Pulmonary Embolism/DVT

[MaybeMaybeline]

Well, I felt like I should give a cautionary tale to all you out there. I was taking Yasmin for about 8 months after being diagnosed (finally!) with PCOS when I got a cramping pain in my calf. After a week, I went to my doctor who felt it was a phelibitis and sent me home to do rest/elevation/compression. A few days later, I got chest pain and shortness of breath, went to the ER, and was diagnosed with bilateral pulmonary emboli (blood clots in the lungs). So no more birth control ever for me!

Right now, since I have no other risk factors and no family history, the doctors are attributing it to the Yasmin. I'll do a full clotting workup when I come off the coumadin in 5 months. Not to raise concerns unnecessarily, but in the PE support group I joined, almost every woman who had a PE on BC was taking Yaz/Yasmin.

A few lessons from this. Know that PEs/DVTs are a risk anytime you're taking BC! Take calf pain seriously when you're on the pill and demand a doppler study of your legs if you have it! I'm a nurse and I should have known better but I brushed it off and trusted my doctor. Just another reason of many to look for non-BC treatments for PCOS.

On a brighter note, I found this message board a few weeks before I had my PE. Thanks to all the info here, I asked my doctor to start me on Metformin and she agreed! Today is my second day on Met and I'm crossing my fingers it works!!

Caitlin

[Cindy84H]

I'm a nurse too and totally freaked out by the possibilty of DVTs/PE. I've taken care of a couple young, heathly women in their 20s that are hospitalized with a PE, attributed to BCPs.

I'm glad you're ok!

[Cindy84H]

Ok now I'm super freaked out about the Yaz. I started googling Yaz and DVT. I'm going to stop taking it and call my dr monday for my seasonale back.

[~LilyBelle~]

I had a pulmonary embolism while on BCP's. I was 21 years old and in fairly good health. I had no classic symptoms and they are not sure that mine started as a DVT because it was already in my lung when it was found. I was not taking Yaz/Yasmin, I was on Zovia (generic Demulen) when I had my embolism. I had the full clotting work up and was found to have no abnormalities that would cause me to clot. Since I can never take BCP's again, I got the Mirena IUD in Feb 2007 and now I have not had a period since Feb 2008! I took Coumadin for 9 months and now I take a baby aspirin daily as a precaution.

[nourania]

wow! I took BCPS for about 4years..and felt great on them!
when I was PG w/ my dd my OB ran a million blood tests to see why I had previous M/C..
ends up I am homozygous (double positive) with a form of Thrombophilia - a blood clotting mutation-(MTHFR)..
can't tell you how many times I have freaked over 'what could have been!"..and thank God that I was lucky for those 4 years!

so glad to hear you gals are ok!!

[Twizzles]

My co-worker (who is 29) was dx'd with DVT (lower calf area) on Feb 16. She was on Seasonale and this was the first type of birth control she's ever been on / tried. She was super scared. She is on Coumadin Therapy until August. She has had to change her whole lifestyle (eating, drinking, etc). She is still scared to some extent.

[molliesc]

i got a DVT in my calf a year and a half ago - it was pretty scary! never travelled to my lungs, though. i was on orthotrycyclin birth control at the time and had just been on a long plane trip from hawaii. my doctor attributed it to the trip, but advised me to never take bc pills again.

[lucy07]

I have heard Diane 35 is the worst for causing blood clots...
I had bought some, and was going to try it until I read about it online.

Currently I am trying ortho-tri-cyclen.

Does anyone know if ortho-tri-cyclen lo lessens the chance of clots?

[GovtProf]

The lower the level of hormones the better however, new generation birth control pills, which use 3rd generation progestins have a higher level risk of DVT. The risk of venous thromboembolism appears to be 1.5- to 2.7-fold greater in users of third-generation, compared with second-generation, oral contraceptives. Compared with nonusers, women who use third-generation oral contraceptives may have a 4.8- to 9.4-fold greater risk of venous thromboembolism. The most common progestins involved are desogestrel or gestodene. Third generation pills to watch out for: Yaz/Yasmin, apri-28, cyclessa, desogen, ortho-cept, mircette,kariva, reclipsen, velivet are all thought to raise the risk of DVT according to many studies. Just google "third-generation BCP risks" you will find many studies by the WHO & BMJ.




Link to one article: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.govarti...?artid=1496751

[lucy07]

whoa
thats scary.
I am really glad I quit yasmin.

I noticed you are on ortho-tri-cyclin lo, would this qualify as a 3rd generation?

though it was not listed in the high risk pills you listed.

Is this a safer pill?

[GovtProf]

Lucy07,

You are correct that Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo is a third generation birth control. It is not on the list however because not enough studies have been done using that formulation-- however I would still be very careful! It is third generation after all!

I should mention also that the risk is lower for oral contraceptives than for the birth control patch (Ortho Evra) or the ring (NuvaRing), which expose women to higher levels of estrogen than birth control pills.

Women who smoke, who are obese, or who have heart disease risk factors may want to consider using alternatives to estrogen-containing contraceptives or third-generation birth control, such as progestin-only oral contraceptives ("mini-pills"), intrauterine devices, or barrier contraceptive methods.

I personally am, according to my doctor, only on birth control pills until I am 30. She doesn't like her patients on birth control after 30 because of the risks involved. But then again, that is just being conservative! I would rather be conservative than not.. haha

[BCordy]

I was on BCP for 3 years and never had any trouble but I was way younger then. I recently started Diane-35 and was supposed to be on it for 3 cycles but I started becoming paranoid about PE/DVT etc. I've already done 2 cycles and decided not to do the last. Thanks for this post.

[lovemychris]

I was on Yaz for 6 weeks and bled so much I almost had to have a blood transfusion. Yaz also made me extremely suicidal (no symptoms before taking it, though). I called Bayer Pharmaceuticals and spoke with a nurse and she seemed very unconcerned stating that "Yaz isn't for everyone."

There is a class-action lawsuit against Yaz/Bayer (which is being handled by Erin Brockovich and a firm she works with). I was SURPRISED to read about all of the healthy young women who had pulmonary embollisms as a direct result of taking Yaz (hundreds and hundreds)!!! I don't want to scare anyone, but beware.

[Rosie1028]

I questioned my doctor about yaz and birthcontrol pills in general. She told me that she has been a doctor for 20 years and that she has never had a patient develop a DVT or embolism. I am wondering if there is actual data that shows statstics.

I have been on it for 2 months. I feel really good and I don't want to give up on it .

[MaybeMaybeline]

Thanks for the info Govt! I wish that my doctor had discussed this more with me before I began taking BC. I don't know if it would have changed anything, but at least I would have been a bit more informed. If I had known about Metformin, I might have chosen that over BC. PCOS is difficult enough to deal with, but adding a PE into the mix is not fun at all! The worst part for me was that the Yasmin was working great for me. Regular periods, lost 20lbs., clearer skin, less facial hair. Now I'm waiting it out on the Metformin and hoping I can get some of those symptoms under control. I know it sounds vain, but I don't even care about my period and fertility and all of that at this moment. I just want the pimples and the hair to go away!

Like I said originally, I didn't want to concern anyone unnecessarily, but it's important to know the risks and the signs and symptoms. It's rare, but it's still a risk.

Caitlin