My daughter was 16 when her GYN started her on Yaz. She was 5 ft ...

I second what you have written. I am glad to hear that your daughter recovered from her blood clots. My daughter did not. She died at 18 years old in her third month on Yasmin from Pulmonary Emboli. It's been about two and a half years since she died and I am just now beginning to write about it. It is devastating to have a daughter die. I want to join you in trying to prevent this from happening to any of you reading these postings OR to someone you love.

I am glad to see you mention Factor V Leiden. This affected my daughter also. Her uncle had been diagnosed with it a couple years before my daughter died. My husband had never had a blood clot and we foolishly assumed that he did not have Factor V Leiden. Well, he did - which we did not find out until after my daughter died. Lesson: if ANYONE in your biological family has a history of blood clots BE TESTED before beginning birth control pills. Having Factor V Leiden blood clotting disorder greatly increases the incidence of blood clots while on birth control pills.

The ER nurse who worked on my daughter called me after she died to apologize for not recognizing the Pulmonary Emboli diagnosis sooner. He mentioned that they have been seeing quite a few patients with blood clots in the early months on these "third generation pills" such as Yasmin. I am wondering if ER physicians and nurses would benefit from some additional awareness of the problem of blood clots in young women on these pills. Many times the symptoms are misdiagnosed as "just anxiety."

Your daughter's story reinforces my strong opinion that patients NEED TO RECEIVE CLEAR INFORMATION ON THE SYMPTOMS OF BLOOD CLOTS in the legs or in the lungs. They will then tend to act more quickly to obtain medical care and receive the appropriate testing and treatment for blood clots. When my daughter complained on Tuesday of being short of breath we thought she just had a cold. She died three days later. She could have been saved if she had been tested for blood clots sooner.

Thanks for the suggestion about notifying the FDA.

Okinawak,
I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter. I'm trying to tell my daughter's story to as many people as possible. She was featured in an article in the New York Times about Factor V Leiden. Our pediatrician and a geneticist had told us not to have our kids tested for Factor V because they could lose their insurance. I worked with the Genetic Alliance to improve awareness of genetic testing and to change the law to protect people from losing their health insurance.

To beth123anderson: I see now from the postings that the suicidal depression is just one aspect of YAZ horrific side affects. If you are still in need of 'balancing' your teen's hormones, may I suggest an NMD? Here is a reply I did for a post/blog on this site for Gardisil (which I will NOT be giving to my teen daughter):
The Gardisil may have something to do with your daughters symptoms, I would look for an NMD that would be willing to evaluate your daughter further, not just look at "normal ranges" on lab reports and say "all is well." A good NMD will take labs into consideration, of course, but really seek to find the source of the symptoms. Check your state Board of Naturopathic MDs to see what NMDs are currently licensed and practicing near you. NMDs can have the same "bedside manner" issues as allopathic MDs (arrogance, too busy to listen, etc.) so try to "interview" some before making a final selection on who to bring your daughter to. It may take a 2-4 weeks or so to find someone you feel comfortable with, but its worth it in the end. When calling NMD offices, ask if they do FREE consultations (usually 15-20 minutes). If they do, take advantage and get an appt asap. Be sure to have all questions and any medical files with you ready to go so you maximize the free appt. If they do not offer free consults, try to research the doc to find out as much as you can and find out their fee structure. Sometimes the fee structure is great, but the info on the doc is so sparse that, without the free consult, I would vote no and screen them out. I recently found a good doc with a good fee structure and can hopefully get some of the money back via Out of Netwk insurance filing. NMDs are known for wanting to find the source of symptoms and seeking to identify any relationships to symptoms rather than bandaiding the symptoms independantly... Best thoughts for your search to help your baby get better.