Blood clots due to Yasmin birth control!

[Husband32]

Hi everyone, yesterday I brought my wife home from the hospital (7 days) after she was admitted for having blood clots.  She has a blood clot in her upper arm/shoulder area, and a blood clot in each lung.  The ONLY risk factor she has towards blood clots is that she is on birth control.  She has been on Yasmin for around 4-5 months now (she was previously on orthotricyclin).  My wife is 25 and a non-smoker.  The doctors have told us that getting blood clots for someone my wife's age, with no other factors, is very rare.  Has anyone else ever had this problem, or even heard of it?  The doctors said that typically someone who gets blood clots from birth control bills are 35 years old or over and a smoker.  My wife is still in pain and her blood levels are still not very close to the normal range.  I've been doing some research and haven't found anything about someone getting blood clots from Yasmin without any other factors involved (smoking, history of clotting, long plain/car ride, etc).  After seven days in the hospital and watching my wife deal with a lot of pain, I'm just trying to find some answers.  Thanks!

[DVTChick]

I am a very health conscious 36 year old with NO PREVIOUS HEALTH ISSUES.  I have been on Yasmin for a couple of years.  Yesterday I was diagnosed with a 10cm DVT in my leg. I broke my toe a couple of weeks ago and although I have been moving around I am normally a lot more active. The doctors believe my clot is due to a combination of the contraception and the lack of activity over the past two weeks. None of the doctors I have seen over the past few days have asked what contraception I am taking.  The only reason I realised the connection between Yasmin and clotting was from a news story which by coincidence aired on TV last night.  It is a concern that our medical professionals on the front line are not aware of the increased risks of clotting while taking Yasmin. The hospital sent me home the first night saying they doubted I had a clot and told me I could continue taking my contraception without asking me which one I was taking.  I was smart enough not to listen to their advise and stopped taking it immediately.  The hospital did book me in the following day for an ultrasound and it revealed I did indeed have a clot.

[AnxietyJ]

What tests did the doctors run to find these blood clots? Were they found in chest x-rays? Im currently on Tilia Fe/Estrostep Birth Control and for the past month I have been short of breath...like I cant get a deep breath and chest tightness. My dr did a chest xray and said everything was fine. He told me I probably had anxiety. I don't feel that is true. Someone please help.

[sportygirl0704]

I also suffered from blood clots (DVT and PE) while on Yasmin to control menstrual migraines. I was 20 years old at the time and had to be on bed rest in the hospital with a warfarin drip for 7 days. After I was discharged, I had to have twice-weekly blood tests and take coumadin for a year after the episode. I had no other risk factors besides being on the Yasmin at the time this happened, although the doctors told my parents that they thought i must be lying about not smoking because it was rare to develop blood clots so severe. One of the blood clots in my lung cut off circulation to the rest of my lung so badly that I have permanent lung tissue damage. I had also downplayed the symptoms (shortness of breath, pain when breathing deeply, feeling tired) as just a common cold, but when I went to the ER and had tests done, they actually brought in the hospital chaplain to my room because I was in such bad shape. I was able to eventually come off of the blood thinners and have not had any more episodes (it's been 5 years now) but will have to be on blood thinners during pregnancy. It was downplayed so much when it happened to me as being a rare occurrence, but it seems like there are so many women who experience the same horrible side effects.

[pebbles198798]

Hi everyone! i am a 23 year old female and i have never smoked and i eat healthy, i have been on yasmin for 7 years now and never had a problem until now i am getting sore legs and migranes which i have never suffered from.  After reading this i guess i should get checked out as i just thought it would pass, how stupid of e afetr reading all of your experiences.  Anytime i go to my doctor about these re-occuring migranes they just give me painkillers and thats it, i checked the symptoms of blood clots and migrane is one and also pains in the legs which i am experiencing. Think its time to come off it.

[wonderwmn]

In late June 2006, I had minor surgery on my left foot.  A week later, I was experiencing a lot of pain in my left calf.  When I returned to the orthopaedist for my surgical follow-up (two weeks after my surgery), I mentioned the calf pain.  He immediately sent me for a Doppler study of my leg, which showed a blood clot behind my left knee.  They admitted me to the hospital the same day, and I was only allowed out of bed to use the bathroom-no walking, no shower, etc.  While in the hospital, they treated me with Coumadin and Lovenox.  I stayed in the hospital for five days, and was only allowed to leave because I was comfortable giving myself Lovenox injections.  After that, I was on Coumadin and had my PT levels monitored reguarly.  At the time, I was 31, and had been on birth control for years.  I can't remember now if I was on Yasmin at the time, but had been at some point in my birth control-taking career.  Like many of you, I have also never smoked.


About six weeks after leaving the hospital, I got pregnant.  I found out very early on that I was pregnant, because I knew I shouldn't be on Coumadin while pregnant.  I was put back on Lovenox twice a day for the remainder of the pregnancy.  My ob/gyn referred me to a hematologist, who tested my blood for every possible clotting disorder.  He never found any.  I had a scheduled induction about two weeks before my son was due (May 2007).  You cannot have an epidural if you're on Lovenox within the previous 48 hours, and because of the increased risk of bleeding, they chose to induce.  I went back on Lovenox for about six more weeks after he was born, and have not been on any medication since.  Now, though, any time I have a leg cramp, I wonder if it's another blood clot.

I found this site after seeing a commercial for a law firm representing women who developed blood clots while on Yaz or Yasmin and googling it.  I'm not a litigious person, but it occured to me that if there's a class action lawsuit because of this problem, perhaps I should add my name to the list, and hopefully, get something done.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only person this happened to.

[carrocmd]

I had the same experience as you, except I was not on Yasmin I was on Ortho-Novum. They found three clots in my lungs, and was hospitalized for 6 days and on coumadin for 6 months. I had no risk factors other than being on birth control, I was only 25 at the time.I also have no clotting disorders, they concluded that it was solely because of my birth control. My OB-GYN has also told me that I will have to be on lovenox during pregnancy and then go back on coumadin for 6 months afterwards. I am not too thrilled about this either, but she made it pretty clear that this was my only option and that it has no negative effects on the baby. It is such a shame that birth control pills have such a dangerous side effect, and yet no one is making a big deal about this! I would love to talk to someone who has had to do the injections during pregnancy