On April 19, 2025, I began experiencing what I thought was a sinus headache—something I would normally treat with Tylenol Sinus. But this time, the medication didn’t work. The pressure in the front of my head wouldn’t go away, and it lasted for days.
By the evening of April 22nd, I was still dealing with the same headache and feeling unusually sleepy. When I got home from work, I went into my room and did something completely out of the norm—I started making my bed. My 12-year-old and I were the only ones home.
I remember folding over the blanket on my husband’s side of the bed, and then suddenly, my husband was walking in from roller hockey asking me what I was doing. I was very confused and having a hard time answering him.
The next morning, my right arm—from the elbow down—was completely numb. I still had the headache, and I noticed I had bitten my tongue, which made me think I may have had a seizure.
I went to the ER, where I experienced another seizure in front of my husband and the nurses. I was transferred to the ICU at another hospital and underwent an MRI, MRV, and other testing. That’s when they determined I had a CVST—a blood clot in my brain.
It was treated with heparin and other medications, and I was released the following day on levetiracetam and apixaban.
As of July 2025, my blood clot was confirmed gone, and I had no lasting deficits. It was wild and completely out of nowhere.
Doctors believed the cause was an oral birth control pill I had started in March 2025. However, it’s still undetermined if there were other contributing factors. Prior to this, my health was generally okay. I had also been taking omeprazole for many years, and I personally believe the birth control may have triggered the clot, but dehydration, malabsorption from PPIs, and low iron may have played a role as well.
Overall, it was a scary and unexpected experience.
Since then, I’ve made changes to my lifestyle—eating cleaner, drinking more water, and coming off PPIs. I’ve also learned a lot about the importance of gut health.
If I could share one piece of advice, it would be this:
“Get proper blood tests done prior to getting on birth control so that you have a clear baseline if anything changes later.”
Resources
What are the signs and symptoms of a blood clot?
Know Your Risk
Psychological Impact of Blood Clots
