When I called Dr. Gerard Abreo, a highly-regarded cardiologist in the Houston area, to ask him about the complications from birth control he sees in his practice, I fully expected to have a conversation mostly centered around blood clots. Blood clots (and pulmonary embolisms) certainly were part of the conversation, but they took a backseat to other, more common concerns — many of which had to do with (of all things, for a cardiologist) mental health.
“You want to know what I see more than anything else in otherwise healthy young women, 18-25 years of age? Anxiety.” Abreo told me over the phone one Sunday afternoon.
Anxiety and Heart Palpitations
I was stunned. Why, I asked, would anyone need to see a cardiologist for anxiety? Wasn’t that under the purview of a psychiatrist or psychologist? “Heart palpitations,” he responded. “Anxiety-related heart palpitations, caused by their birth control.”
As Abreo explained to me, many of these young women are referred to him by their general practitioners. Heart palpitations — and inappropriate tachycardia — aren’t something to take lightly, even in otherwise healthy, young women, so patients experiencing palpitations are often referred to him for echocardiograms to find the source.
But, according to Abreo, the source is often their hormonal birth control — and his theory is based on data. We already know that hormonal birth control can demonstrably change women’s brains, so much so that it can negatively affect their ability to process fear and cope with stress. It’s not a stretch to see how either of those changes
