A couple of questions..

[Chris1945]

Hi everyone, a few days back when I logged on there was a post from somebody about alternative/natural methods to cure afib and I vaguely remember BobD commenting that it was an interesting post, then I got sidetracked and now I can no longer find it, can somebody please repost for me....thanks.

One more query please, my GP has indicated that after 4 years on warfarin he would consider changing me to apixaban and I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who's done this i.e. how it's done - is it a gradual change, is life better - any food/drink restrictions and is this the drug that now has an antidote in the event of a drastic bleed like warfarin has with the K2 stuff? If no INR checks involved how does one know if blood is ok?

I honestly don't know what I'd do without this website, just knowing I'm not alone out there is enormous help itself! x

[Hidden]

Suggest you google “changing from warfarin to apixaban” and you will find everything you need to know. Then read Sue’s post, two below yours called Apixaban and that will deal with food and drink. Before you start to take Apixaban, you should have blood tests to check your kidneys and liver are functioning correctly and this should be repeated after three months then annually thereafter. How do you know it works, well thousands of tablets fall into that category, we just have to have faith that NICE wouldn’t approve them if they didn’t work. As far as I know at the moment there is no antidote but the general consensus is that in reality, it would not make a lot of difference but others here may have a different view. The freedom it offers is amazing.

[Finvola]

I was prescribed Apixaban from the start and just trusted it would do the job - in much the same way as we do with other drugs. The only difference is that we generally see a result from other medication, with DOAC’s like Apixaban, no result is the norm. ie no stroke.

There are many threads on the very questions which you have asked and there is also an excellent video made by Dr Gupta where he talked about why ‘no antidote’ is not a factor in a serious situation. If I find it, I’ll post it.

[Finvola in reply to Finvola]

Found it

healthunlocked.com/afassoci....

[Dodie117]

I changed from warfarin to apixaban. You just come off warfarin, wait for a day or two until inr drops below 2 and then start on apixaban. No problems and apixaban much easier - no food issues and minimal testing. I have kidney and liver function tests every six months. Also makes it much easier to travel. Would recommend.

[MarkS]

You should only really be changed from warfarin if your TTR (Time in Therapeutic Range) is less than 70%. Do you know how often you are in range? I'm always intrigued by people who say they restrict what they eat on warfarin, I eat what I like and have a very varied diet. I also enjoy sports with a high risk of bleeding so it is comforting to know that the effects of warfarin can be reversed in about 10 minutes instead of waiting a day or so for the NOACs to work out of your system.

However if you do stay on warfarin, I would recommend you get a Coaguchek so you can take control of your anticoagulation yourself.