Mother aged just 28 had stroke after taking Pill
WHEN Natalie Trickett collapsed and lost feeling in one side of her face at the age of 28, her GP thought she was suffering from a severe migraine.
But doctors later discovered she had had a stroke – and blamed it on a rare side-effect of the contraceptive Pill.
Despite keeping fit and not drinking or smoking, the mother of two was one of a handful of women every year who face lifechanging health problems due to a blood clot blamed on the Pill.
Now 32, she has made a good recovery but still has problems with her peripheral vision and her right side remains weaker than her left.
Doctors say the benefits of the Pill far outweigh the risks, but women taking it need to look out for the symptoms of a blood clot which can include chest pains and shortness of breath. Mrs Trickett, who lives near Garstang, Lancashire, was preparing breakfast for her sons Luke and Logan – now nine and eight – and her then husband when she collapsed from the stroke.
She lost the feeling on the right side of her face as well as her eyesight and began to hallucinate.
Her GP suggested it was a migraine and sent her home with tablets to rest before having an eye test the next day at Burnley Hospital where the specialist realised she had had a stroke. ‘I was so shocked I fainted,’ Mrs Trickett said. She was sent for urgent treatment at Royal Blackburn Hospital where doctors told her they thought the stroke had been caused by the Pill.
A million British women take one of the ‘ third generation’ Pills, which include newer forms of the hormone progesterone, but there is a small but significant risk of blood clots.
‘I was taking the Microgynon contraceptive Pill at the time and had been taking it for about a year,’ Mrs Trickett said. ‘There was no other reason for me suffering a stroke at such a young age. I don’t drink or smoke and they checked out my heart and everything was fine with that.’
Mrs Trickett considers herself lucky to have recovered so well despite some ongoing problems. She said: ‘I have blank spots in my vision and I can’t play tennis any more because I can’t see the ball properly.’ She now wants to make people aware of the link between the Pill and strokes.
One study found taking the Pill quadruples the risk of blood clots in the arm or leg which can be fatal if they travel through the bloodstream to the brain or lungs. According to the NHS, the risk varies between five and 12 out of every 10,000 women in a given year depending on the brand of contraceptive.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said women should continue to take their Pill, adding that the risk of blood clots is small.