topic Re: AFib in Wellness

AFib

mishka14 — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 01:02:42 GMT

Anyone here taking Coumadin for AFib? What are the side effects that you have with this

medication?

Re: AFib

jaxs mom — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 01:20:11 GMT

From the Mayo Clinic website

What warfarin side effects should you watch for?

When you take warfarin, your blood won't clot as easily. If you accidentally cut yourself while taking warfarin, you may bleed heavily. However, the risk of a major bleeding event is low.

You're more likely to have bleeding problems if you're older than 75 or take other blood-thinning medications that can further increase your bleeding risk.

You're also at higher risk of bleeding problems if you have:

High blood pressure (hypertension)
A history of stroke
Kidney problems
Cancer
Alcoholism
Liver disease

Some studies suggest that bleeding problems are more likely to occur during the first month of taking warfarin rather than later in treatment.

Warfarin side effects that require immediate medical attention

Severe bleeding, including heavier than normal menstrual bleeding
Red or brown urine
Black or bloody stool
Severe headache or stomach pain
Joint pain, discomfort or swelling, especially after an injury
Vomiting of blood or material that looks like coffee grounds
Bruising that develops without an injury you remember
Dizziness or weakness

Rarely, warfarin can cause the death of skin tissue (necrosis). This complication occurs most often three to eight days after you start taking warfarin. If you notice any sores, changes in skin color or temperature, or severe pain on your skin, seek immediate medical care.

Less serious warfarin side effects to tell your doctor about

Bleeding from the gums after you brush your teeth
Swelling or pain at an injection site
Heavier than normal menstrual bleeding or bleeding between menstrual periods
Diarrhea, vomiting or inability to eat for more than 24 hours
Fever

Your Doctor and pharmacist should have discussed the side effects with you though.

Re: AFib

ruthbe — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 03:23:44 GMT

Please discuss this more with your physician. He/she can give you the best information. One thing I can say is please don't forget your follow up lab checks. It tests your clotting time. Helps doctor adjust your dosage if needed. My mom didn't and that is when she got into problems. So just listen to your physician. Best of luck to you.

Re: AFib

dubll2011 — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 03:25:05 GMT

My DH has afib. Has had it for many years. He bruises easily and his arms are all marked up. He has to go off the med before invasive type medical procedures. It all worked well until 2012 when he went off the warfrin before tests for open heart surgery. Only off it a short while. Had a stroke. Turned out to be mild. Affected his speech, but within hours it recovered. Dr kept him in the hospital until his surgery so they could monitor his inr. He feels the risk of a stroke is too great to not take it. Good luck.

Re: AFib

hckynut — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 04:03:15 GMT

@mishka14 wrote:
Anyone here taking Coumadin for AFib? What are the side effects that you have with this
medication?

@mishka14

I have never suffered A-fib, but have been on both sides of bad things that can happen when on Coumadin/Warfarin. Had 2 episodes of PE(lung blood clots) and 2 heart attacks. I was on it for the PE prior to and during the times of my 2 heart attacks.

Was on it for a very long 7+ years and though I did not feel usual side effects, many feel with certain meds, I spent most of those 7+ years having full blood draws, on average, 3-4 times every week. Many weeks I had to have it drawn all 7 days. Those numbers(INR and ProTime) are very critical numbers for bleeding and/or having dangerous blood clots.

You should have a very serious talk with your prescribing physician about how important these numbers can be. As I said, I was on both bad sides of Coumadin. Numbers get too high? Danger of bleeding out. Numbers too low? Life threatening PE/Clots and DVT. This is 1 med that nobody should take lightly. Extreme INR/ProTime numbers are very dangerous and should be kept within a certain range, which is decided by your prescribing physician.

My post is not to scare anyone, it is to stress the importance of getting the required blood numbers decided by your physicians. Follow through with all of his/ her requests getting these blood reading numbers.

Best to you,

hckynut(john)

Re: AFib

faygi — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 10:10:22 GMT

Six years ago I was told I had A-Fib and was put on warfarin. They put me in the hospital to regulate the Warfarin. After about a week or so after I went home I had a couple of blood tests done and all was well with them. After the third or fourth time the phone rang the next A,M. which was a Sat. and I was out shopping at the time and the Dr. called and told my husband to immediately contact me and tell me to get to the nearest hospital ASAP. SO I did and I spent five days in the hospital . I feel I was given too high a dosage of the Meds to take. Who really knows. Was in the hospital again for three days with the same problem happening. I guess it was the way my body responded to the Meds. Finally thereafter all went well. After two years the Dr, took me off the Warfarin and said that I was doing so well on my other bloodwork counts and just continue to take two baby aspirin a day. That was almost seven years ago and I have been fine. I do follow a decent diet and watch my food intake which I never did before that so I personally believe that losing weight helped me get off that medicine. That is just my own opinion.

Re: AFib

CelticCrafter — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 10:41:52 GMT

When my m-i-l was diagnosed with it the doctor put her on Coumadin.

It got to a point that if you so much as touched her with a feather she would bruise.

She's on Xarelto now.

Re: AFib

mishka14 — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 14:01:55 GMT

@CelticCrafter wrote:
When my m-i-l was diagnosed with it the doctor put her on Coumadin.

It got to a point that if you so much as touched her with a feather she would bruise.

She's on Xarelto now.

thanks CelticCrafter...how is she doing on the Xarelto? I am really not comfortable taking the Coumadin....seems too many bad things can happen...but my Dr. is pushing me to take a blood thinner, I need to decide which one to take...

Re: AFib

hckynut — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 14:48:24 GMT

@mishka14 wrote:
@CelticCrafter wrote:

thanks CelticCrafter...how is she doing on the Xarelto? I am really not comfortable taking the Coumadin....seems too many bad things can happen...but my Dr. is pushing me to take a blood thinner, I need to decide which one to take...

@mishka14

Xarelto/Pradaxa and Eliquis are all fairly new blood thinners. None of them come without risk. Your Cardiologist is the best one to make that decision based on your specific health history and your problem with A-Fib.

I have given too many negatives about blood thinners and I do not come to this forum to make anyone fearful of taking any prescription drug. Again, all the above blood thinners, come with certain risk factors, as do many other meds. These factors however can have very serious effects, and different individual's body reacts differently to them.

My suggestion is you read in depth about all of the ones mentioned tor your own personal knowledge. Your Cardiologist knows your specific A-Fib issue. All A-Fib does not effect everyone's body the same way. This involves the whole function of all ones Cardiovascular System, not just 1 part of it.

I have given my personal opinion on all the blood thinners here in the past, along with which one I prefer should I ever find it necessary to take them again.

Mine is a very long story when it comes to why I no longer take any blood thinner, and it has nothing to do with A-Fib, so I will leave that part out of this thread.

hckynut(john)

Re: AFib

Trinity11 — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 14:59:22 GMT

It must be very individualized. I have Afib after 2 heart attacks within a year. I have been taking Plavix and a baby aspirin daily...I still have had a few episodes on the EKG but so far so good.

All blood thinners do make you bruise quicker but they vary in side effects. Good luck with finding one that is appropriate to your individualized care.

Re: AFib

KonaKat — Sat, 08 Jul 2017 01:44:39 GMT

@mishka14 wrote:
@CelticCrafter wrote:
When my m-i-l was diagnosed with it the doctor put her on Coumadin.

It got to a point that if you so much as touched her with a feather she would bruise.

She's on Xarelto now.
thanks CelticCrafter...how is she doing on the Xarelto? I am really not comfortable taking the Coumadin....seems too many bad things can happen...but my Dr. is pushing me to take a blood thinner, I need to decide which one to take...

I have AFib, the paroxyzmal type, and have been on Xarelto 3 years. I have had invasive procedures which required me to be off of it for two or three days. I don't bruise any more than I did before taking it but there is a risk of bleeding with any blood thinner.I have been in an accident with no bleeding complicaitions.

The new types of blood thinners differ slightly so it would be up to the cardiologist to prescribe based upon your lifestyle and other health conditions. The advantage of Xarelto is that it is a one pill a day and like the other new ones does not require dietary management and frequent testing. You need to check your insurance to see how well they cover the new blood thinners as they can be expensive.

Re: AFib

pitdakota — Sat, 08 Jul 2017 03:04:53 GMT

@mishka14 wrote:
@CelticCrafter wrote:
When my m-i-l was diagnosed with it the doctor put her on Coumadin.

It got to a point that if you so much as touched her with a feather she would bruise.

She's on Xarelto now.
thanks CelticCrafter...how is she doing on the Xarelto? I am really not comfortable taking the Coumadin....seems too many bad things can happen...but my Dr. is pushing me to take a blood thinner, I need to decide which one to take...

_____________________________________________

@mishka14, I would suggest you talk about your concerns with your doctor.

Xarelto is only used in nonvalvular atrial fib and might be contraindicated with certain lab values and/or medical history. Same with the other anticoagulants.

Only your doctor and you know your medical history and what might be best for you. But you won't know if you don't ask him/her and discuss your concerns. There may be very specific reasons Coumadin is being recommended. Or maybe not. You won't know if you don't specifically verbalize your concerns & ask about various options.

At any rate, no matter the cause...atrial fib can cause blood to pool in the top chambers of the heart. It doesn't necessarily get pumped out to the lower chambers as it would with someone in a normal cardiac rhythm. This can lead to blood clots forming in the atrium that can then travel to your brain and cause a major stroke. Anticoagulation is very important for most people with A fib. While any anticoagulant will have its risks, the risk of a stroke in poorly anticoagulated individuals with Atrial fib is very real. So I would encourage you to take your concerns to your doctor and the 2 of you work out what is best for you and why. People here don't know your medical history nor prescribing information or limitations for various medications. People can certainly say what they took and what they have, but that doesn't specifically pertain to you.

I assume the onset of atrial fib is relatively new so that this diagnosis and concerns about associated meds can cause some anxiety. But best discussed with your md. Best wishes to you as you make your decisions!

Re: AFib

Shelbelle — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 20:23:53 GMT

When my mom and my MIL were both diagnosed with A Fib, they were both put on a full aspirin daily, no other blood thinners.

Re: AFib

mishka14 — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 22:51:37 GMT

@Shelbelle wrote:
When my mom and my MIL were both diagnosed with A Fib, they were both put on a full aspirin daily, no other blood thinners.

Shelbelle, that is what I am doing now, 1 full aspirin daily.. It's been 20 months since I was in the ER and was diagnoised with AFib....so far so good with the 1 aspirin a day.

Re: AFib

mousiegirl — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 23:02:57 GMT

@mishka14 wrote:
Anyone here taking Coumadin for AFib? What are the side effects that you have with this
medication?

@mishka14 I wouldn't take a blood thinner. Ask about Flecainide.

Re: AFib

SeaMaiden — Tue, 11 Jul 2017 00:38:07 GMT

@mishka14 wrote:
@CelticCrafter wrote:
When my m-i-l was diagnosed with it the doctor put her on Coumadin.

It got to a point that if you so much as touched her with a feather she would bruise.

She's on Xarelto now.
thanks CelticCrafter...how is she doing on the Xarelto? I am really not comfortable taking the Coumadin....seems too many bad things can happen...but my Dr. is pushing me to take a blood thinner, I need to decide which one to take...

@mishka14 I had to take Coumadin for 6 weeks after my double knee replacement in 2013. I never had any side effects that I noticed the entire 6 weeks. I hated having to watch my diet and I could not eat all the healthy green vegetables I usually do. The one plus with Coumadin over say Xarelto is that there is a drug to stop the bleeding with Coumadin if you get too much of the drug....but with the newer drugs like Xarelto there is no counter drug and you will just bleed out. ( die) Xarelto is more dangerous in that regard.

But, you do not have to watch your intake of green vegetables on Xarelto. That is a plus I guess.

Re: AFib

MoJoV — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 16:14:35 GMT

@mousiegirl wrote:
@mishka14 wrote:
Anyone here taking Coumadin for AFib? What are the side effects that you have with this
medication?

@mishka14 I wouldn't take a blood thinner. Ask about Flecainide.

I take Flecainide and Eliquis for Afib

Re: AFib

mousiegirl — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 16:17:24 GMT

Aspirin is a blood thinner, and not as dangerous.