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TEMOIGNAGES
Doctor (Rouen, France)

Sabine, 39 years old

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I had been taking combination birth control pills since I was 16 for acne and I continued to self-prescribe them. I didn’t have the time to see a gynecologist because I worked too much and had kids to take care of. I didn’t have any significant medical history, apart from a family history of migraines, and a few headaches. I did smoke a bit, two to five cigarettes per day. Last year, the day before summer vacation, I woke up and had trouble talking and I couldn’t move my arm. My husband called 911 and in the emergency department, an MRI confirmed I’d had a small stroke. I was really lucky because I recovered fully in a few weeks, but it could have been much worse. I learned that migraines combined with tobacco use and estrogen-progestin pills put women at risk for stroke. Tell everyone you know about this so that other women can avoid what happened to me.

 

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Katia, 55 years old

Lille, France

September 2019: I left my home after domestic violence. I filed a complaint with police and started divorce proceedings. My first shock. March 2020: COVID-19 arrived and I was locked down alone in my apartment and new town, Le Havre. Being furloughed for three months threw me into a state of complete [...]

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Annie, 64 years old

For several years, I’d been having heart rhythm problems lasting an hour at a time, three times per week. Then it increased to four days a week. It was an arrhythmia. Treatment wasn’t helpful. I had palpitations every day even if I wasn’t doing anything other than eating. It was an ordeal. I [...]

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Pascale, 43 years old

Architect from Brest, France

“I didn’t have any chest pain when I had my heart attack. I had gastric pain deep in my sternum and I thought it was bad digestion. I also had pain in my back. I thought it was my spine, which had already been hurting. I tried to soothe the pain with a hot water bottle, but it still spread. I [...]

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