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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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Martine, 61 years old

Primary care doctor (Colmar, France)

I’m 61 and I love outdoor sports, the mountains and nature. Even my bout with breast cancer 30 years ago couldn’t knock me out of the game. Instead, it helped me heal. In 2017, during a period of enormous chronic stress due to family and professional commitments, I suddenly felt pain in my chest [...]

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Stéphanie, 55 years old

Secretary in Nancy, France

“A colleague verbally attacked me for an incident that seemed to me like it wasn’t a big deal. I felt a physical shock, but I didn’t pay any attention to it. I felt pain in my chest and my left arm for two or three days, but I wasn’t alarmed by it. Then, one night while I was reading, I [...]

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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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