Eliquis vs aspirin

[Kassiwi]

low dose aspirin to replace eliquis after one year from PE

[etheral]

Aspirin is an anti platelet drug and may slow down the accumulation of plaque in the arteries, the ones to the heart and elsewhere. If a piece of plaque breaks off or forms an embolism especially in your legs or lower body this can travel to your lungs an cause a PE. If you have acute or chronic inflammation I'm the arteries in your leg you are at high risk and should be taking an anticoagulant such as Eliquis. If you had a recent PE it would seem risky to switch to aspirin which is not meant for this problem. I would continue to take the Eliquis unless your clinician was strongly in favor of the aspirin and could give you a good logical reason for the switch. Best, etheral

[Kassiwi in reply to etheral]

thank you,

[Paulbounce]

Hi Kassiwi.

I'm with etheral on this one. I could go into details but etheral has pretty much covered them.

In summary, aspirin should not be used to place Eliquis IMO. However, I'm not a doctor and if your medic has suggested this then you should follow the advice. I would though ask the reason behind the switch or get a second opinion.

Paul

[Kassiwi in reply to Paulbounce]

thanknyou

[LPE44]

A year after my first ablation, my EP (a new one in a different city) said I could go on low-dose aspirin rather than Eliquis. BUT my Chads2 score was a 1 and my Afib burden (on my pacemaker) was low.

I'd highly advise checking with your EP/cardiologist before making any change. (Making med changes on your own is never advisable!) Additionally, most are going to recommend that you stay on Eliquis for at least a year after an ablation. And if you're still in Afib, they are likely going to keep you on Eliquis. It all depends on your specific diagnosis.

[Kassiwi]

thank you they all doctors from icu to cardiologist and primary told me I’d be on eliquis for life after this second PE. Thing is hematologist took me off Coumadin switched to aspirin year after 1st PE. 3 months later had head injury they took me off due to brain bleed no one ever restarted aspirin had 2nd PE. I don’t understand and my hair is very thin since my hair is important to me and cultural. Also I have no markers for clots??

[CDreamer in reply to Kassiwi]

If you have AF, I assume you have since on this forum, you have a very strong marker for clots - but the decision to anticoagulate always needs to be balanced against the risk of bleeds. Sounds as though you have different doctors advising differently. Ask for a consensus of opinion with reasons given. Always risk;benefit assessment.

[OzJames]

hi I had a Cardioversion late last year and now in Sinus and at the time my Chad score was zero so Cardiologist took me off Eliquis. He told me to go on low dose aspirin. If your Chad score is 2 or more you should be on Eliquis, some people choose to go on it if their score is 1. It’s the Cardiologist or EP that should advise you going forward

[riffjack846]

Aspirin is no substitute for Eliquis, it's like replacing eating oranges with apples. Talk to a competent cardiologist they will explain it.

[pusillanimous in reply to riffjack846]

Indeed, my sister who had AF (had because she is dead but not from Afib),it is familial all my family have it, was admitted to hospital for a gall bladder operation, but the hospital sent her home without the operation because they said they could not get her heart rate down (I suppose they wanted the bed she was a very fit 76 year old). They discharged her with a packet of aspirin. Two months later she had a stroke.

[Ppiman]

Do you also have atrial fibrillation? If so, aspirin is not recommended in many countries to prevent blood clots and stroke. The preferred anticoagulants are warfarin or one of the newer DOAC drugs such as dabigatran, apixaban, edoxaban or rivaroxaban - drugs that interfere with the levels of clotting factors in the blood (factor Xa, I think).

If you only have had a PE (and bad luck on that as my wife's friend had the same!), then perhaps aspirin is successful as it acts differently on the platelets in the blood.

If I were you, I would ask for an explanation of the move to aspirin from a competent specialist in these matters.

Steve

[Kassiwi in reply to Ppiman]

thank you

[oscarfox49]

I took aspirin between 1995 and 2020 as the only anticoagulant after I developed AF. I never missed a dose. I always took lots of exercise and ate a healthy low fat diet.

In 2020 without any warning at all I suffered an ischaemic stroke which has changed my life for ever and only now after nearly three years am I recovering. The first question the emergency doctors asked me at the time of the stroke was: 'Why on earth are you only taking aspirin as had you been given Apixaban that would have prevented the stroke?'

I will leave it there.

[CDreamer in reply to oscarfox49]

So sorry you had that experience.

[RoyMacDonald]

The only reason I've heard for prescribing aspirin is to avoid build up of clots on a metal implant. Could that be the reason? Have you had some surgery recently? Otherwise I would agree with all the other comments. If you have an arrhythmia or are old you need to take an anti coagulation drug. Your hair maybe important to you, but trust me, having had a stroke, so is your brain.

All the best.

Roy

[Kassiwi in reply to RoyMacDonald]

ok thank you

[mjames1]

If I understand you correctly, you were switched from eliquis to aspirin for PE and then taken off aspirin because of a brain bleed? You don't mention afib at all. Not sure how helpful we can be here as your situation seems complex, perhaps not afib related and we are not doctors. Given your conflicting medical opinions, I would seek a more current opinion, ideally from a specialist at large teaching hospital.

Jim

[bayonnejoe1]

I was on an aspirin regime and had a stroke. Partial vision loss. Four years now on eliquis and have had no issues.