Pulmonary Embolism Support Group

By far the most common form of pulmonary embolism is a thromboembolism, which occurs when a blood clot, generally a venous thrombus, becomes dislodged from its site of formation and embolizes to the arterial blood supply of one of the lungs. Symptoms may include difficulty breathing, pain during breathing, and more rarely circulatory instability and death.

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PE Caused By Birth Control

Autieloo19
Autieloo19

Hi All--has anyone's PE been caused by hormonal birth control? My doctors think that is what caused mine and I wanted to see if that was a common thing for any of you? I am 26 years old and the last thing I ever expected was for this to happen to me. I am 1.5 months post and still struggling with lots of anxiety and fear. 

notsopatient
notsopatient
It is a well-known side effect/risk of birth control hormones so yes quute typical. Of course the risks of birth control are much, much smaller than the risks of the pregnancies and childbirth it prevents!
89BLA
89BLA
Yep! I was on NuvaRing and 26 when it happened. I'm 20 months post-PE.
Melisma
Melisma
My clots were caused by a combination of things, one of which was hormonal birth control (the other two were factor V leiden heterozygous and an injury that decreased my activity level). It took me a long time to recover physically, and I can absolutely relate to your ongoing anxiety and fear. I used to rush into the ER for things that didn't strictly need to be there because I was afraid that in a minute or two something worse would happen. It's awful to feel that sense of pending doom all the time.

My PE's were several years ago now, and the over-vigilance has gotten better though I still struggle with it to some degree which is why I re-joined a group like this. The constant anxiety over the possibility of dying in a minute or two has ceased.

I think that going through a life-threatening event very often leads to anxiety, and I also think that's very very understandable. For me, it is still getting in my way more than I'd like so I'm seeking a little more help and support with it. I think that doesn't tend to hurt no matter where you're at in the process... but I also suspect it will improve over time for you.

Hang in there.

m.
KellieJ
KellieJ
I went into the ER on May 3rd 2018 with DVT and bilateral PE. The presumptive conclusion was that my birth control was the cause of my problem along with sedentary environment (office work). I was told to stop taking the pills and will be looking for an alternative (non-estrogen) solution. I guess we will see if that works going forward.
SpiritMJ
SpiritMJ
Yes because of Nuva Ring for 5 months and a long haul flight. 3 dvt's in my right calf and 10 pe's
mailex
mailex
My PE was caused by birth control as well(the pill). I was diagnosed 2.5 weeks ago. I am only 25 and I’m terrified.