Anyone Have Blood Clots Following Chemo?

[gleason9guy]

I have just been diagnosed with nearly a foot-long blood clot in my right leg. An ultrasound indicates the clot's in a smaller vein near the surface of the skin, as opposed to a deep vein. But it is raising concern of my doctor as it's apparently close to a junction with a larger vein. It is extremely painful and nearly debilitating. I have been prescribed Xarelto for the next few months. My chemo regimen for my PC included Taxotere beginning in 2017 and was completed prior to my radiation therapy. I experienced pain in that leg shortly after starting chemo, but an ultrasound in 2018 indicated nothing unusual at the time. I understand that this drug is linked to blood clots. Anyone have a similar experience?

[pjoshea13]

The thing that everyone with cancer should be told - but rarely are - is that the risk of a dangerous clot increases because of the way that cancer inteferes with coagulation factors.

I had a double DVT a dozen years ago. My doctor said that the protocal (at the time) was 3 months of Warfarin for a first-time clot plus another 3 months because of the cancer. In the end I served only 3 months of my sentence. One clot had cleared but the other hadn't. Doctor agreed to let me try nattokinase - which worked.

The standard treatment for clots is to increase coagulation time - not to dissolve the clots. The body will eventually clear the fibrin with the enzyme plasmin, but cannot do so if the clot is growing faster than the low level of plasmin can handle. Nattokinase is a similar enzyme & speeds up the process.

I was dismayed to find that abnormal coagulation is never discussed, because there is no approved drug to dissolve a clot. Doctors do not even use the helpful D-dimer test, which would give warning of a growing clot.

The irony is that if an aging "healthy" man presents with a clot, he will likely be advised to have a PSA test.

Anyway, without giving advice, here's what I do. I periodically get a D-dimer test to verify that my maintenance dose of nattokinase is optimal. When I first started using nattokinase I needed 6 x 2,000 FUs at night & another 6 in the morning. Even now, i still take 6 before bed.

Although D-dimer can be elevated for other reasons, this has not been my experience.

D-dimer is something that results from plasmin (or nattokinase) breaking down fibrin.

Incidentally, if you were to appear at the ER with chest pain, you would first be given a D-dimer test. A zero or near-zero result would rule out a blood clot. It's a very useful test for anyone with cancer. Why wait until one needs the ER?

-Patrick

[gleason9guy in reply to pjoshea13]

Great insight...many thanks!

[Hidden in reply to gleason9guy]

I’m going to start again the natto

[bethdavis]

Be sure to take your Xarelto with the largest meal of the day, 24 hours apart. Food very much affects the absorption and often this is overlooked when instructing the patient. I am a nurse, and have many friends and acquaintances who were never told this, so I thought I would chime in.

Patients with cancer have a 5-7 times greater risk of clots than the general public.

My brother (PC since 2007) has had two bouts with multiple pulmonary emboli.

The first time, he was prescribed painful Fragmin injections and was on that for years before being switched to Eliquis. At one point, he stopped taking the Eliquis without telling me, because he thought he didn’t need it anymore. He ended up in the hospital 4 months later with his second bout of pulmonary emboli.

At that time, he was in a clinical trial for the combo of Zytiga and Xtandi.

So, his incidence of PE would be counted in the side effects for both drugs, even though it was directly caused by his own noncompliance.

[gleason9guy in reply to bethdavis]

THANK YOU so much for taking the time to share. I truly appreciate you!

[Muffin2019 in reply to bethdavis]

That is what yhr doctor gave me so it must work, probably be on it for life, it was a superficial blood clot but did hit my leg on a tree branch that also may have caused it, do not know.

[Hidden]

Dam! That’s scarey guy .. try pounding some nattokinse 👍

[gleason9guy in reply to Hidden]

It's always something, isn't it!!!

[Hidden in reply to gleason9guy]

No joke brother. I’m six years in and depletion is here. We must think most about heart health .. wag? As if APC wasn’t enough. But some have manny co- morbidities. I’m sure that my heart will be the culprit if the pc doesn’t wrap around first . Pluck the day my friend. I hope that you get relief soon on the veins

[Victorq1]

Hi Gleason 9...and Pjoshea..

Blood cloth are dangerous !

as you might know from previous posts ,

I am a Canadian and got stuck in Mexico

with Canadian border closed and no flights.

so with pleasure I hear there is

generic Abiraterone now available.

Now my story with blood clots:

For several days I was not able to urinate

until small or larger "coagulums",

blood cloths started to come out,all this with with large pain.

My Urologist put me with Urethral Catheter

after an ultrasound probe and Antibiotic

Cefalosporine (Cefixima).

Urine was full of blood and other body fluids..together with small blood cloths

Prostate,although treated with EBRT in 2008, and later with ADT for years ,

was enlarged and inflamed,

probably together with kidneys.

Cefalosporine in about a week cleared the infections.

Just another example ,where blood cloths could originate ??

my Urologist after catheter is removed suggests TURP,

so I can urinate well.

I would like to have a bone scan done since metastasis were detected

earlier and decide if Brachytherapy with radioactive seeds into prostate

is appropriate,as"salvage" prostate treatment?

Need help with answer, suggestions, if there are any other options?

As usual , may be my example can help others.

[gleason9guy]

Good Lord! I feel bad for you. I'm so sorry to hear that and definitely am not looking forward to that. I'm just starting to see ulcers on the affected side of my thigh, so I'm starting the antibiotics tonight. It was my impression that the radiated seeds was used in early stages of the cancer. I may be wrong about that, but in a situation of imminent danger to you, I would think there would be something stronger and less focused would be the recommended course of treatment. Maybe someone with some professional insight into this could comment.