Kristin shares her personal experience with blood clots, stressing the role of her hormonal contraception as a risk factor. I had been short of breath for several days, but since it was January at the time I just assumed I was getting sick or was just run down.
Over the weekend, I realized something was seriously wrong. I couldn’t make it up the stairs in my house without stopping a few steps up to rest, because I was so out of breath.
Lucky for me I work in healthcare, otherwise I don’t think I would be here today. That Monday morning, I mentioned the issues I was having to a coworker. My coworker urged me to be seen. After having a chest X-ray done and some blood work, I was told to go straight to the ER. At the ER, I underwent a CT Scan. It was then determined I had multiple bilateral pulmonary embolisms or blood clots in both of my lungs.
The only reason for my blood clots that the doctors have been able to identify was my hormonal birth control, which I had restarted several months prior. Not once was I ever warned about the dangers of blood clots while taking hormonal birth control.
