After the birth of my daughter, I struggled to find the right birth control option and switched many times until I felt like I found the right one.
One morning, I woke up with pain behind my knee, which I attributed to picking up my daughter. I spent several weeks in pain until one morning I woke up and the pain was so intense I could no longer put weight on my left leg.
Thankfully, I recognized the signs of a blood clot and headed off to the emergency room, where I was diagnosed with a massive deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or a blood clot large enough to extend from my groin to my ankle. I was put on one of the newer anticoagulants or blood thinners for the next three months and told my clot was provoked by my hormonal or estrogen-based birth control.
I was looking forward to stopping the blood thinners and getting back to my baseline. At a follow visit with my primary care physician, however, I shared that I had begun to have similar pain behind my knee and a repeat ultrasound identified a new clot. This led to genetic testing and the discovery that I am double heterozygous for both factor V Leiden and prothrombin G20210A mutations. I learned that, because of these mutations, I am predisposed to clots and estrogen further increases my risks. I am now on blood thinners for the rest of my life.
It has been a little over a year since my first clot and I continue to worry about a recurrence. I have a chronic clot behind my knee and suffer from post thrombotic syndrome, which causes daily pain in my left leg. I felt so isolated at first, since I was young and active and wondered how this could happen to me. This journey has its ups and downs. I often still feel angry, but with time I am mostly just so thankful to be healthy and that I recognized the signs in time. I have found that doing research and joining support groups has been helpful in not feeling so alone. I now have the information I need to help minimize any future risk for my daughter.
Learn more about genetic clotting disorders here.
Learn more about contraception decision-making following childbirth here.
