Af and PCI (stents)

Hi Mick, I had a stent fitted and have AF. The doctors put me on Elloquis which is a blood thinner more modern than warferin. Warferin is rat poison.They also had me on Effient which is a stent lubricant and I had to take that only for 12 months. I have been taking this now for one year with no side effects besides the thin blood issue.

The Elloquis is prescribed so that the afib cannot form clots and cause a stroke which is the most dangerous side of afib.They tyold me I would have to be on Elloquis for the rest of my life.No problem, I would rather have that than a stroke.

thanks Maurice for the quick reply. Thats 2 other things I will have to look up but I am not sure if these drugs are used in the UK or by the NHS.

 

Hey MickE

This is Frank from the USA.  

I had stents put in because an angiogram indicated about 80% blockage in 2 major arteries.  I also had afib which is why I started to see a cardiologist in the first place. I never had any kind of heart pain or angina, etc.  A nurse once told me that the afib did me a favor - by alerting me that there might be some blockages before something severe took place, like a heart attack.

My afib, by the way was considered to be vagal, and only showed up at night after certain meals.  I now know what NOT to eat, and I also take an extra gram of magnesium citrate (in liquid form) to balance the electrolytes and there no longer is any afib.

That said, for a year I took plavix to prevent clotting after the stents were inserted.  That is just protocol here to allow the system to become acclimated to the stents, and for the rough patches to heal without causing any blood clots. 

Right after you get the stents you might have afib episodes for a few weeks, but they might dissipate with time and never appear again.

I am totally normal now - no pain, no afib, etc. but I make sure that I take the magnesium each day.  Low levels of magnesium are becoming epidemic here and that alone can be the cause of afib and heart palpitations in many people.

Goos luck - you are on the move to improvement.

Thanks all. I went for pre assess today and they are stopping warfarin before stents fitting and staring me on clopidogrel + aspirin. As I am still in AF, I think I will also be on warfarin again as well, but they will tell me at the time.

Generally, I now feel more positive. I will report back when the 2 stents have been fitted (next Tuesday).

well I had the PCI on Tuesday and I was in ther for 2 hrs, in the end they fitted 4 stents instead of 2. Had loads of Heparin and Quite a long exposure for X ray. But it was all needed as there was more damage to repair. They used the drug eluting type stents which stop growth on the stents which would caused blockages. I have been put on triple therapy for 1 month warfarin,aspirin and clopidogrel. Then drop the aspirin for the next 11 months, then aspirin and warfarin. (warfarin depends on AF condition, as may have a further DCCV).

All went well,no chest pain minor discomfort. Had to stay on trolley bed for 4 hrs after but a turn along the way and felt dizzy and blurred vision, Caused a bit of panic. I think they were worried it might have been a stroke but my blood pressure and heart rate had dropped. I was put on a drip due to dehygration and returned to normal. Speech a bit funny fr a few minutes. Also had a lot of the contrast(dye) in my system too. So I had to stay in abit longer to be carefully monitored. Glad it happened ther and not at home. Was allowed home later. Feel fine now. See how it goes.