I've been taking Apixaban for around 3 weeks and have just noticed my urine fluctuates between pink and red, depending on the time of day. It appears to present worse not long after my Apixaban medication. Is this harmful and will it stop after a while?
Apixaban and pink urine.: I've been... - Atrial Fibrillati...
Apixaban and pink urine.
Written by
toby09
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Read more about...
36 Replies
•
I don’t wish to alarm you but this is not normal and should be checked out as soon as possible.
You must mention this to your GP, it doesn't sound normal at all and may be blood.
I’m not medically trained but it’s my understanding that anticoagulants do not cause bleeding however, if something does cause a bleed, they are likely to effect the length of that bleed. There are several reasons why there may be signs of blood in your urine and some are more serious than others and this is why you should see your doctor as soon as possible.
Do you eat beetroot?
Thanks for that Physalis, but I fell into that trap some years ago and was quite embarassed when the Nurse that day told me about the beetroot juice! Good call though! Cheers!
Worth a try! The NHS site says
Contact your doctor or anticoagulant clinic, or go to A&E, straight away if:
you have red pee or black poo
you get bruises that happen for no reason, or bruises that are larger than you'd expect or keep growing in size
you get nosebleeds that last longer than 10 minutes
you have blood in your vomit or you're coughing up blood
you get severe headaches
you have any bleeding from a cut or injury that will not stop or slow down
These are symptoms of serious bleeding.
If you experience serious bleeding, stop taking apixaban
hello again! Thanks for all your assistance. I have an appointment at 2pm. Hopefully get some answers!!!
I guess that Apixaban affects people differently. Only yesterday, with my Vitamin D test, I was worried that I wasn't bleeding enough.
you just can't win my friend, can you?
So, I've had my GP appointment and bloods that I had taken were tested and all came back negative! So all good there. I did mention to the Doc that my urine looked pretty much the same colour as the actual Apixaban tablet itself! So now I have to go for a cystoscopy to rule out anything untoward in my bladder. So it'll be another month or so until that happens, so I'll let you know if there's any change or what happens, whatever comes first!
Cheers!
Google urine colour and look at the pictures. Same colour as the apixaban tablet - you need to drink more. At least 6 - 8 mugs of liquid a day.
Do that for a fortnight and then cancel the cystoscopy! Let us know how you get on.
Excellent! Just got your answer now! I'll do what you suggest! This certainly doesn't feel like an infection??!! Plus! I know I definitely don't drink enough....
Thanks again: I'll let you know how I go on !
in reply to toby09
Don’t cancel, if it is a tiny growth it won’t necessarily show in other tests. Husband had a shock...
toby09 in reply to
Thank you! I'm not going to. I've gone through enough! Don't want anything else. Hope Hubby ok...............?
Why are you taking Apixaban and nothing else? For AFib you usually get that and bisoprolol.
in reply to Physalis
Not sure what else post maker is taking? Not necessarily take Bisoprolol. My cardiologist discourages use of beta blockers if the triggers are vagal. I am only on apixaban but have paroxysmal AF not sure what post person has
Physalis in reply to
But do doctors ask about triggers let alone vagal? Mine didn't and went by the NICE guidance - anticoagulant and bisoprolol. I feel sorry for any other patients who just accepted that and put up with feeling under the weather.
Going by this forum Apixaban is very well tolerated compared with other drugs. I wonder if it has more effect on some people as far as bleeding goes.
in reply to Physalis
My GP automatically prescribed anticoagulants - and Bisoprolol for episodes. First (private, due to wait in Covid) consultant concurred, said add flecainide if Bisoprolol does nothing. Bisoprolol did nothing in next episode but I was reluctant to take Flecainide. Very prompt appointment with NHS consultant, he was more thorough in his questioning said no Bisoprolol because my episodes appear to be triggered by the rhythm being affected by alcohol and sleep. Bisoprolol best if pace (not rhythm) is initially affected by a trigger ie by exercise, stress, coffee etc. and flecainide only after he has scanned heart (next week)
Physalis in reply to
My history goes like this 1996 cardiologist - PVCs nothing to worry about so I didn't.
2013 doctor - I want you to take an aspirin a day - I refused
2018 doctor - I want you to take a blood thinning drug. I said I wasn't keen so he referred me to the community cardiology doctor who persuaded me. That was all we talked about.
2019 doctor - your ECG hb is 159 I want you to double up the dose of bisoprolol. Me, I want to see the cardiologist again
2019 community cardiology doctor - I think you're a prime candidate for an ablation
2020 Holter monitor
Feb locum cardiologist - ablation only 70% successful, he seemed to think I ought to be breathless, left feeling uncertain about whether they would do it
July Ablation, so far 100% successful
January 2021 - check-up at hospital. No sign of any AFib nurses.
Looking back, none of them suggested any changes I could make to my life or talked about triggers. I think mine was just a build up of something in my blood or my body and it would go off like clockwork every two or three days.
Got a message from the surgery yesterday saying that I am now due for my blood pressure, height and weight monitoring as I am taking Apixaban and that would be followed up by a telephone review by my doctor.
That's very informative, thank you for that.
I do hope you keep well
Keith (AKA Toby ).
in reply to Physalis
It is so hard to find the underlying cause of what is after all a symptom - AF. I most probably have an ageing heart, and the pathology leaves me vulnerable to triggers, in my case depressants. Others will have other triggers. I am fine at the moment if I avoid alcohol, but over time it is likely that other triggers and stresses will make the AF recur. Depressants apparently affect rhythm and the heart races to try and get back into rhythm. Taking a beta blocker can confuse the heart which doesn’t want to slow it want to steady the rhythm. Stimulants can do the opposite- the heart races and the rhythm is thrown out. Slowing the heart with a beta blocker should help.
Anyway that is my no doubt flawed understanding !
Whatever the initial triggers it is likely we most of us end up with persistent AF.
Physalis in reply to
Before I joined this forum in July I thought all AFib was more or less the same as mine and the drugs were bisoprolol and Flecainide as a PIP and it was unlikely I'd be lucky enough to have an ablation. But it's much more complicated than that and I heard a cardiologist saying the other day that it is like cancer, there are lots of different kinds and they are all different. So, lots of underlying causes and lots of different symptoms and getting an ablation quickly depends very much on where you live.
I tried only drinking de-caffeinated tea, not eating chocolate and so on and nothing made a difference.
And we've all got individual hearts with a range of problems, that probably influences it too. And genetics.
Last year something happened that made me very happy and I went a whole week without an episode of AFib so I guess mood has something to do with it. Maybe I should work on that to help prevent it creeping back.
toby09 in reply to
Hi Maddiegran!
Also taking, Amiodarone and Digoxin. Waiting to get my heart shocked back into normal sinus rhythm
Many Thanks.
cuore in reply to
Wise cardiologist. I was given a beta blocker (metoprolol 25 mg) by my GP which made my AF worse.
I had that and kept blaming apixaban. The GP did a urine test and was supposedly ok then another. Eventually I had a hospital urine test and it was an infection. I didn’t have any other signs of an infection other than the sometimes brown red or pink (darker first thing in morning) All ok now and I hope you will be too.
I hope Toby's ok. He sounds quite young.
I had a haematuria (blood in urine) about 30 years ago, with no sign of infection. My GP referred me for investigation but there was a month-long wait. It’s one of the few times in my life I paid for an immediate private consultation which was followed by an immediate operation on the NHS. It turned out to be something benign, but it was still one of the best £100 I ever spent, as it put my mind at rest.
Please, whatever you do don’t cancel the cystoscopy.
I agree with the others - you need medical advice and for them to, at least, ‘dip’ your urine to see if there is anything in it that shouldn’t be there
Not what you're looking for?
You may also like...
Apixaban(Rivoroxaban) and pink pee!
I've been taking apixaban for about a month and have had 2 short lived episodes which appear to show
Can blood in urine be caused by too much alcohol if on Apixaban?
have been on Apixaban for about eighteen months with no issues whatsoever. Over the last week or so
Apixaban
I have been prescribed Apixaban to take prior to my first ever cardioversion. I am really seeking...
eGFR lower on Apixaban
Before apixaban it was 73, after 4 weeks on it, the eFGR level has dropped to 62. I will be so...
apixaban
am on apixaban, got to have a camera up my bottom cant find out when i need to stop the apixaban
Apixaban 
Not exactly ‘in the pink’
Apixaban
apixaban and migraine
Apixaban and Dentist's
