffocating. She dismissed it as an anxiety attack and I leave frustrated. I texted my parents about what happened and later head home. I was still struggling to breathe and my mom decides to take me to the ER.
After getting assessed they take me to do an EKG. I layed flat on the bed while they hooked me up to the machine and ran the test, but lying flat only made me feel like I was suffocating even more. After the test, we sat back down in the waiting room and waited hours to get a room. We explained to the doctor that I could barely breathe and even barely talk because it felt like I was suffocating, like something was blocking my airway. She took note of my normal oxygen levels and my fast heartbeat and breathing. We mentioned the previous thigh pain and the concern of a possible blood clot since I'm on oral contraceptive. We had also brought up my factor xii deficiency, factor xii being a protein that affects blood clotting. I got a chest x-ray and blood drawn since a pulmonary embolism was suspected, and after waiting hours more, the doctor came back to tell us that the x-ray looked good and that the d-dimer came back negative. She then discharged me and said that it was likely anxiety. It was already 5 in the morning and I was just exhausted. At home, I fell asleep sitting upright and didn't get any good sleep. I still can't barely breathe and I can barely eat or drink without starting to feel l like I'm suffocating. I've been unable to breath properly for over 24 hours. I don't have as much sharp chest pain, it's now a dull heavy weight on my chest. I still have a fast heartbeat and breathing. I'm so tired and hungry and I have a painful pounding headache and I can't even talk. I just need help and advice on how to get through this.
Posted Aug 13, 2026, 4:44 PM UTC