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BC Story (VENT)
I know we get a lot of posts on this board from people asking about birth control pills, and I just wanted to briefly share my experience...
After being tested by my gynecologist to make sure I didn't have either of the blood clotting disorders that my mother and aunt have, I started out in April on a free sample of Loestrin 24, and had to stop after four days after an ER visit due to chest pain. After determining that nothing was wrong with me, I was given the ok to go back on the pill. In June I switched to Junel FE 1/20, the generic of Loestrin 1/20. As soon as my husband and I got back from our honeymoon a month ago, I had to make another ER visit because I was having the worst migraine I had ever experienced and the pain was so bad I was barely conscious anymore. After checking me out for a few hours, they gave me some painkillers and sent me home. I was fine for three weeks, and then last Monday ended up in the ER again for the exact same thing, which then switched to chest pain. After having several tests, an x-ray, and two CT scans, I was told that everything was clear and sent home again. I was terribly sick almost all week, to the point where I was unable to feed, dress, or go to the bathroom by myself for almost two days. I finally started feeling back to normal this weekend, and then Sunday night, while relaxing at home with my husband, I received a call from the hospital telling me that the ER doctor I saw a week ago had just been reviewing my CT scans and it was very urgent that I come in to the hospital immediately. I was admitted with a blood clot in each lung, and have been told by several people here that I am fortunate to be alive, which I know is only by the grace of God.
I know that everyone is different, and my case is probably pretty rare, but I've also come to find out over the past few months that medical personnel, outside of gynecologists, REALLY do not like birth control and I just wanted anyone who is considering starting on the pill to be sure to research their options and know their family history. My mom developed blood clots when she was pregnant with me, and was incredibly worried about me being on birth control because of that and because of a friend of hers who had a heart attack while on it, but because all my blood work coming back normal, I was given the all clear to be on the pill. I have no other predispositions to blood clots-I'm only 21, underweight, have never smoked a day in my life, barely ever drink, am fairly active, no family history of diabetes, my blood pressure and cholesterol are all normal, and-despite years of undiagnosed chest pain-I have a perfectly healthy heart. I'm just glad that they had me stop taking the birth control after my last ER visit, because of the migraines, and that I hadn't been continuing to take it all week with these blood clots sitting in my lungs.
So that's my story, I've just been on a really emotional roller coaster for these past two weeks and this has been an incredibly frightening experience for my family and I and I needed to vent about it somehow. My husband and I are going to have to start looking at alternative forms of contraception, obviously we're going to be using condoms now, but we were also looking into more natural family planning methods before I started taking the pill and if anyone has any tips or advice on that, I would love to hear it. 
Re: BC Story (VENT)
My doctors suggested I take Loestrin 24 FE and never even informed me about the risk of blood clots, but a did some research on my own and after only 10 minutes of googling reviews I found about a dozen of girls 18-19 years old that had never had health issues, never even smoked, never taken BC before, and ended up in the ER with horrible blood clots, and I stopped reading reviews cause I didn't want to my myself paranoid.
Fortunately I haven't had any symptoms of anything, and I know there are a lot of others like me too, but it's scary hearing the other side.
I'm glad you're okay and I hope you can find something that will work for you. :]
September 2013 Moms Siggy Challenge: The Thing I Miss Most Since Being Pregnant
Replacing the water cooler! And other heavy lifting
Batman was supposed to be a symbol of hope and bring justice. Not spark violence.
That's pretty awful!! All BCPs increase your chance of clotting and I've been on them for ~14 years with (thankfully) no clots.
I HAVE had some weird side affects though. I was on the generic form of Yasmin, Ocella, for about 6 months and finally got switched (to Loestrin 24 actually, which has worked out perfectly for me) after months of inconclusive tests. I gained weight immediately after starting on Ocella, couldn't sleep well and would have CRAZY bouts of PMS, which is very unusual for me. After a few months, I woke up lightheaded one morning - not dizzy, more like a fainting spell was coming on - and stayed that was 24/7 for a couple of MONTHS. I felt like I was losing my mind.
Fortunately switching resolved all my issues and my doctor says that unfortunately you never know which pill could give you all those crazy side affects. We're all different so it's unfortunately trial and error, but with so many pills on the market, most people can find something that works well for them.
Still, I've considered asking about Mirena on my next visit. A friend uses that and raves about it!
I also recently found out that I am a HIGH risk of blood clots (my dad almost died of one last week) and BC only makes it worse. Gotta figure something else out...
I wouldn't recommend these BC for ANYONE.