Mother, 28, suffered a STROKE after taking the contraceptive pill

A mother has warned other women of the dangers of the contraceptive pill after she suffered a stroke aged just 28.

Natalie Trickett was told she had suffered a severe migraine but actually had a blood clot on the brain.

She collapsed one morning, losing her eyesight and the feeling on the right side of her face. 

Medics later told her that it was almost certainly her Microgynon contraceptive pill that caused it.

The mother-of-two has now been left with permanently affected vision and weakness in her right side.

She told the Lancashire Post: 'Strokes are a potential risk of the pill as they can lead to an increased risk of blood clots.

'Until you have been a victim of a stroke yourself, you don't realise how real a risk it is.'

Natalie, of Claughton-on-Brock, Lancashire, remembers being unable to feel her lips as the stroke progressed. She then started to hallucinate and her eyesight went.

Natalie's mother took her to the doctors and they thought she was experiencing a migraine.

They sent her home with tablets telling her she should rest before having an eye test at Burnley Hospital the following day.

Natalie, now 32, said: 'It was when I had the eye test the next day that I was told I'd had a stroke and the optician called an ambulance to take me to the Royal Blackburn Hospital.

'I was so shocked, I panicked and fainted and it was all a bit of a blur.'

Natalie's grandmother died of a brain tumour at a young age so at first doctors told Natalie they thought she had a brain tumour.

However, 48 hours later, an MRI scan revealed she had had a stroke.

She added: 'I was taking the Microgynon contraceptive pill at the time and had been taking it for about a year.

'Since my stroke, I have been in touch with other young women who have had strokes and many of them suspect their stroke was caused by the pill too.

'Strokes are a potential risk of the pill as they can lead to an increased risk of blood clots.

'It is actually listed on the potential side effects on the leaflet that comes with the pill.

'But I think until you have been a victim of a stroke yourself, you don't realise how real a risk it is.

'I don't think there is enough awareness or information about the side effects of the pill and how it can cause a stroke and what a stroke can do to your life.'

Natalie, who has two sons, Luke, nine, and Logan, eight, had to retake her driving test but can no longer play tennis as she can't see the ball.

A spokesman from the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the national body responsible for regulating all medicines in use in the UK, says: 'Women should continue to take their contraceptive pill.

'These are very safe, highly effective medicines for preventing unintended pregnancy and the benefits associated with their use far outweigh the risks.

'The safety of contraceptive pills has been reviewed at European level and the review confirmed that the risk of blood clots with all contraceptives is small.

'Prescribers and women should, however, be aware of the possible risk factors for blood clots and the key signs and symptoms.

'If women have questions, they should discuss them with their GP or contraceptive provider at their next routine appointment but should keep taking their contraceptive until they have done so.'

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