I know that D-dimer has to do with clotting in your body, but does anyone know if it could be anything else? Last year, I was on the pill for only 2 days! I stopped because my leg started to hurt (I believe it was in my head, truthfully). But, it hurt for about a week and my mom finally said we should go to the ER. All of my tests came out normal, except my D-dimer test, it was slightly high at 533. The ER doctor said nothing about what that could mean. I also had a duplex scan of my leg, which showed no clot. My mom is a surgical nurse and asked a vascular surgeon if D-dimer only means clots, he said that it can raise when you are sick. I want to believe that, but I haven't found ANY info on that, only on how it measures clots. I did get a hepatitis B shot about a week before starting the pills. So, in the end, my question is if D-dimer is only for clots? Thanks.

Katie

the d-dimer test is reliable to rule out a deep vein thrombosis in low risk patients so if it is negative you can say the patient does not have a DVT. if however the test if positive you can only say the patient MIGHT have a DVT. all sorts of things can mildly raise the d-dimers including infections for example. d-dimers are formed all the time as there is constant minor activation of the clotting cascade