Young girl discovers cerebral thrombosis and blame for birth control pill
A post that shows the risks of birth control pills is running the internet. In it, the student Juliana Pinatti Bardella, from Botucatu, São Paulo, recounts the moments of panic she experienced when she discovered that she had cerebral venous thrombosis after continuous use of this drug.
It was not the first warning, nor will it be the last. Every day, women tell us about the ills that come with small pills, which many of us eat every day without suspecting anything.
Back in 1957, when the Enovid drug was launched in the United States, the idea was to control menstruation disorders. There was a warning on its label: it may cause temporary suspension of fertility.
It didn't take long for many women to use such a drug just for the side effect. Then the FDA, the US drug regulator, approved the sale of this first oral contraceptive.
With the promise of sexual freedom and birth control, the pill's popularity has grown, and today any girl can buy a pack at the drugstore, even without proper medical advice.
But the problems are there, and in times of social networking, they have come up more and more.
How the pill works in your body
Each time you take that little pill, you are throwing a combination of hormones into your body that will inhibit your ovulation: estrogen and progesterone - remembering that each pill has a different composition, even without estrogen.
Estrogen is responsible for the so-called "feminine characteristics" such as breasts and other curves, as well as preparing the uterus for reproduction.
Progesterone also plays a key role in pregnancy: It prepares the basis on which the fertilized egg will pass safely, so that it is implanted in the womb.
But let's get down to business: How do these pills prevent pregnancy? Upon ingestion, these synthetically made hormones (in the lab) alter the hormone rates in the body and send the following message to the brain: “Look, we already have a lot of estrogen and progesterone here, so there's no need to send the pituitary to release FSH and the LH ”.
If you don't remember biology classes without these two hormones, FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) and LH (luteinizing hormone), the development of ovarian follicles is stopped and ovulation does not occur! That is, no babies.
The risks
Are there any benefits to birth control pills? Of course yes! In addition to their primary function, they can relieve pain, swelling and hormonal changes caused during the menstrual cycle.
But you need to be alert to signs that indicate something is not going well. Among the biggest problems related to the drug is thrombosis .
This problem occurs when a blood clot forms that blocks the flow of blood in one or more veins. The clot can stand still in one place, causing swelling and pain, or moving and causing an embolism.
Cerebral thrombosis, which is a type of stroke, can lead to death or cause several serious sequelae such as paralysis, blindness and speech difficulties.
And that's when we come back to Juliana's story.
Juliana discovers cerebral venous thrombosis
Last night, August 2, the young student posted on her Facebook profile an account of her experience with the birth control pill. To date, the publication has had over 85, 000 comments and 25, 000 shares. Check out the full story:
“Last card. Last pill.
It started with a little headache. The pain gradually increased over three weeks until it became unbearable.
I went to the hospital in Botucatu, where the doctor prescribed me migraine medicines, didn't ask for any tests, and didn't want to refer me to a neurologist (even at my insistence), because I said that wasn't the case.
It was Friday, two days after going to the hospital. I woke up in the morning to go to class, when I went to get out of bed my right leg did not respond to my command, but with some effort I got up. Brushing my teeth, I realized that my right hand was not normal either. I tried to dress without success. That was very strange, so I didn't go to class and decided to wait for it to pass. Did not pass.
When I got out of bed my right leg didn't respond to my command, but with some effort I got up.
A few minutes later I picked up my phone to make a call, but it was very difficult, I spent a long time looking at the screen not knowing what to do, as if I had forgotten how to handle a phone. I put down my cell phone and went to the bathroom, and to my utter despair I couldn't use the bathroom anymore, kept looking out the door and not knowing where to start, how was that possible?
My vision began to blur after some time. I could no longer do anything on my own, no basic reasoning.
My friends who live with me helped me, helped me use the bathroom, made the calls I needed, helped me eat, and mostly, kept me calm to wait until my mother, coming from another city, arrived.
My parents decided to take me urgently to a hospital in São Paulo, on the trip the effect of the migraine medicine had passed, the pain came back much stronger.
The effect of the migraine medicine had passed, the pain came back much stronger
In the hospital I performed some tests, administered three pain medications, without success, the pain remained strong. In a few hours I was called to know the results of the tests and the magnetic resonance imaging was diagnosed cerebral venous thrombosis.
It was a shock, I couldn't quite understand what was going on, the doctor asked me if I was on birth control, I said yes five years ago, and then he said that could be the cause of the problem.
Five years of YAZ, three different gynecologists, and none warned me about thrombosis, even asking about it, none said it would be a risk. I have no family history, I am not a smoker, and blood tests were normal, I was not predisposed to thrombosis.
Five years of YAZ, three different gynecologists, and none warned me about thrombosis, even asking about it.
There were three days inside the ICU, and a total of fifteen days of hospitalization. The cause was really the contraceptive, a medicine that was supposed to be helping me, but there could have caused me an irreparable sequel or even worse.
I somehow blamed myself for ignoring the news about thrombosis I saw on the internet or heard about. I trusted YAZ too much, I trusted myself too much, I thought it would not happen to me.
There were three days inside the ICU, and a total of fifteen days of hospitalization. The cause was really contraceptive
After the diagnosis seems that I became a magnet for thrombosis stories, I heard countless cases like: the friend who had thrombosis in the leg or arm, the other friend also with cerebral venous thrombosis who had to have surgery, the girl who has to take anticoagulant for the rest of her life because of thrombosis, and worse, like the friend who died of pulmonary thromboembolism.
All cases were young women taking contraceptives.
I am not against contraception, I believe it does bring benefits, but I am against the negligence of indiscriminately prescribing contraception without adequately informing its risks, and the very neglect of taking a drug for so many years without suspecting that it could be harmful and could even take. even death.
Women, worry, research and ask! ”
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