Blood clot from the pill

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-08-2004
Blood clot from the pill
1
Wed, 06-09-2004 - 10:48pm
My 19-year-old daughter has a blood clot. She was diagnosed with a DVT

in her upper left leg last October. We were told that it was caused from taking birth control pills. She was immediately taken off of them and has not taken one since then. She had no other health factors that would contribute to her getting a blood clot. She was put on Lovenox shots twice a day for 3 months. She had a follow-up ultrasound done and was told she

no longer had a blood clot. She continued to have slight pain in her leg.

She went back to the doctor who assured her it was just post DVT symptoms. She showed him a vericose vein that she had developed in her lower abdomen. He assured her it was nothing to worry about, that it was where the blood had found an alternate path when she had her blood clot. The vein got larger and he referred her to a vascular surgeon to have it removed. That’s when we discovered that she still had a blood clot. Apparently the Lovenox did not completely dissolve it. Part of the clot still remains in her groin area. The doctor said the clot is now 9 months old and she is in no danger of it moving. Her options, we are told, are to leave it and suffer the side effects. The second option is to be hospitalized and have a catheter placed in her vein and blood thinner will be administered over a 2 or 3 day period while she remains in ICU because of the chance of bleeding on the brain. We were told that this surgery only has a 50% chance of working. When we went for a second opinion, that doctor didn't even give it that much of a chance. Does anybody have any helpful information for me? I’m wondering if there are any other options that we have not been told about.

Avatar for rnin2003
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2003
Thu, 06-10-2004 - 8:44am
Hey there,

I have been a nurse for one year, so I might know a little bit to help. The drip you are talking about, is it a heparin drip? If so we do them quite frequently and it does not require to be in the ICU. Also there is a filter called a Greenfield Filter that I have known patients to have placed in their femoral area to "hold" the clot into place. Like I said I haven't been at this for very long, so if someone has something to add, please do. Is there any chance you can try and get a second opinion?? The doctor doesn't come off as very supportive/optimistic....Keep us updated...Jen