Yaz And Blood Clots: When Aggressive Treatment Is Necessary
Yasmin causing blood clots is not always dangerous. If they form within superficial veins near the surface of your skin, their effects rarely extend beyond those associated with minor circulation problems. However, clots can form within the deep veins of your legs, arms, and pelvis. This is a condition known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Please contact us if you have any questions regarding your legal options being part of an Ocella or Yaz blood clot lawsuit.
DVT poses serious risks. If clots detach from the deep veins, they can travel to your lungs, heart, and brain. This is how Yaz pulmonary embolism, heart attack, and stroke occur. Below, you’ll learn how doctors treat Yaz blood clots, beginning with anticoagulants and progressing toward more aggressive treatment paths.
Preventing Yaz Blood Clots From Growing
Doctors who suspect a patient’s deep venous clots present a danger of breaking off and migrating will first administer anticoagulant therapy. This is done to prevent the clots from growing (as opposed to dissolving them).
Heparin is given through injection while warfarin is given in pill form. The former takes effect almost immediately, but is stopped when warfarin begins to work (usually within a few days). If the anticoagulants have no effect, or your body cannot tolerate them, thrombolytic medications may become necessary to treat the clots.
Using Thrombolytics To Dissolve Yasmin Blood Clots
Thrombolytic medications can be administered intravenously or through a catheter to dissolve Ocella blood clots. In doing so, these drugs can reestablish blood flow within the affected vein or artery. However, because they can cause bleeding, their use is typically reserved for circumstances in which your life is at risk.
If you are suffering from a large pulmonary embolism, your doctor may administer a tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) to dissolve the offending clot. In the case of heart attack and ischemic stroke, the use of thrombolytics is influenced by how quickly the drugs can be administered after the first symptoms have presented. With a heart attack, they must be given within 12 hours to have any effect. With ischemic stroke, they must be given within 3 hours.
Doctors will occasionally prescribe thrombolytics for DVT if they suspect a clot is likely to become separated from its site. However, because of the risk of bleeding, most doctors will instead recommend the installation of a vena cava filter.
Installing A Vena Cava Filter
Groups of muscles surround your deep veins. When you move, those muscles squeeze the veins and send blood toward your heart. The blood travels through the vena cava, the largest vein in your body. Unfortunately, this is also the route taken by Yaz blood clots when they break off from your deep veins.
Doctors can install a metal filter within your vena cava. This filter functions like a net. Blood is allowed to pass through while emboli (i.e. traveling blood clots) are ensnared within the net. By catching the emboli, the vena cava filter prevents them from reaching your lungs, heart, and brain.
It’s worth underscoring that this filter does not technically treat the blood clots. Instead, it prevents their reaching vital arteries and causing pulmonary embolism, heart attack, and ischemic stroke.
Blood clots within your deep veins can potentially break off and trigger life-threatening events. Unfortunately, many women who are using Yaz birth control pills fail to realize the oral contraceptive sharply raises the risk of developing abnormal blood clots. This is due to the inclusion of drospirenone, a synthetic progestin that is combined with estrogen.
If you have suffered blood clots, DVT, pulmonary embolism, or other serious side effects of Ocella, Yamin or Yaz birth control, you may be able to file a claim against the manufacturer. Contact a Yaz blood clot lawsuit attorney to discuss your options.
