Young woman warns others about birth control pills and blood clot risk
May 24th, 2010 by Jennifer Walker-Journey
After a routine flight to visit family in Florida, Sara Golieb’s tendonitis in her leg was growing particularly bothersome for the athletic, 25-year-old. “I had never felt pain like this in my foot or leg,” she wrote in an essay on the National Alliance for Thrombosis & Thrombophilia website. “I knew there was something wrong … in my wildest dreams, I did not think my symptoms could be due to a blood clot.”
But instead of seeking medical attention, Sara limped around in pain for three days as her leg began to swell from the knee down. “I should have listened to my gut and asked my father to take me to the doctor right then,” she said. “However, I felt silly about my worry because of my Achilles tendonitis and my young age.”
When her condition continued to worsen, Sara finally visited a doctor. The diagnosis surprised her. She had blood clot in her leg and needed immediate medical attention.
Blood clots can be deadly. What Sara learned is that despite her young age, she had common risk factors of blood clots – traveling in an airplane where she sat sedentary for hours, and using birth control pills. Oral contraceptives can increase the risk of blood clots due to the effect or dose of hormones, either estrogen or progestin. While the packaging on birth control pills may outline this risk, many lawsuits have been filed against makers of birth control pills by women who claim they were not adequately warned about the dangers in using the pills. To date, Bayer HealthCare faces more than 1,100 lawsuits for its oral contraceptives Yaz and Yasmin.
As part of her treatment, Sara had to discontinue use of her birth control. “I can never take birth control pills again and was told that if I get pregnant I will have to take a ‘blood thinner’ because changes during pregnancy make the blood clot more easily,” she said, adding a warning to other young women like her. “If you are contemplating use of birth control pills, make sure to discuss your family history (especially related to blood clots) as well as the adverse effects of birth control with your doctor.
“Take your life into your own hands.”