Comments on: Birth Control Gave Me Blood Clots

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:37:29 +0000

i just turned 20 and i just found out that 5 years ago when i took the depo shot i got blood clots in my led i almost died i was in the hospital for 3 weeks one of them in icu it is a very scary thing your story and others are helping me learn what it is that is going on with me i never new that green food changed my INR so much i hope buy not eating them they will get my INR regulated it is getting so hard for them to talk blood from me i am starting to pass out and getting poked 3 timed just to get one vile of blood IF ANY ONE HAS ANY MORE ADVISE OR INFORMATION ABOUT THIS I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR IT EMAIL ME AT Amanda_Dettling@live.com

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:07:21 +0000

Thank you for sharing your story Caitlin! I have been there, done that. Glad to hear others are writing about their situations too! Hugs!
http://peat25.blogspot.com

By: Christie

Christie — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 01:57:24 +0000

Caitlin, I could not have said it better! I was diagnosed with PE in the lungs on 7/24/09 and was scared shitless!! I’m a 32 years old non smoker with two children under age 5 and had a fear of not waking up in the mornings to see my babies for weeks after I got home from the hospital, I was mental head case! I was taking Yaz for 10 months and it turned my life upside down. I can wait for my life to get back to normal in March 2010! Thanks for your post! Take Care!

By: Amelia

Amelia — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:51:55 +0000

I am 20 years old. In February 2009 I was diagnosed with Pulmonary Embolism (blood clot in the lung). I was on the NuvaRing for a month! I had been on it previously for a year and had no problems. I was coumadin for awhile, but my doctor could never get my INR regulated. Gradually I stopped taking the coumadin. I have no evidence of clots (landed in the ER last week cuz I couldn’t breathe) but am still having issues. I can never been on any form of birth control because of the risk, unless I use condoms. When I have kids I have to be on Lovenox shots for the pregnancy and coumadin for 8 weeks after delivery due to the increased risk of blood clots.
Doctors have no idea why I’m having chest pain and difficulty breath and why I am having pain in my lower right leg.
Being on Coumadin pretty much ruined my life. I couldn’t take any pain relievers, not even tylenol. I was tired all the time, losing my hair and had to change my diet. And talk about freezing my butt off, I just couldn’t get warm. I cut myself shaving once and landed in the doctors office because I couldn’t get it to stop bleeding. My gums would bleed when I brushed my teeth and if you thought about touching me I would bruise.

Clots are not something to joke around with. And they can pretty much destroy your life.

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 03:19:54 +0000

I just want to let you all know that if you have problem with clot and one type of birth control you are likely to have problems with any type of birth control. I just found out 2 weeks ago that I have a brain full of clots I am on blood thinners, my doctor told me I would never be able to take any kind of birth control. I had the depo shot about 3 weeks before they found the clots they told me that is what caused them. I feel like I was given a death sentence, very hard to deal with and for my family. I cry every night because where the clots are it is very dangerous. I worry all the time that one will move and I will have a stroke or die. I am only 36 yrs old and a non-smoker. This was the first time I had tried the shot. Now I have awful headache all the time they never let up. I am on parnate which is an anti depressent, strong pain killers for the headaches that just take the edge off but does not take them away and blood thinners. I have to have my blood tested 2 times a week and my doctor put me off work for atleast a month then I will get another MRI if I still have clots he is not going to let me go back to work. This is having anvery neg affect on my marriage my husband is so worried about me that he doesn’t know how to deal with it and I don’t either, we are both afraid I will not wake up going to bed at night is the hardest time of day. It has put a strain on him because I can not be left alone he has to be in the bathroom while I take a shower I can’t drive I am completly dependent on him, something he has not been use to since we have been together. I have always been an independent person now I am like a little kid that needs a baby sitter. It is hard and from what I understand I will be living this way for months.

By: MC

MC — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:32:28 +0000

I’m 28, active and healthy. I just finished 21 days of birth control pills. I’ve never been on the pill before. About a 7 days in I started getting leg cramps. About 2 weeks in I started having chest/heart pains, trouble breathing, arm pain and numbness, neck pain, shoulder pain, and head pain. all on my left side. I followed the advice of a nurse and went to emerge, I explained everything to the doctor. I was dismissed after routine blood work. I didn’t have a D-Dimer test. Two days later my symptoms became progressively worse. Head pain intensified. jaw pain, confusion, weakness, fainting. Taking the advice of my medical clinic, I went to another emergency room. I explained everything again to a doctor who said “we don’t care about you, you are young and have healthy vital signs.”,and that my symptoms were to broad and general. He said “I will not tell you this is because of the pill” again I was dismissed. I know something was very wrong with me. The worst may be over, I still have the same symptoms that feel very specific to me although they have lessened. I spent a week in bed as these symptoms were debilitating. From all of your post, medical advice I’ve received (outside of these emerge doctors)and research it would seem these are symptoms of blood clots, how can I get a CT scan or an ultrasound or both if I can’t get a doctor to listen to me? Do they know something I don’t. Does anyone have any suggestions.

By: Caroline

Caroline — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:44:07 +0000

Hello All,

I just wanted to share my story as well. When I was 20 years old, I started taking Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo on January 9. The week of March 20, I had a headache every single day and I was someone who NEVER got headaches. I thought this was odd, but didn’t really think too much into it. On March 27, I woke up at about 8am with this horrible pain on my right side. It felt like someone was stabbing me with a knife every time I took a breath in. I immediately went to a local urgent care to get checked because I knew something was not right. The funny thing is, by the time I got to the urgent care place, the pain was gone. I explained it to the doctor and he did a physical exam and then took x-rays of my chest, but he found nothing. He asked me if I was on any medication and I told him I had just recently started taking birth control. The minute I said that he told me to go to the ER at the local hospital to get a CT scan because it could be a blood clot.
As soon as I heard that I was a little freaked out, but he said since I was so young that it was probably something else, but just go check to be sure. When I got to the ER, they first took me to get ultrasounds of my legs because that’s where clots usually form and then they travel through the body. After the ultrasounds were done, the doctor said there was no evidence of any clots in my legs or having been in my legs. I was feeling more optimistic then, especially since the pain had not returned. Then they took me to get the CT and the nurse said “This will probably be pointless since you’re so young.” Again, I felt better.
Well then as I was sitting in my ER room and my dad was in the hallway, I heard the doctor say to my dad “She has a clot in her lung, we’re going to have to admit her.” I have never been more terrified in my entire life. I immediately thought I was going to die and started crying and freaking out. The doctor tried to calm me down, telling me that blood clots are a very common thing that people get every day and since they caught mine before it did any permanent (or fatal) damage, I would be fine. I spent the next 5 days in the hospital getting Lovenox shots twice a day.
After my release from the hospital, I had to be on Coumadin for 7 months. I got off the Coumadin on November 1 and my 21st birthday was November 14 (thankfully!!!). It’s been over 5 and a half years now since my experience and I have been just fine. I have to take Folgard every day for the rest of my life, which is a folic acid/B12 supplement, to help prevent anything further. I came to find out that I too (like many of you) tested positive for Factor V Leiden and that with the added levels of estrogen from the BCP, it triggered a clot.
It is EXTREMELY important to get tested for any genetic mutation or problem that could have attributed to your clot. My dad, who is 62 and has never had any blood problems, just recently had one blood clot in his leg and two in his lungs. He tested positive for the same thing. The doctor said that it is genetic and it can cause clots in both women AND men, regardless of something like BCP to trigger it. So for all of you who have also had a clot(s), please tell your family members to get tested just to be sure. After my dad’s hospitalization, my brother got tested and found out he has it, too. So now he is also taking folgard as a precautionary measure.
Most of you here seem to have just experienced this awful thing, so I just wanted you to know that 5 and a half years later I am doing fine. Just push through the horrible Coumadin phase and know you’ll be back to normal soon!

P.S. I never smoked a day in my life and was very active in dance and cheerleading when I got the clot.

Jamie Williams- In regards to your question about Lovenox and Heparin, I have researched this a lot because the older I get the more I am looking towards my future pregnancy plans. The reason women are given Heparin and not Lovenox while pregnant is because Lovenox will cross the placenta, while Heparin will not. From my limited research, it seems that it is perfectly fine to have a healthy pregnancy and delivery while on Heparin, so we should be fine! Hope that helps:)

By: Astrid

Astrid — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:30:34 +0000

Hi,
About 4 months ago I fainted in the street and was brought to ICU wit lots of blood clots in my lungs. I’m 22 years old, healhty, non-smoker etc. and I am not predisposed to any blood clot conditions.
I’m allowed to stop taking coumadin by the end of October and I am really keen on finding another contraception method than condoms. I spoke to a gyno who said that the mini-pill and Mirena should be fine, because there’s no estrogen in them. However, when I google them, they advice you not to use it if you’ve had blood clots. The gyno said that they just write that so that people won’t sue them in case they have a blood clot.
What do you ladies think about that? Are the non-estrogen birth controls alright for us?
And I am soooo having a green-leaf-vegetable/eneergy drink/alcohol party when I finish coumadin!

By: Jess

Jess — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:45:23 +0000

Caitlin – what pill were you on? im nervous to start mine now…

By: Leslie

Leslie — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 03:12:04 +0000

Millions of women worldwide are exposed to the clotting risks, experience life-alterikng conditions and some die because of lack of information or not seriously evaluating the magnitude of risk. All this suffering, despite the pharma cos and medical community knowing of the disabilities and deaths.

So let’s have a dialogue on the practical ways to make young women aware all the facts and then get started!

I’ll start:

1. stand-up card in gyn exam room with URL with facts;

2. You know how you always look up a the ceiling in the exam chair, so a poster there with a URL

3. dramatic photo of women with clots in ER or undergoing serious operation – with URL

4. magnet for metal, public restroom stall doors with URL

So what are your ideas? Let’s get this going!