The Birth Control Pill Can Be Deadly
As I write this I am dreading another doctor appointment. Needles never used to bother me before. Of course, before now, I never had a reason to get a weekly blood test. But for the next 6 months, it is part of my routine. My arms are covered in bruises, a side-effect from Coumadin, a blood-thinner which will prevent another blood clot from forming in my lungs. I never thought this could happen to me. I am only 22 years old.
It all started a couple months ago, when I decided to go on “the pill.” I paid little attention to the warning pamphlet that accompanied my birth control pills. Besides, those rare side effects (including strokes, blood clots, heart attacks) only pertain to woman who smoke or are over the age of 35. That’s what I used to think.
Day one of the pill was fine. I experienced no side effects. The next day was horrible, but I did not attribute it to the pill. It was my first day back at college. I was in the middle of ballet class when suddenly I felt very dizzy and hot. I started to see black dots. I collapsed. When I woke up I wondered, “what the hell are all these people doing in my bedroom?” I was extremely disoriented. One of my classmates brought me some water, which I drank and promptly threw up.
The ambulance came. A man with a lizard tattoo on his neck carried me to the ambulance. My EKG was okay, so I was allowed to return home that same day. My fainting was thought to be caused by dehydration. Nobody even asked if I was taking a birth control pill.
During the next few weeks I developed a cough. I felt an enormous pressure near my heart. I felt like I was being tightly squeezed. The pain was constant but still bearable. I have a very high tolerance for pain. I did not see a Doctor about this until I began to cough up blood.
My Doctor said my chest was probably sore from coughing, and that a sinus infection had moved to my chest wall. He prescribed antibiotics and rest for the next few days. I rarely listen when a Dr tell me to take it easy, but the pain in my chest had gotten so bad that I started skipping my dance classes.
I woke up in the worst pain I’ve ever felt. That says a lot, because I’ve been in some strange and painful accidents in my life. I practically crawled to the bathroom, since I was so light headed from the pain. It hurt so much to breathe, I was gasping for air as I crawled downstairs to where my dad was sitting at the kitchen table. I could barely talk at this point. My dad had just had knee surgery the day before, but he drove me to my Doctor’s office, and then the emergency room.
The Doctors suspected I had pneumonia. My chest was x-rayed and I was hooked up to an I.V. The x-rays came back negative for pneumonia. I was disappointed. I thought they were going to tell me the pain was all in my head.
After several needles, the Doctor at the ER told me I was going to have a Cat-Scan. She assured me that blood clots are rare, especially for a young woman like me who doesn’t smoke and is active. The Cat-Scan results showed a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot between my heart and lungs. I was taken off the pill immediately and given narcotics for pain. Then I was given another needle, a fast acting blood thinner.
My first two days at the hospital were spent on the heart floor. I had 4 different roommates in two days. Morbidly I began to wonder if perhaps they had died. These first two days were a blur of nurses and needles.
After that I graduated to the first floor of the hospital. I was able to wear my own pajamas now and get a shower by myself. After a few more days, I was to come home. Now that I am home, I have to have regular Doctors appointments once a month, get a blood test once per week, and take coumadin everyday for the next six months. I also can’t drink any alcohol or take any medications, and I have to watch what I eat, since certain foods interfere with coumadin.
Today I consider myself lucky to be alive. If the blood clot wasn’t as big as it was, it would not have shown up in the cat-scan. I just want to women realize that the side-effects of the pill are not as rare as they want you to think.
