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In October I started using the patch. About 3 days after applying I started having tingling in my face and my head. The ER docter said I was having a panick attack and told me to stay off caffine. So I did  a couple of days later after 2 more "panick attacks" I went to the heart doctor because I was having very strong heart beats that were pulsing in my head and my chest plus I was having palipitations of the heart ( I described them as flip flopping and making me have to cough). I was tired all the time and having never ending headaches. They put me on all kinds of meds and put me through all kinds of heart tests. All of the meds they put me on( Topral, 3 different anti-anexiety med) caused allergic reactions. Now I am off all the meds and I'm still having the same original problems I went in for. I asked my gyno for a hormone work up and they almost wouldn't do it because they thought that was not my problem. When the tests came back I was low on estrogen, this is 2 1/2 months after being off the patch. I have been reading up on low estrogen and some of my symptoms are similar but I still don't know what is wrong with me. I don't have emough energy to take my 3 kids to Walmart alone. I have not driven for over 2 months. My husband and kids want their mom back and I'm not sure how much more I can take. If there is anyone out there who has had similar reactions to the patch please let me know. Email me at Melissa@wcgnet.net

Just into my 3rd month on the patch I started having pain in my back, side and shoulder. I couldn't take a deep breath, and the pain was so bad that I could barely lie down and didn't sleep for several nights. After a few days my right arm got all pins & needles (like it had fallen asleep) overnight and it just wouldn't go away. In the morning I try to find a clinic I can go into, but eventually decide the ER is the only place to go- my hand is starting to turn pink and swell by this point. I get a bunch of different X-rays and they send me home after a few hours with antihistamines and antibiotics for my hand (it is not spotted red & blistering). The pain is excruciating in my side, but I didn't believe I could have a blot clot because the pain wasn't in my chest. They sent me home and said to come back in the morning to check my hand. They call back in the morning saying I better get in now the docs reviewed my X-rays and want to admit for a PE! I go in and the docs keep talking about how lucky I am I'm not dead (although they still haven't found the thing at this point!). Late that evening they finally get me in for a CAT scan after all the X-rays and sonograms are inconclusive. They found a clot right where it hurt the worst at the bottom of my right lung. The shoulder pain was referred from my diaphram they said. I'm on a heparin drip by this point, but require a morphine shot to get to sleep (I can't lie back past 45 degrees because if I do I couldn't breath). They release me the next day on lovanox shots until the warfarin kicks in. I had to take Vicodin for about 10 days until the pain subsided. The docs said I was lucky it dissipated so quickly, it often takes longer than that. The Warfarin gave me serious intestinal issues (like I had food poisoning- terrible frequent urges and the runs for over a month). Tried Gas X, helped a little. Finally got permission to try Imodium, which stopped my problem so I could think about being about to get a job! Still on Warfarin, should be off after 6 months (just in time for my June wedding). In the mean time I have to deal with all the blood thinner no-nos like alcohol, aspirin, etc and keeping an eye on my irn. Docs say I can never take hormonal BC again- but don't want to give me a copper IUD because I've never had a kid and it's too risky while I'm still on the blood thinners. Other than the no-hormones rule, I should come out fine in the long run. But I came far too close to dying back in November because I didn't think my symptoms sounded like a blood clot until it was almost too late (I looked on the Ortho Evra insert to see if what I was feeling was listed, and it wasn't!). I've never smoked and I was only 22 and otherwise healthy at the time of the PE.

I am not much of a talker, but when I read the messages I was very much in shock.  I am 32 years old and suffered from a PE in December.  I was only on the patch for 3 months.  I am a mother of 2 (a 10 and 2 year old) and was unable to care for them while in the hospital.  This ordeal has changed my life tremendously.  Between that awful heparin drip and giving myself those terrible shots of lovanox and now being on warfarin I am paranoid. If I get a chest pain I panic and think maybe I have another PE.  I, like everyone else on warafain are limited to the types of pain relivers we can take and cannot do the things we used to do.  I can never take hormonal BC again and my doctor doesn't want to sterlize me because of my age even though I am a divorced mother of two.  I too have never smoked and had been healty until the patch.  I just thank God that my PE was found when it was or they tell me I might not have survived had I waited any longer.

hello to the survivors-these stories sound so familiar to my own.  I too suffered from a PE apparently due to the use of the patch.  I was unaware of the severe possibilities of what could happen.  I thought I was in good health but this has me wondering.  I also suffer from bulging disks in my lower back.  After I spent 4 days in the hospital being poked on at 4am, I was sent home to give myself shots-which I fear!!!  shots that is.  I didn't even use the patch for birth control- I have endometriosis and it was used to control that.  Now I can't take any hormones to help with the pain of that or the pain from my lower back because of the the blood thinner and the interactions of all those.  It has been a rude awakening with this happening and has caused many inconveniences in my somewhat normal life.  not counting the meds you can't take- the restriction of certain foods because they interact with the blood thinner too. I am also taking antidepressants from this and it has caused high blood pressure.  I never thought  I would have to change my life so much or that something like this would ever happen.  Good luck to everyone with their treatments and keep the faith--God Bless

I had a "minor" stroke.  My entire right side is off now but I can still see.  I am sorry to hear that you cant.  I am a smoker so I guess I will have to pay for tht.  I had a migraine and thought that it was causing my symptoms.  I waited 5 days before I went to the doctor.  I kept droping things and falling, I couldnt type or write but I could talk again.  I still fall and drop things and nothing works like it used to.  I get so embarrased when I screw up in public like I dropped a tray of drinks at a fast food place and started crying.  It is hard and it sucks.

Almost two years ago (and the case is still pending) I developed a PE in both of my lungs after only the third week of being on Ortho Evra.  What I am trying to find out is if it is at all safe to try and get pregnant again or if once you have a PE pregnancy is much more dangerous?

I feel so badly for all the other women who's stories I have read here. My heart goes out to you.My name is Jennifer. I am 30 years old. I am a divorced Mother of two boys ages 10 and 5. As of late though my life has been less than normal and the events that I am about to explain are only a glimpse of what I have been going through over the last couple of months. In August of 2006 I had a Merina IUD inserted . On April 13th at 11am I went to Dr.xxxxxx office for a check up and removal of my IUD.  I had not had favorable results with that form of contraceptive (i.e. long menstruation, tender pelvic area, cramping, infection ) and had asked for a different form that may be more comfortable. Upon removal of the IUD the Doctor left the room. I asked for a different type of contraceptive and was given only two options by a Nurse (practioner?). The NuvaRing and the Ortho Evra Patch. I was uncertain about the insertion of the ring so I opted for the Patch. The only information given to me was that I was to start Sunday (2 days later) and that I was to change it for the next three Sundays to follow and then the 4th Sunday leave it off a week. I asked if there should be any problems or side affects and she said no just some cramping. I was given pain medication for the procedure just performed and asked to set an appointment for 6 months from that date for a check up. I was then sent home. On April 15th I put the patch on as instructed and rechecked the box instructions to make sure. I began feeling nauseated and tired a few days later. I noticed headaches on a regular basis that got increasingly worse. I gained weight and felt tender and swollen in my chest, breasts, stomach and arms. I did not think that these were in any way connected because they happened gradually over a two week period. The nausea and headaches were very bad and kept me from working properly. I really couldn’t take anything other than ibruprophen and I was not able to eat very much at one time either. On May 3rd I flew to Maryland for my Sister’s wedding for 3 days with both of my sons. I vomited several times before getting on the plane and once after take off. My headache was subsiding by landing but an overall feeling of pressure had been building since the night before and I felt very swollen all over my body. After landing I once again went to the restroom and vomited. I met my Mother and Sister at Baggage claim and we went to the state park for a walk (it was our favorite place and I hadn’t been home in years) before other relatives arrived from out of state. I was feeling increasingly tired, nauseous and looked red and swollen. The headache was still there. Visiting, rehearsals and the wedding went by those three days and I was unable to enjoy or participate in the festivities as much as would normally because of my being ill. My family was concerned about me and it was difficult to get home with two children by myself. After the 3 hour flight, a shuttle to the hotel where my car was parked, and the 45 minute drive to my apartment with two children and violent cramping in my stomach coupled with a sever headache, I was exhausted.I am working a turnaround for ExxonMobil Refinery and my hours prior to this trip were 6 10’s, after returning my hours were going to be 7 12’s for shut down on a two month turnaround for startup. This is actually an easy schedule and I am fully capable of the long hours, I enjoy it really. However with my symptoms becoming worse, the next few days after May 7th were completely out of my control. I felt like I was hung upside down for hours all the time. The pressure I felt in my ears, head, arms, chest, neck, and eyes was ridiculously surreal. On May 9th I left my job early to go and see Dr. xxxxxx. I knew something was wrong but did not know what it was.She gave me meds for my nausea and 2 Imatrex samples for my headaches, considered the patch as the cause of my symptoms and noted my blood pressure as being elevated. The next day I felt worse and felt disconnected and dizzy. I went back to Dr. xxxxx and she ran Blood and urine tests for several thing including thyroid, pregnancy, sugar, bacteria, etc. All were fine. I felt a little better with the nausea medication she gave me but was still having severe headaches, hung upside down feelings, and pressure. On May 18th I had a scheduled day off from work and took advantage of that to get errands run, laundry washed, groceries bought, etc. Approximately 1pm, after I had finished laundry and ran errands to the mall with my 5 year old son, we left the mall (approx 30 miles from home) and were driving to Walmart near our town when I felt a headache coming back and that rush of pressure coming back. I took an Imatrex and drank lots of water hoping to head it off at the pass. An hour later it didn’t work at all. We arrived at Walmart and even though I felt really bad I knew I had to get grocery shopping done because I didn’t have time any other day until my next scheduled day off. I pushed myself to make it to the store with my 5 year old in tow. My phone doesn’t get reception in Walmart shortly after entering but I got a call from my boyfriend at work asking me about drawings for the job. A simple question I should have been able to answer and I couldn’t. I felt unstable and I don’t believe I was talking or standing correctly. I hung up and walked to the pharmacy with my son running around and not listening. I raised my voice at my son and felt the rush get worse. I couldn’t see clearly and my legs got weak and I started going down. I grabbed for the cart and it ran into the wall at the emergency door. I was scared and tried to stay up. After a few minutes of leaning over the cart and feeling helpless I looked around for my son who was looking scared and holding onto my arm. I could move my arm some but could not feel anything but tingling and numbness, my face was doing the same. I mashed buttons on my phone desperate to get some one not only to help me but more than anything to take care of my son. I was afraid if I got any worse, what would happen to him and how scared would he be. I finally got my Ex Husband and he was in town 10 minutes away. I was able to walk clumsily to the front with my son and lean on the wall out side the front entrance. Several people asked if I need help but I was slurring my words some and I just shook my head and said someone is getting me.When my Ex Husband arrived his mother took my son and he took me to my car and to my doctor in town.  She said for him to immediately take me to the hospital. He drove me to emergency and the admitted me after taking my vitals and I had an elevated BP, tingling in my arms pressure in my arms, head, neck, chest. Pain in all of those as well and I was unable to stand on my own with out assistance. I was weak and my extremities were full of fluid and visibly swollen and red. My vision was clearing and less jerky but my speech was still hard to keep straight without forcing it. I shook slightly all over and when I held out my hands. I was asked to stand up and take my weight but my legs went weak underneath of me. The nurse asked my Ex to hold my up while she took my BP and she got me to a bed and into a CT scan and blood work immediately after that. They said nothing showed abnormal on my CT scan but mentioned their concern over a “mini stroke� . They also were contemplating the pain coming from my tense back and neck, I told them they were wrong and that I was tense because of the pain I had been having. They said they could only treat what they seen at present because some of my symptoms were subsiding and gave me an antibiotic for a urinary tract infection they found and pain and muscle relaxants for my head. The next day I had lost yet another day from work because I was still very ill and the hospital had advised me to not return to work until Sunday. I am afraid I am in danger of loosing my job if I can’t perform properly while I am there or if I miss any more time.I followed up with my Doctor on May 23rd and she believes whole heartedly that the Patch is to blame for all of my symptoms and illness. She does believe the hormones affected my blood pressure and elevated it, she also believes it is highly possible that I had a “mini stroke� . She put me on Diovan and baby aspirin regimen to bring my blood pressure down and keep from having a recurrence of the18th. If that doesn’t have the results she expects then she is sending me to a neurologist and a cardiologist.  My cholesterol results from the hospital were normal. But my vision and balance were still not great. She wanted me to follow up with her on May 25th and bring a BP and diet log of the first two days I am on Diovan. I am still feeling numbness and tingling in my left arm and tingling and swelled feeling in my hands. My headache is still the same but my appetite is coming back and I am less swollen in the rest of my body. My office manager understands, for the moment, that I need to go to these follow up visits but I am still afraid that too many days off or half days taken can cost me my position. I can't keep being sick my boys need me, why did this happen I was perfectly healthy? My children are afraid when they see mommy sick and are sad when I can’t play with them or finish our plans.  I am very upset at not only the drug company for allowing these patches to still be on the market but at my former doctor for still distributing them to patients with heading warnings or looking into side effects. She not only put me in danger but is undoubtedly putting countless others in danger if her office is not educating them and making them aware. These patches need to be pulled from every drug distributor and doctor’s office and be penalized if they don’t comply. I now have numerous days lost from work, hospital, doctors, and prescriptions paid for with money I really didn’t have and should have put towards bills. If I lose my job because I am not here or worse they find me incompetent because of my symptoms I will be devastated because I still can't feel all of my left arm! I pray that doesn’t happen, but pushing myself through symptoms that were out of my control could potentially hurt me even worse. I don’t believe it’s fair that everything I have worked for could be wasted because a company would be inconvenienced if they had to take responsibility for their product hurting so many people.

Hello, my name is Melisa. I had my first child in August of 2002. I already had some health issues (pancreatitis x 2, diabetes and a rare case of hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia). After I had Briana, I was started on Ortho-evra in October 2002. I had never been on birth control ever before because of the side effects and the pharmaceutical doctor suggested ortho-evra because it was new and different than the others. The patch wouldn't elevate my triglycerides like the others would have.
A couple of years later, (August 2004), I went into the hospital with my third battle of pancreatitis. While I was in, I started having pain in my left hip and reported it. They thought it was sciatica from sitting in the same spot. I was able to get up and walk around quite a bit. This third time with pancreatitis wasn't near as bad or painful as it was the first 2 times. Either way the pain started progressing down my thigh, then to my knee and all the way down my leg daily. They doctor set up an ultrasound, just to make sure that things were okay. It was no more than 1 minute that I got back to my room that my doctor came in telling me that I had a blood clot behind my left knee and I would now be diagnosed with DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis). I wasn't able to do a lot of walking/moving around for fear that the clot could move into my lungs causing a PE (pulmonary embolism). They started me on IV heparin to start the blood thinning and then to coumadin. They said I would probably have to be on coumadin the rest of my life. It wasn't until a couple of days after I got out of the hospital that my doctor called me up telling me that I needed to take the Ortho-evra patch off and to never use it again because it intensifies the risks for another blood clot or worse. I didn't smoke or didn't drink...so what was the cause. I started to do research and found that ortho-evra can cause these things.
Anyway, January 1, 2005, I found out I was pregnant...and yep you guessed it, I had to come off of the coumadin. So they put me on Lovenox shots. I had to inject myself in the stomach 2 x's a day to keep my blood from clotting. I was into my 8th week and I woke up around 4 in the morning to pee. After urinating, I started to have strong lower back pains along with bleeding. The doctor said it didn't look good. I was terrified...I didn't want to lose this baby. I went to the ER and waited to have an ultrasound done that morning around 11:00 and to my surprise, there was the heartbeat of my baby...but there was also a blood clot (hemmorhage) in the placenta and the doctor said that I would be lucky enough to make it to 13 weeks and if I did, there was still a possibility to miscarry. I was put on bedrest. April 2005 came around and I started to have the same pains in my hip and radiating down to my leg with swelling and the full 9 yards. I questioned it because I was on blood thinner and swelling in the legs come with pregnancy.  But, I had the swelling in only the left leg and not the right...so I went to the ER. The ER doctor said that it was impossible for me to get a blood clot because I was on the Lovenox shots, but if I wanted to come back in the morning to have an ultrasound done, then I could for my own peace of mind. Wouldn't you know it...ANOTHER BLOOD CLOT!!!! This time on blood thinners and in my FEMORAL artery. The main artery!!! I was transported from Pierre to Sioux Falls by ambulance and they said that I needed to be put on IV heparin. They were going to eventually have me try to be put on a heparin pump and if it didn't work, then I was going to be kept in the hospital on IV heparin the remainder of my pregnancy. The heparin pump worked. I was released, but I had to have this pump attached to my stomach or leg the remainder of my pregnancy. I had to switch the site every 2-3 days. I was bruised on my stomach and both thighs throughout. If that wasn't enough, it was...oh I don't know a few weeks later and I was having trouble breathing and they had done an x-ray of my lungs and they were completely full...they thought it was a PE...yes...while I was pregnant. This time they airlifted my to Sioux Falls...and believe me there was a lot of praying. God was on my family's side because when they did another test of my lungs...this time they were completely clear...no sign of a PE. Either way, it was scary and expensive. We determined that I was going to have a C-section 3 weeks before the due date. But in order to do the delivery, I had to go off of the heparin...so my blood can start to clot and the day before, I went into surgery to have a stent inserted into my femoral artery so that if there is a blood clot that happens to move, it will prevent me from having a PE or stroke during the procedure. Little did I know...my femoral artery was too big to hold the stent in place and I had to go without. Needless to say...the surgery went well and I had a healthy baby boy...along with a tubal ligation. No more kids for me...but I am blessed to be able to have the two that I have. It is not fun. I would not recommend risking your life or the life of your child by getting pregnant and diagnosed with DVT. I was blessed.

> angel wrote:

> I suffered a stroke from the patch and have lost vision in my right eye. Just curious if anyone else out there suffered a stroke and what damage they have and how they are coping.
I too had a stroke.  Started out as a headache, and very nearly killed me.   Lost left peripheral vision in both eyes.  Cognitive defecits due to permanent brain damage.  Thank god we are here to write about it, some women/girls weren't so lucky!