On The Pill? Be Informed About Blood Clots
Millions of women take the birth control pill everyday for a variety of reasons and do not realize some of its side effects. Sure, the common ones are weight gain and low libido but what about cardiovascular risks? Practitioners and researchers have known for years that blood clots are a very serious potential for pill users but lately they have narrowed it down to certain hormone mixtures.
A deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a blood clot that forms in your leg (typically your calf area) and can be painful or feel like a dull ache and cause skin warmth and redness. You may notice the affected leg is swollen and tender to touch. A DVT is serious because the clot can break loose and travel up into your lungs causing a pulmonary embolism (blockage) which is life threatening.
In an updated study, researchers found that women who take the birth control pill had a 5-fold increase risk in developing a blood clot compared to non-users. More importantly, they looked at some of the newer pills on the market and found their risk alarming.
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I do not trust the pharma companies are giving us the full story on the dangers of combination hormone formulas like YAZ/Yasmine, NuvaRing They tell us the risks of DVT/PE are minuscule and really only apply to women 35+, smokers, however, we are witnessing a rash of young women (under 30) with otherwise excellent health die or become disabled from PE. If you Google "Yaz Pulmonary Embolism" you will see a list of news headlines from around the world pertaining you women as young as 16 years old, who have been irreversibly harmed by this formula. The same goes for NuVaring, which also appears to be a dangerous product. It makes me so angry that women in the U.S. have had (and still have to) to fight so hard for conscientious health care, particularly reproductive health care and birth control, in spite of phenomenal advances in medical science. Thirty years later, we are still subject to being Guinea Pigs for profit.
This is a subject dear to my heart because I don't believe that women are being told the truth, and I think our lives are a risk using some of these products. I could have been one of these terrible statistics they try to downplay. After experiencing what pointed to a possible DVT, I immediately stopped using the NuvaRing and decided to take control of my family planning the natural way. I have never felt better and wish that more women knew that this is a viable, safe, and reliable alternative. Granted, it does require awareness and personal participation, but it does not need to be complicated (ie. checking CM, manual charts, etc.)
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