Stopping Xarelto

[Polski]

I'm having a procedure on a Monday. If I am told to stop taking Xarelto for two days beforehand, does this mean I take the last one on Saturday, or ?

[jonjub]

If it were me i would not be taking it Saturday or Sunday given that Monday could be early in the day. Phone and ask the hospital department for clarification.

[Tapanac]

It depends on how invasive the procedure. I have had a few things done and when I wax on rivaroxaban I didn’t have to shop that at all. I am now on apixaban and when I had a deep tooth extraction for example I had to stop the night before and restart the next evening. However I would ask your ep or he person doing the procedure. Nurses are not always sure

Good luck and hope you well soon

[Polski in reply to Tapanac]

Unfortunately I am in Poland, and the health system here is very different (and all in Polish!) so 'speaking to the person doing the procedure' is not an option. A friend has contacted the department on my behalf, and they said 'stop 3 days before', but my problem is interpreting that, hence my question. If I 'stop 3 days before' the Monday, when would I take the last one (I take them in the morning)? This could be interpreted as 'take the last one on Thursday morning' which, in view of the stroke risk, seems a long time to go without!

[Tapanac in reply to Polski]

You didn't say if the procedure was very invasive. However, I haven't known anyone to stop taking it for 3 days before. As I said earlier I didn't even have to stop it when I had my ablation or cardioversion (although before the cardioversion I did have the scan which searched for clots in the heart). Also only had to stop the apixaban the night before my tooth extraction (and it was a big one as had to go into the bone), nor my cystopothy. Good luck

[Dawsonmackay]

The three ablations that I have had, I was told to not take it, the night before. So the ablation was on a Monday. I took Xarelto on Saturday but skipped Sunday. And then the night after the ablation, I started taking it again.

[cbsrbpm]

I recently had an endoscopy and had to stop it a full 48 hours before procedure or they could not take biopsy’s if necessary. Good luck.

[Polski in reply to cbsrbpm]

So, cbsrpm, you did take it on Friday, but not on Saturday - so 48 hours from Saturday am (no tablet) to Monday morning, for the procedure? Am I understanding you correctly?

[cbsrbpm in reply to Polski]

My procedure was actually on a Sunday morning and i took my last Apixaban on Friday morning but they said my last tablet should have been Thursday night as there was not a full 48 hours (I take it at 10am/10pm) so that wouldn’t be able to take biopsies but thankfully they didn’t need to.

[Polski in reply to cbsrbpm]

Thank you that is really helpful, especialy as a biopsy is involved. Many thanks to you, and everyone else who has responded. I want to get it 'right'!

[Buffafly]

What you really need to know is when to take the last one? Rivaroxaban is supposed to be taken in the evening so your instructions may be based on that. The only info I could find was that the effects start to wear off after 24 hours and surgeons like to wait 24 hours after the last dose before any procedure. So it looks as if a 48 hour gap between the last dose taken and the procedure would be sufficient? But last dose on Friday would be completely 'safe' I should think.

[Polski in reply to Buffafly]

Thank you Buffafly, that is very clear. I went with your approach and took the last one very late on Friday night, so more than 48hours by Monday morning. The doctor looked very relieved at the sound of the word 'Friday'!

[lwm1198]

Just scheduled a procedure that requires stopping Eliquis 3 days prior...for a Wednesday spinal injection, stopping the Rx on Sunday.

[Dangerousdriver]

Don’t do what I did and take it the night before the procedure! I forgot and took it on autopilot with my other meds, then the next morning went for the procedure and was going through the risks etc, and I said I took my blood thinner, is that ok? To which the surgeon replied “Erm, no it is not ok. We will have to postpone you now” And that was to remove a tumour, so you can imagine how angry I was with myself!

[Polski]

Thank you all so much for your contributions. They all helped me to understand the issues bettter and so to make up my mind.

I am now safely back home and recovering. Now I just need to wait for the results (three weeks). Thank you!

[Buffafly in reply to Polski]

Best wishes for good (or useful!) result.

[Polski]

Thank you!

[sleeksheep]

I had a suspect mole removed today 30mm x 10mm , didnt stop Xeralto , Dr said there was no need to just took a few minutes longer to stop bleeding before the sutures - one thing I did notice my blood sugar went up 20% because of the adrenaline.

[Polski in reply to sleeksheep]

Interesting about the blood sugar reaction. Thank you!