Hi I have an unruptured aneurysm and am considering birth control as a last ditch/desperate option for mid cycle pain. Is it safe to take this with an aneurysm??? The brand is OrthoCyclen. My Neuro approved birth control use a year ago but I didn’t end up taking any and I asked my doc to choose a lower risk brand but the side effect list is so scary. My mother died young of breast cancer and it says not to take if you have breast cancer or breast lumps. I have breast cysts so I’m concerned about that too. I had an AVM hemorrhage- does that qualify as a stroke? Cuz it says not to take if you had a stroke. Boy I can’t do much without feeling paranoid now.
Thank you. I’m thinking I should just deal with the monthly pain.
Joy - birth control pills can be scary - but then so can aspirin or Tylenol… Talk to your GYN/OB. Also ask your Neuro again. About strokes, there are two types to my understanding, ischemic and hemmoragic. Ischemic is the block, Hemmoragic is the bleed. Hope I spelled those correctly. You can always check out what the American Stroke Association says about it :
Might have to look around their site or ask them the same question.
Also you might want to ask your doctor if there is something else you can do - exercise, acupuncture, diet to help ease the pain.
So happy I’m too old for those worries! Good luck!
I asked my doc about this after my rupture (I had two unruptured as well) and she pointed out the same thing as moltroub above:
"About strokes, there are two types to my understanding, ischemic and hemmoragic. Ischemic is the block, Hemmoragic is the bleed."
birth control can cause clots which cause a stroke by blockage (it's a higher risk if you also smoke), but it's sort of the opposite with ruptured aneurysms because they are a hemorrhagic stroke so they limit the blood flow to parts of the brain because it is bleeding out instead of circulating but it isnt a clotting/blockage type stroke
Thank you. I have significant pain for about 2 days mid cycle but docs keep saying birth control which I typically avoided. I know the risks are likely small for healthy women but don’t want to take a risk. My nurses always told me that my rupture was “technically not a stroke” but it was a major neurological event. I used to avoid Advil but occasionally take that with no issues. I guess its an unknown risk to take BC which is the story of my life since finding this pesky thing in my head. Thank you again.