An 18 year-old girl from Bolton, England who nearly died after being prescribed birth control pills to control her acne and is now on blood thinners for the rest of her life, says pill complications might not be common, but they’re “definitely not as rare as doctors suggest.”

The Daily Mail is reporting on the story of Madison Brownley, a student at Birmingham University who began to have problems a few weeks after starting combined contraceptive pills for acne. It started as terrible pain in her lower back and grown that became so intense she could hardly bear it.

“One day, I woke up and got in the shower. I stretched one foot out to find that it was painful and stiff. I also found it difficult to bend my knee, and my left leg felt tight,” she told The Tab, a student newspaper.

“I suddenly felt faint and realized that my right leg was swollen and red, and my toes were purple. My mum and I immediately went to A&E, where it quickly became apparent from the reactions of the medical staff that there was something seriously wrong.”

A scan of her leg and abdomen revealed “extensive clotting”. She was admitted to the hospital where immediate treatment began in an effort to prevent the clots from traveling to her heart or lungs which could kill her in an instant.

“For the first seven days in hospital I was treated with the blood-thinner heparin and anti-coagulant warfarin," Brownley said. "Throughout this time, the pain in my leg worsened and my ability to walk deteriorated. I was unable to walk further than ten metres.”

Her condition remained severe enough that doctors resorted to giving her thrombolytic drugs which are injected into clots to break them down. Unfortunately, the procedure cannot be done under a general anesthetic and was incredibly painful.

In total, she spent 17 days in the hospital, but her ordeal is far from over. She will have to take blood thinners for the rest of her life and will have to live with protruding veins in her groin, abdomen, legs and foot, all of which get worse when she exercises. The right side of her heart is also enlarged but is expected to return to normal within a few years.

Because people on blood thinners cannot drink, she will be limited to the equivalent of one glass of wine a day. For the next two years, she will have to wear compression stockings and can never again use hormonal contraceptives of any kind, including pills, patches, and IUDs.

Looking back on it now, she says the general practitioner (GP) seemed almost dismissive when describing the dangers of the pill.

“The potential side effects were explained by the GP when I was prescribed the pill, but as more of a passing comment than anything too serious,” Brownley said. “They did not seem interested in me finding out more about a family history of blood clots before it was prescribed.”

She added: “I can't go on the Pill again but what would be the best situation would be to have people have blood tests to check it’s safe for them. I know it's not common but it's definitely not as rare as doctors suggest.”

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