What? How? Why?

The number one question that I've been asked and I've asked several times myself is how does an overall healthy 24 year old have a heart attack? Well, that question cannot be answered, as it still remains an unanswered question...

First, what exactly is a heart attack and how does it form? Simply stated, a heart attack occurs when blood flow to the heart becomes blocked for a long enough time that part of the heart muscle is damaged or dies. Another name for a heart attack is "Myocardial Infarction".

Second, what causes it? Well it can be caused my numerous thing such as: plaque (high cholesterol) buildup in the walls of the coronary arteries, a family history of heart problems, high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, and obesity.

Now, back to the number one question, what caused mine? Well, during my heart cath, I didn’t have any plaque buildup, so that was ruled out. I had no prior history of heart problems, nor did my family. My blood pressure wasn’t high. I was not obese, not a smoker, and didn’t have diabetes.

With everything being ruled out, it still remained an unanswered question. What caused my dissection in my artery?

When the doctor was going over everything with me, he started asking what medications I was on. At that time, the only medication I was taking was birth control, which helped control my ovarian cysts. As soon as I said this, he was quick to say that I needed to stop taking the pill IMMEDIATELY.

I didn’t understand this at all, how does birth control play a factor in a heart attack? A birth control pill contains estrogen and progestin. The estrogen can increase the risk of blood clots by altering the delicate balance of clotting factors produced by the liver.

Did the birth control ultimately cause a blood clot and it traveled to my heart? The doctors couldn’t confirm that’s what caused my heart attack, but also couldn’t rule it out.  With that being said, I discontinued taking the pill and will never go back on it.

The bottom line is there isn’t a clear answer to why I had the attack. One of my cardiologists said it was simply bad luck. Whether it was just bad luck or a dangerous side effect from my birth control, I will never know the answer. It's became very frustrating not knowing the cause, but I just have to face the facts that I’ll never know.

The point that I want to stress is that it's critical to know the side effects of medications. All women taking birth control need to know that there IS a risk of blood clots.  I'm not trying to discourage women from taking birth control medications; I just want everyone to know the risks. It may, or may not, have been what caused my heart attack, but I do know that I will not take that gamble again.

Lesson to be learned: know the side effects of all medications you are taking.