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Just blood thinner and heart slowing meds.

Posted , 5 users are following.

betty47298
betty47298

Does anyone just take blood thinner and meds? I read that there can be bleeding in the brain I suppose if you take it long enough?

0 likes, 14 replies

14 Replies

  • derek76
    derek76 betty47298

    Posted

    Which blood thinner are you taking?

    Sadly the choice is that it is more likely a clot will cause a stroke without the thinner than the thinner causing a bleed somewhere.

     

  • betty47298
    betty47298

    Posted

    Never thought of it that way.  Wish I knew if ablation way to go..get off blood thinners possibly but it does not always work.finding it a very hard choice to make. Only tried multaq. Now thinking maybe to try other rhythmic meds but heard lots of side effects etc. 

     

    • derek76
      derek76 betty47298

      Posted

      They all have side effects including the blood thinners.

      Many people stay on them even after sucessful ablations. Much depends on on your CHAD2 score.

  • betty47298
    betty47298

    Posted

    In that case what is the point? Ablation could put the heart in rhythm lessining stroke happening but without it coud still happen. don't understand it.
    • derek76
      derek76 betty47298

      Posted

      A lot depends on age. Google CHAD2 for risk factors. It is rather weird as I have risk factors that my wife doesn't apart from age and being female and so scores the same as me but we are both 80.
  • simon56380
    simon56380 betty47298

    Posted

    Hi Betty,

    Am 10 days post ablation now and so far, so good. No Afib episodes. A few ectopic beats, but even these seem to be becoming less frequent.

    I've had a 'loop recorder' device implanted in my chest as I'm part of an Afib study. This will apparently pickup any Afib or abnormal rhythms for the next three years.

    Ablation success varies a lot as AF is varies from patient to patient. Doctors don't really know how successful the ablation is going to be until they get in there and see exactly what's going on, and where they need to burn. Apparently mine was pretty straight forward and they were pretty confident of a good outcome, (let's hope they're right!)

    Was told to stop Sotolol immediately after the procedure, which was a bit surprising(but encouraging I guess), and was also told I could go back onto Apixaban if I wanted to, as I was having difficulty keeping my INR levels right from the Warfarin That I switched to pre op (because of it's reversibility).

    So currently on Apixaban and perindopril. Have also been prescribed an antacid tablet called Pantoprazole ( but only for the next few weeks post ablation) as a precautionary measure, in case they irritated the oesophagus during the burning procedure.

    Have now also been prescribed Flecainide and Metoprolol as the 'pill in the pocket' solution if I have any Afib in the future.

    So in a few weeks time, it will just be Apixaban & perindopril, and if all goes well, I suspect/ hope to be med free eventually as I believe my CHAD Score will be low enough to allow this to happen.(am a 50 YO male).

    I have to say that my headset on Afib has changed considerably over recent weeks/months. I now see Afib as more of a symptom, rather than a condition in its own right.

    I think it well worth googling 'Dr. John M.' and read some of his stuff around A-fib. There's also a good clip that I think is worth watching, if you google search " Legacy PI throws down gauntlet  and Prash Sanders"

    In a nutshell, these doctors are claiming that Afib is a growing issue and in the most part can be largely attributed to lifestyle (and yes, there's also a gentetic and age component). 

    I'm really looking hard to address my risk factors now, in the hope that I'll be med-free in the not too distant future.(fingers crossed)

     

  • betty47298
    betty47298

    Posted

    I was never on warfarin so thinking I should be before I even have ablation if I do as eliquis is irreversible. pill in pocket interesting I never took sofotol only multaq and amaradarine for a procedure I had not to do with afib for a few months. I have no symptoms I feel. I wouldn't know a thing was wrong with me if I didn't know from the heart monitor and ekg readings..difficult for me to decide what is best. 
    • simon56380
      simon56380 betty47298

      Posted

      Doctors will almost certainly switch you over to warfarin a few weeks prior to your ablation for this very reason.

      Amiodarone worked really well for me early days when I first had heart failure (a tachycardia induced cardiomyopathy) and was pretty much the only thing that kept me in rhythm long enough for my left ventricle to recover. But you don't want to be on it any longer than necessary- potentially really nasty side effects with longer term use!

      I never used to be able to tell when I was in Afib either. I have had to rely on my blood pressure machine (which has the added benefit of an Afib alert function on it) several times now (a very handy thing to have).

  • betty47298
    betty47298

    Posted

    I didn't know they had machines with an afib alert on it. What brand? Where do you get it. I was on amarodarine for a procedure for a few months. I never had any side effects..lungs? liver? that I knew of . Interesting about the warfarin..put that in my notes to remember...is your blood checked regularly..I have been seeing an electrophyicist who is handling meds but blood never taken. on eliquis..to me they cannot really know what is going on without testing...

     

    • simon56380
      simon56380 betty47298

      Posted

      Hi Betty,

      My blood pressure machine is a 'microlife BP A200 AFIB'

      Have had it for almost 18 months now and use it at least once a day and have no troubles with it. It has also survived some reasonable knocks and drops(i.e. Has fallen off the bed onto a hard floor a quite afew times).

      I got it at a large chemist shop near my house (I live in Adelaide , South Australia) Not sure what 'chemists' or 'pharmacies' are called in other parts of the world. (They're the places that you go to to get your prescribed medications from. Suspect they'd be called the same in the UK, might be called 'drug stores' in the US?)

      But I do remember doing some online research before purchasing it. My research suggested that there were two machines that were both pretty good and reliable, and my chemist stocked this one. Cost about $180 Australian

      you may be able to purchase it online cheaper, but I needed mine in a hurry when I was first discharged from hospital.

      Have never had my blood checked whilst on Eliquis/Apixaban as they claim it is not required, which is why I like it. But the down side is that it's not reversible in an emergency YET- (I believe the drug companies are working hard on this, and should have an antidote in the future).

      In the three weeks leading up to my ablation that I was on Wafarin, I must have had five or six INR test (blood clotting tests) and my levels were jumping all over the place, so was happy to go back onto Apixaban.

      But to be fair, my understanding is that it can often take a number of weeks(or even longer for some people) to get your Warfarin levels/dosage worked out, and I probably wasn't on it long enough to give it a proper chance. 

      I just like the convenience of taking my Apixaban twice daily and not having to bother with regular appointments with my GP for blood tests. 

      But yes, it might be interesting to have an INR (blood clotting)test whilst on Apixaban (don't know if that's possible do), might try to ask about maybe doing this next time I'm at the GP ! 😊

      Kind regards,

      Simon

  • joyce48062
    joyce48062 betty47298

    Posted

    Hello Betty  yes it is possible to get bleeding in the brain when on Warfarin as I said before on this site , . I had it - no way of knowing for sure that it was Warfarin the cause of course . and it is very true that such events are extremely rare. I was lucky - immediate antidote to Warfarin and the effects on my left side have almost entirely gone . Now I take  no coagulents of any sort but did have a procedure called left atrial occlusion , which blocks a small "pocket" in the left atrium which it is thought is th biggest cause of clots, thereby reducing the chance of clotting . my cardiologist says I have nomore chance of clot than someone on anticoagulents .   I have not decided yet (that was two years ago) whether to have an ablation or not . So far I have managed Afib reasonably well .
    • derek76
      derek76 joyce48062

      Posted

      My worry is having a bleeding ulcer as I have a lot of stomach problems. My neighbour who had been on warfarin for 14 years suddenly had a stomach bleed while on holiday caused by bleeding stomach polyos that he did not know that he had. He needed two litres of blood. Others have bleeding from bowel problems.

      It's a bit of a catch 22 situation, prevent a stroke of risk a bleed of some sort.

    • betty47298
      betty47298 joyce48062

      Posted

      I heard of that. Seems like so many different ways of going at this and many different opinions. 
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