Reddit fat almost dies, blames hormonal birth control I'm 25yo and I almost died of a pulmonary embolism. Be cautious on birth control, ladies!  I got out of the hospital today. I suffered what is called a saddle pulmonary thrombo-embolism which was particularly serious, and often fatal. My first symptom was being out of breath and my heart was pounding like crazy. I had recently torn ligaments in my knee in an accident, and was wearing a brace. So I thought I was winded because I was injured and just trying to get around. Well a few hours later, I was leaving a class and passed out in the grass before getting to my car. Luckily someone saw me and called an ambulance. I was in the ICU for two days on Heparin, luckily I didn't have to have surgery. I immediately stopped taking my birth control because it is likely to have contributed to the embolism. I'm on blood thinners and feeling much better. But I'm still really scared and freaked out that I almost died, and I had no warning. What caused this to happen was a triple whammy: my knee injury combined with sitting a lot, taking a flight on an airplane, and hormonal birth control. Ladies, those blot clot warnings that come with birth control are very serious and very real. Stay active, listen to your bodies, and seriously consider the potential danger that comes with hormonal birth control. I would have never thought this could have happened to me. Feels good to be alive. -treat yo self 🖖 https://www.reddit.com/r/TwoXChromosomes/comments/5ozri2/im_25yo_and_i_almost_died_of_a_pulmonary_embolism/ I, having pcos, take hormonal BC, and have done so since puberty. I'm the same age as the OP. I'll admit I'm a bit of a hypochondriac, so I immediately freak while reading this and the comments. Then I realize, knee injury, getting winded, wearing a brace, fuck this chick is fat. Sure enough, follow her submission history and here's a pic of her.  https://i.reddituploads.com/b6bd7d1658b744169929b110e332df3c?fit=max&h=1536&w=1536&s=44913ba682287bd89d06349bc78b19e7 She's so worried that an embolism is a side effect of BC, but conveniently forgets that obesity is probably a much higher risk factor. From webMD  New research shows that obesity makes men and women more likely to develop two blood clotting problems -- deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism. The risk of those problems is highest for obese women who are younger than 40 years old, researchers report in The American Journal of Medicine If someone wants to archive the pic link please do, the archive homepage isn't loading for me for some reason.