A woman has told how she’s lucky to be alive after her ‘hangover’ turned out to be a cluster of blood clots on her brain – caused by her contraceptive pill.
Professional horse groom Lucie Edwards, 25, Solihull, from West Midlands, thought she was suffering from a hangover after a family birthday party – but when her symptoms carried on for three days, she went to see her GP.
But then Lucie became violently ill in the early hours of the same day, so she was rushed to A&E and taken in for a CT scan, where doctors discovered a mass of six blood clots on her brain.
Her parents were told to prepare for the worst, with doctors waiting for her to have a stroke because the clots stopped blood flow to her brain.
The ordeal left her blind for two months, and experiencing pain ‘worse than labour,’ but she is thankfully now back to normal.
Professional horse groom Lucie Edwards, 25, Solihull, from West Midlands revealed how what she thought was a hangover turned out to be a life threatening blood blot in her brain caused by her contraceptive pill
Lucie had been taking the contraceptive pill Microgynon for only three weeks before she got the headache, and, shockingly, medics mirrored that time period to the quick growth of the clots.
Lucie said: ‘The doctors said it’s not rare for the pill to cause blood clots elsewhere in the body, and have come across a small blood clot in someone’s brain – but not a mass of six clots like mine.
‘Before the headaches started, I went to my auntie’s birthday party and usually I handle my drink really well, but I had two doubles and felt really drunk. I thought it was weird so I stopped drinking.
‘I woke up the next day feeling groggy and started getting sick, which has never happened but I didn’t think anything of it.
At first, Lucie explained she thought she had a hangover. But when the symptoms did not dissipate, she called her GP (Lucie with her sister Molly)
‘The morning after that, I went to brush my teeth and suddenly felt faint. My head started pounding and I began to see flashing strobe lights, as if I was going to pass out.
‘I googled my symptoms and it suggested I had a migraine – it said they can last up to three days but the pain kept getting worse and it felt like my head could explode.
‘On the third day it was getting no better, so I went to my GP who said I had the worst case of migraines, but if they got worse I should go straight to A&E.
‘At about 1am I couldn’t cope with the pain anymore, so my mum and dad took me to hospital.
‘I was rushed into a CT scan, but they couldn’t find anything at first, so they did another with some dye in my brain.
‘It then showed up that I had a massive mass of blood clots from the left side of my neck to the top of my brain, stopping all the blood flow, which was why the pressure in my head was so bad.’
After three days of severe migraines, Lucie went to the A&E where doctors warned her family she might not make it, due to the large blood clot spreading from her neck to the ear
Lucie passed out in the car as she arrived at hospital in November 2019, before waiting seven hours in A&E in a wheelchair, terrified and slipping in and out of consciousness.
After the scan, medics realised Lucie was in a life-threatening situation and weren’t sure she was going to pull through, because an operation was too risky.
Lucie said: ‘In the first couple of days the doctors were saying to my mum that they didn’t know if I was going to pull through, and she just wanted answers but they weren’t sure.
‘They were waiting for me to have a stroke, but I woke up the day after. I was really weak and I couldn’t talk.
‘I kept asking my mum to just let me die – if I was strong enough I would’ve probably tried to kill myself because the pain was so horrendous.
‘Doctors didn’t know the cause of the clots at first so they tested me for AIDs and cancer but they came back all clear.
‘They asked my mum if I’d been taking any medication and she mentioned I’d gone back onto the pill, then they realised that was what caused it.”
Lucie had been taking the Microgynon pill for two years previously, suffering no headaches, but took herself off it when it was no longer needed.
A year later, she had an in-date packet left and decided to begin taking it again – and was only on it for three weeks before the headaches began.
Looking back at the CT scan, doctors eventually found that the build up of clots had only been there for three weeks which was when they made the relation to the pill.
She said: ‘I was discharged after ten days and prescribed blood thinning injections which I had to have in my stomach every night.
‘My vision ended up going for two months but there wasn’t anything that they could do, so they hoped my body would get better on its own.
Back on the saddle: The professional horseman was put on a blood thinning treatment but said she would not wish the ordeal on anyone
Lucie and Molly at home. She said she was shocked to find the clot had grown during the three weeks after she had started taking her new contraceptive pill
‘I was also bound to a wheelchair because if I tried to walk, I’d fall over because of all the pressure in my head.’
Just seven months on, Lucie is miraculously back to normal after a brain scan showed the clots were all gone, and she was in the clear.
This month, she also stopped the blood thinning injections which doctors initially thought she would be on for life.
Lucie is now speaking out for the first time about her harrowing experience, and wants to encourage others to think twice before they start taking Microgynon.
She added: ‘Doctors said it would be a miracle that the blood clots would go and thank god they have and it’s all clear.
‘I’ve made everyone that I know aware because I’d hate for anyone to go through this – I wouldn’t even wish it on my worst enemy.
‘They said the pain that I would’ve been going through would be worse than child labour.
‘I just want to spread awareness – obviously it’s not going to happen to everyone but it’s more common than what’s let out.
‘My mum couldn’t believe that the blood clots had all gone because at first they were telling her I was critical for the first six days I was in hospital so she’s just amazed – we all are.’
Lucie revealed her went blind for two months due to the way the blood clot pressed on her brain. But thankfully her vision is back to normal now
A spokesperson for charity Thrombosis UK said: ‘Oral contraceptive is the most commonly prescribed form of birth control.
‘There are many approved oral contraceptives, but an often used one is the “combined pill” which contains oestrogen and progestogen hormones. However oestrogen hormones make the blood more ‘sticky’ and so more likely to cause blood clots.
‘We would recommend that individuals should consider avoiding using the ‘combined pill’ but instead discuss with their doctor or nurse, a contraceptive that does not increase the risk of thrombosis.’
A spokesperson for Microgynon manufacturer, Bayer, said: “At Bayer, we take the safety of our products very seriously and we continuously review the safety profiles of our products.
‘Combined hormonal contraceptives (CHCs), like Microgynon, are among the most systematically studied and widely used medical products available today.
‘Risk of blood clots is increased for women taking CHCs when compared with non-users. This is a well-known class effect of all CHCs as is clearly stated in the patient information leaflet of CHCs. This risk, however, of blood clots in a woman taking a CHC is smaller than the risk of clots associated with pregnancy.
Doctors told Lucie it was a miracle all her blood clots were gone after months of blood thinning treatment
‘A woman’s individual risk for a blood clot is determined by her personal risk factors. General risk factors for clots include genetic predisposition, obesity, pregnancy, advancing age and immobilisation (bed rest, a long-haul flight, trauma or surgery).
‘The clot risk for a healthy woman is low, whether she takes an oral contraceptive or not. The more risk factors a woman has, the higher her risk might be.
‘A woman should discuss their own medical history and known risk factors with her healthcare professional to weigh the risks of blood clots against the need for contraception and determine the contraceptive method best suited for their individual circumstances.’