Change of blood thinner...

[Chris1945]

Hi, I'm feeling a little apprehensive! Yesterday I said goodbye to Warfarin and because my blood was too thin to start Apixaban right away, I've to wait until tomorrow morning before I can take another blood thinner, so hoping a couple of days without a blood thinner will not be a problem?

Checking online I'm unclear if I can take Kefir when on Apixaban and secondly, has anyone used Apixaban and then, for whatever reason, reverted back to Warfarin?

Thanks and in the meantime, stay safe everyone.....x

[CDreamer]

No problems with Apixaban & Kefir, I make my own & take daily.

The advantages of Apixaban are that you can eat what you want as it works on a completely different stage of the anti-clotting process to Wafarin.

[Chris1945 in reply to CDreamer]

Thanks for your reply, good to know I can have that. I'm reading mixed reviews about the eating of green stuff on Apixaban do you eat lots of greens?

[CDreamer in reply to Chris1945]

You can eat what you like, it doesn’t work like Wafarin which does increase your INR with certain foods. No INR to worry about with Apixaban- no testing to worry about. I eat lots of greens, take Fish Oils, garlic, Tumeric etc.

[Chris1945 in reply to CDreamer]

Thanks for your help CDreamer...x

[MarkS]

You need to be very careful what supplements you take with Apixaban (Eliquis). This article sets out some detail "1 in 3 older Eliquis users at risk for ‘potentially serious’ interactions":

healio.com/news/primary-car...

In particular: "OTC agents such as Chinese herbs, ginger, gingko biloba, herbal teas and turmeric can all potentially increase bleeding risk when combined with apixaban."

[secondtry in reply to MarkS]

Thanks Mark!

[Chris1945 in reply to MarkS]

Yes, I'd read the same thing so as a big fan of curry I'm feeling a bit deflated! I guess it's moderation in all things but curries and greens are what I thrive on!

[CDreamer in reply to Chris1945]

I love spices and use ginger and Cinnamon daily, Tumeric tea often but not daily but as a food not as a supplement and I do think there lies a big difference as it’s quite hard to eat so much of the food that you get a reaction whereas it’s really easy when you take a supplement.

Personally I eat a lot of both spices and greens with no noticeable affects but I am very careful with supplements and it seems to me that is what this study is saying. OTC Supplements often contain a concentrated form of the active ingredient eg:- Tumeric - active agent is Curcumin. According to one study I read some time ago and I checked with a herbalist I consult, you would need to consume 6g of Tumeric per day to get the same affect as 1 capsule of Curcumin as a supplement and I think this is often lost in translation. Now you measure out 6g of Tumeric - that lasts me a month when used in cooking!

[Barb1]

Sorry but someone had to say it. Warfarin and DOACs do not thin the blood, they slow down coagulation. They are anti coagulants.

[Thomas45]

I was changed from Warfarin to Rivaroxaban, which caused aches and pains. It was stopped after 12 days. My GP said I could choose which anticoagulant I wanted and I chose to go back to tried and tested Warfarin. It does not restrict what I eat. I bought my own INR meter, so if I change my normal diet I can test my INR, and adjust the dose as necessary.

[Chris1945 in reply to Thomas45]

Hi, interesting you should say that, I started the Apixaban Thursday morning and the only thing I've noticed is that occasionally, I feel slightly light-headed has anyone else experienced this? Big thanks to everyone else who responded , ever onwards!