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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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Charlotte, 26 years old

Student in Paris

“I was at Roissy airport after a long-haul flight. While waiting in the endless customs line, I had trouble moving my left leg. It felt terribly heavy and painful. It was worse than having my leg fall asleep. I had been drinking water and walking often during the eight-hour flight. I figured this [...]

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Clémence, 25 years old

Student (Montpellier, France)

My name is Clémence. I’m 25 and I was born prematurely at 7 months with a fairly rare genetic disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, sometimes called hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. A mutation of the MYH7 (myosin heavy chain) gene I carry caused this disease. In my case, the wall [...]

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Flora, 39 years old

Baker in Villefranche de Rouergue, France

I had a huge shock when my daughter was born seven years ago. She was my second child. My first birth went smoothly, so I wasn’t worried about anything in particular. I worked until two weeks before my due date and was pretty proud of how my pregnancy had gone. When I got to the maternity ward at [...]

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