I know you. You’re the girl on birth control. The girl who added going to the pharmacy on a monthly basis into her routine. You entered college and became busier. Taking a pill everyday didn’t seem so important as it did when you first started. When a week would go by and the pills weren’t taken you knew something had to change. You made an appointment and changed to the Nuva Ring. That way you could forget about it for three weeks, since convenience was key. They told you the side effects. You ignored them. If millions of people were on it you wouldn’t be affected. No medication had ever affected you. Everything was fine for almost two years; you were just like all your friends. Not that any one would ever say they took birth control because of peer pressure, but it was nice to have common ground with everyone else. It was nice to think of yourself as an average college female. Well if that was you, then you’re just like me…
It all changed one night. I had back pain. I figured I needed a chiropractor. I am addicted to the chiropractor at back at home, but I just hadn’t bothered to find one here. I moved around, tried cracking my back and figured it would be gone when I woke up. When 2 a.m. rolled around and the pain had moved from my back to my right side, I took Tylenol and ignored it some more. I figured I was getting sick. I figured it would go away. I woke up again at 6 a.m. in pain, but then it was gone.
I pondered QuickCare, but I knew how to handle myself when I was sick. I was used to catching everything that went around. I didn’t want to waste the $10 on a co-pay for them to tell me that I had the flu. As 5 p.m. rolled around I decided to go just for safety. QuickCare told me that if I stop breathing, then there is a blood clot and that I should go to the ER. Since I had no trouble breathing they said the pain was due to a pulled muscle. Because the pain had faded I believed them and took a bath and some more Tylenol. Then it got worse.
I walked around my apartment, in too much pain to lay down. My roommates laughed at me as they went to bed, not understanding what I was going through. Finally, I went and laid down, too. The next morning I was still in pain. I called my parents and they said what the doctors said maybe it is a pulled muscle. I said I was in too much pain for it to simply be a pulled muscle. I decided to go to the ER and was rushed in the door as I cried.
Doctors told me that my gallbladder was probably inflamed. They ran tests. They found pneumonia. They gave up and decided to call that the culprit. I filled the prescriptions and stayed in bed. I drank water, I tried to get better. After two days nothing had changed. I went back to the ER and the nurses admitted me. I went on IV antibiotics. They wanted to release me but my pain was still there and severe. This time, though, it had jumped sides from right to left.
They ran more scans and came up with the true culprit. Blood Clots. Tons of blood clots in my lungs. Bilateral Pulmonary Embolism. Blood clots that can kill, especially in the heart and lungs. The doctors watched me for a few more days and then released me. I filled more prescriptions and listened as the pharmacist told me that these can’t be for me because these are for blood clots and I’m to young.
When you pick up your birth control at the pharmacy, I’m sure no one gives you a weird look. Getting birth control is normal for a 21-year-old, blood thinners aren’t. Since that moment when I found out what the true culprit of my pain was, I’ve been to the ER one more time and numerous doctors’ offices. I finally made an appointment with a specialist. Now, I think of my sister’s wedding in three weeks. I think of how close it could have been to me not being there. I think of my family and my life. I threw out my birth control because it’s not worth it. We’ll live with cramps, but we won’t live with blood clots.
Any chest or abdominal pain can indicate a blood clot. Having trouble breathing is not the only sign of a blood clot. Birth control, especially the Nuva Ring, greatly increases your chance of blood clots, most of which can go undiagnosed. My symptoms were unfortunately irregular. If you experience any symptoms at all don’t hesitate to go to the ER, especially if you have chest pain. Your life is worth more than birth control.
Photos from Precise Law and Drugline.com