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I started the patch in May 2003. It was a monday in October of 2003, went to work like I normally do, got off at 5:30 and went home and started dinner. We had hamburgers on the forman grill and baked fries. I was sitting on the couch and I had got up to put my dishes away and i had this werid feeling in my left leg. Just was thinking that I had sat on my leg wrong, so really did not think to much about it. Took a shower that night and went to bed. Got up in the morning to bring my boyfriend to work and I had almost collapsed. Drove him to work about 1/2 hour away and then brought my daughter to school and went to a lab appointment. I was going to say some to the doctor well I was there but did not as he was busy. Drove to work. I had to leave my desk and go to a coworks desk to get help, well I was waiting for him to finish his call I had felt some thing moving up my chest, (like heartburn). I thought that I would close my eyes for a moment and take a deep breath and then I would be fine.
Next thing I know is that I see my past and daughters face passing me by and can hear people calling my name. I open my eyes with a gasp for air. I have my lead Wendy by my head and Christi a supervisor on my right said telling me not to move. Nick the young man that I went to talk to for help was on the phone with the ems. The ems showed up and let me sit in a chair (still not know what had happened) I still could not breath that good. They did a blood sugar count test on me as some told them that is why I was at the hospital earlier that day. Came back fine. One of the ems workers asked if I wanted to go to the hospital or stay at work. I had said hospital as I still could hardly breath. At the hosiptal my dad and step mom came, I called my boyfriend, but the reception in the swamp was bad, but it got the message. They had to run many test. I can remember the doctor telling my dad that I am lucky I was alive. I had a blood clot break in my left leg and traveled to my lungs leaving massive clots there and really close to my heart. I was in the heart ward icu for 1 day and then went my own room for 4. My follow with my doctor before I could go back to work he had told me that I only had a 3 to 5% chance of living. I was told that I would be on blood thinners for the rest of my life. I was told not to have another child, but I wanted more. I was only 25. in April on 2004, I was told I was going to have a baby. I was happy. They only thing is that I would have to take 2 shot of a blood thinner called Lovanox. In the begining I was fine with them, but as soon as I got bigger it was painful. I had to see a high risk OB and I had to go everyother week till I was 2 months and way and then I was there everyweek. I had a choice to have natural childbirth, but if I did and something happened and they need to do c-seaction there is a side effect with the anist. and the lovanox. so we planned a c-section as with my 1st child I had to have a emergency c-seaction. I delivered a beautiful and healthy baby girl in Dec. She is my pride and joy. I want to have another one but not sure if I really want to go through the pain of the shots. I was told to say a way form estrogen for the rest of my life. I remember my family and my friends face when this had happened so I know that it was really bad, but at that time it had not really effected me. But writing this has brought it all back and how fighting back tears, that I could have died and would have never seen my faimly that I love so much. As soon as this has happened to me my friends had stop the patch and went back to the pill.
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Hi Kelbuchanan,
I also had a PE from Ortho Evra. I had used it for 3 years with no problems, both for birth control and to regulate my periods. Mine was diagnosed on October 19, 2005 - I had no warning symptoms in my legs at all. It started out as a bad back ache that made it difficult to breathe. Thought I had pulled a muscle from lifting/moving some boxes at work earlier in the day. The next day, I didn't feel any better but went to work anyway. The following morning, the pain was no longer in my back. It was in my left lung, immediately under my breast. I just knew it had to be a PE, as I've never had chest pain like that before and I couldn't breathe. Also, the fact that the pain had moved - muscular pain is localized and does not move from place to place. I called my doctor and told the nurse what I suspected. They said to come in right away, which I did. They took a chest x-ray and found a spot on my left lung next to my heart. Doctor sent me down the hall for a D-dimer test and told me to go home and wait for her call, which I did. The results came back highly elevated, which meant that I most likely had a clot. She sent me to the ER, where it was confirmed and I was admitted and kept on the cardiac ward for two nights. When I got discharged, I had to self-inject Lovenox for the first 4 days, then start my INR appointments for the Warfarin. I will be going off the Warfarin on August 1. This whole thing has been a nightmare. The constant doctor appts, having to always be careful about what I eat and to not cut myself or bump into anything due to the Warfarin. I've dealt with a lot of anger, depression and frustration as a result of this mess. My life has been forever changed because of this. I can never use hormones again for any reason and have had to be extremely careful not to get pregnant. I have no prior personal history of clotting and no family history of it, either. I wish I had never heard of Ortho Evra.
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Hi Missy~
I too wish that I have never had heard of the patch. I just ran into some at a doctor visit and I notice this young mom wearing one on her arm. I told her to watch for signs of anything that does not seem to be right and run not walk to the er.
I will never be off Warfarin. I get so worried when I have heartburn because that is what I had felt before I had collapsed. I know what you mean about the food. i love brocolli and salads. Really can not eat them that much anymore.
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It has almost been 3 yrs since I had my PE I was at work this week and had a shoting pain in my chest on the left side. I was getting really dizzy. I thought well I had not had anything with sugar lately might be the reason, I drank a thing of orange juice. That still did not help. Woke up in the am to go to work and was still dizzy, had pain in my left leg like I did when I had my blood clot. so got worried, waited till the doctor's office open and called. They called me back and told me to get the er right away. I had to have my mom pick me up from work and get me to the er. The doctor said that I could be throwing another clot or I was bleeding in my brain. He ran test after test ekg~ normal, cat scan ~normal , and INR was 2.0 so I was fine. Still dizzy though said might be headaches. Now I am looking forward to seeing my medical bill on this as I will have to pay some of it. If this had never happened to me I do not think that the doctor's would have made a big deal and I would not have gone through those test. I am so Frustrated. Some days I ask why me. I am so sick of going to the doctor ever month. I am tired of medical bills. I was healthy why did this have to happen to me. I hate the patch and wish that I had never heard of it. I wish that I had a normal life.
Last edited by Kelbuchanan (2006-07-21 22:30:46)
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All these stories sound all to familiar to me. I was 36 when I, too, developed a DVT and PE due to the patch. For the past two years I have had a very irregular menstrual cycle, 2-3 x per month. I was very reluctant to go visit an ob/gyn, but I was finally convinced to go by a family member. After several office visits the tests revealed I had developed an ovarian cyst, which appeared to be growing, and the conclusion was that this was the cause of my irregular cycles. At that point I was given a choice of treatments, I could either undergo a laperoscopy, or, take birth control. I thought I was choosing a safer, more conservative, route so I chose the patch. The treatment was to last only one month, and after the month was up I was to have a follow-up to see if the BC had had some type of effect on the cyst. Besides this I was overall in good healthy condition; no drinking, no smoking, and lots of excercise.
Unfortunately, I never managed to complete the month. Three weeks later, I developed a DVT/PE. Much like the rest of the stories on the board, I had been feeling extremely tired and found myself not being able to, literally, walk and talk at the same time. My left calf began feeling a little tight, I attributed to fact that I had not stretch out that day, so I began doing stretching excersices to loosen the muscles. However, by about the third day, I was barely able to put any pressure on my leg. Again, my thought was that I might have pulled something on my leg and I didn't give it another thought.
As a graduate student I could not afford to miss a day of class, but by the time the afternoon rolled around the pain had become unbareable. I went to the library and looked up calf muscle pain. I came across a site that described the pain I was feeling might be due to a pulled muscle on the calf; the course of action should be to see a doctor before permanent damage set in.
Being a true New Yorker, I hopped on the train and endured a one and a half hour train ride to get the the hospital nearest my home. Once I arrived at the ER I called my husband and told him where I was; he quickly came. I told him to go back to work because, whatever it was, it was probably nothing other than a pulled muscle. Once I entered the Triage room and I described my symptoms it was like a whirl wind. I was immediately taken into the ER and a Doppler was done...and that is when I recieved the shock of my life. I had a developed a DVT, which extended from my upper calf to my ankle.
Still not understanding the severity of it all, I ignorantly asked the nurse, "so when do I go home," in which she replied, "no honey, you are not going home today, were're going to have to admit you." The following morning they conducted a CT scan, and that is when I took my second gulp. I had developed bilateral pulmonary embolism.
My hospital stay was by the book, a heparin drip for four days and then I was discharged with a prescription of Coumadin. Because of this ordeal, I could not finish my semester, I was stuck with a student loan with nothing to show for it, and I lost my work-study employment. I can commiserate with the rest you when you say that life has not been the same ever since. I feel like a pin cushion, the need to watch the quantity of greens, or my vitamin K intake, is also very irritating, and I really dislike the fact that now I find myself questioning whether the headaches I get are just that, headaches, or are they a side effect of the coumadin. I feel like I am always on now, and that is very tiresome.
However, I try to take each day one day at a time...I have gone back to Graduate school and I have begun a new job. I have made sure to inform both my school and my co-workers of what has happened, and they have been more than supportive. I have found that a good support team, both at home and outside the home, is extremely important. The most regretable aspect of this all is that now, at 37, the possibility of ever having children is highly questionable.
Last edited by madinNY (2006-10-12 22:50:33)
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