The hidden risk of IVF: The drugs can give you a heart attack

August 1, 2014  12:01

The weekend had been perfect: the sun had shone and the charming cottage they had rented in rural Norfolk had provided a much-needed break after months of gruelling IVF treatment.

So when Lee, then 26, walked through the front door she went straight to bed. But instead of drifting off to sleep, the music therapist suddenly found herself feeling breathless as a strange tingling sensation began shooting down her left arm.

Within a few moments, an excruciating pain gripped her left shoulder.

Within hours, Lee, who doesn’t smoke or drink, was in intensive care in St George’s Hospital in London, having suffered a major heart attack caused by a blood clot, Daily Mail says.

The doctors had no idea what had caused it — Lee had never suffered any cardiac problems before. It was only two days later, when she mentioned she was in the middle of IVF treatment, having already had three failed cycles, that the penny dropped.

‘They told me blood clots are a potential complication of IVF drugs,’ she says. ‘Sitting in the car for hours had caused a blood clot, which had moved to my heart.

The news got worse: the attack had caused a small hole in her heart, which had to be surgically repaired. Doctors advised Lee to wait another nine months before having any more fertility treatment, to avoid putting her body under more strain.

Lee had needed IVF because she suffered from polycystic ovary syndrome, which made it difficult to get pregnant naturally.

‘I was never told that by having IVF I was putting my health at risk,’ she says. ‘In fact, when nothing happened after the first two cycles, the doctors simply doubled the dosage of fertility drugs.’

Around 45,000 IVF cycles are performed in the UK every year to help the one in six couples who suffer from infertility.

Deep vein thrombosis happens to four women per 1,000 who get pregnant through IVF.

The risks are very real. In 2012, Emma Draper, 26, from Dagenham in Essex, died from a massive stroke, triggered by a clot, just weeks after getting pregnant through IVF.

However, IVF carries an extra risk because it can result in ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome (OHSS) which again raises the chance of a clot.

And OHSS can also lead to other complications.

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