*Bianca had hardly been out of hospital when she noticed an article in the Potchefstroom Herald which immediately made her sit up.
The story about 19-year-old Nadia Holtzhausen who suffered a stroke and has since undergone a remarkable recovery was published on 7 May, barely a week after *Bianca’s life had returned to normal.
It all started in May 2014 when the 24-year-old approached her doctor about using birth control. He suggested she gives Nuvaring a try. “Apparently, I was one of the first to use it in Potch,” says the petite blonde, as she sips on her cappuccino.
Everything seemed fine initially and the convenience of only having to insert it once a month as opposed to the daily drill, was refreshing. She had no side effects normally associated with contraceptives like weight gain or headaches. But, in November, six months after she started using the contraceptive ring, she started experiencing chest pain. Several tests later, and all her fears were dispelled until earlier this year.
The active B.Sc honours student who regularly goes to the gym woke up and went to the bathroom only to return to her bed completely out of breath.
“It felt like I had just run a marathon,” she explains. “But, because I had asthma as a child, I thought maybe it was coming back.” After visiting the doctor and being placed on asthma medication for two weeks, things didn’t improve and she eventually resorted to seeing specialist who did further blood tests, a chest X-ray as well as lung function tests. By this stage, *Bianca was not only experiencing shortness of breath, but also had a persistent dry cough, an abnormal heart rate and a stabbing pain when breathing in too deeply.
*Bianca was not only experiencing shortness of breath, but also had a persistent dry cough, an abnormal heart rate and a stabbing pain when breathing in too deeply.
Things came to a head when she almost passed out following two flights of stairs accompanied by a high fever. Her parents took her to the emergency unit at the Wilmed Private Park hospital in Klerksdorp on 5 April. The specialist listened to her breathing and immediately dismissed asthma.
The ensuing CT scan revealed all. “He told me that I needed immediate bed rest because I had life-threatening blood clots in, and around, my heart and lungs as well as in my main artery where the clot was quite big,” she says.
She was also placed on the anticoagulant, Warfarin and spent 11 days in the hospital. After being discharged on the 14th of April, she stayed at home for another two weeks before returning to work on the 28th.
Life has changed for *Bianca who will need to take Warfarin for another six months, and will have to have her INR (international normalised ratio) value checked weekly to determine if her blood is too thick or too thin.
Sitting opposite me, reliving her nightmare, she pauses to cough at regular intervals and still experiences a lot of discomfort when leaning forward for instance. She remembers one day, in particular, when at least 14 tubes of blood were taken in order to eradicate any hereditary causes. These tests all came back negative, which led her doctor to make the judgement that it was, in fact, the combined hormonal contraceptive vaginal ring that was at the root of the problem. Not that this is of any surprise to *Bianca, who has since done many hours of online research about the product. It has caused quite a stir in the United States, where it has been around for 13 years.
These tests all came back negative, which led her doctor to make the judgement that it was, in fact, the combined hormonal contraceptive vaginal ring that was at the root of the problem. Not that this is of any surprise to *Bianca, who has since done many hours of online research about the product. It has caused quite a stir in the United States, where it has been around for 13 years.
She showed her doctor all the articles about girls who had suffered similar symptoms and together, she and her mother decided to come forward and warn others about Nuvaring.
The product, which contains the hormones oestrogen and progestin, is not commonly available in Potchefstroom. Pharmacist, Jacques van Deventer at Medicross says they did stock the intrauterine device at one stage, but due to the lack of demand it eventually expired and was taken off the shelf.
Another pharmacist confirmed they had never stocked Nuvaring and is hardly surprised, considering the hefty price tag as compared to the preferred ‘pill’.
“Nuvaring costs R180 which is almost R100 more than the more conventional options,” he explained. And, while Potch may not be at the nucleus of any controversy linked to the product, the storm surrounding Nuvaring is raging on in American courts.
Drugmakers, Merck announced in February last year that they would pay $100-million to resolve all US product liability lawsuits alleging it downplayed serious risks involving its Nuvaring device. As the second biggest US drugmaker, they denied any fault under the agreement, which must be accepted by at least 95% of the 3 800 eligible patients involved in lawsuits pending in federal and state courts.Erika Langhart’s tragic story appeared on CNN on 7 April. In the clip, her parents, Rick and Karen recall their 24-year-old daughter’s sudden death.
“Hospital records cited the NuvaRing as a risk factor for Erika’s multiple pulmonary embolisms.
Records confirm what Erika’s parents told the news channel – that a blood clot had started in an artery/vein in her right thigh and travelled to her lungs, causing “massive” pulmonary embolisms and “multiple episodes of cardiac arrest” on the way to the hospital and overnight.
They have since started a foundation in her memory and, like *Bianca, does not want recognition, but has a desire to warn other girls about the risks involved when using the ring.
*Bianca, not her real name.
