blood thinners

[Electricblue1]

hello all, I woke several times in the night and had blood in my mouth, quite a lot , this happened before when I was on full dose blood thinners , just wondering if anyone else gets this. I’m assuming it comes from bleeding gums but is it normal on blood thinners.

[Fibber222]

I have experienced this too. I traced it to my gums. Since I’ve been going to the hygienist this has vastly improved. It is listed as a side effect on the information sheet on Apixaban. Hope this helps

[Gumbie_Cat]

I think that I would seek medical or dental advice. I’ve not had any gum bleeding, with the exception of a tiny bit when I’ve used the interdental brush between my back teeth. That’s just once or twice since I started apixaban at the beginning of last year.

Usually you might just notice some blood on the toothbrush with bleeding gums, while of course it could still be related to that. Or an over-vigorous tooth brushing. I always use a soft bristle toothbrush - yet supermarkets seem to love selling harder ones.

[CDreamer in reply to Gumbie_Cat]

I use electric toothbrush but the hygienist has told me to stick to the soft brushes but I also find it difficult to find in shops so now I buy from a dental specialist on line.

[Gumbie_Cat in reply to CDreamer]

It does seem silly that the supermarkets don’t sell the brushes recommended by dentists! I do like having a manual one in addition to the electric, no idea why.

[pusillanimous in reply to Gumbie_Cat]

The toothbrushes for children are usually softer and actually able to get into the paces better than the large headed adult ones. Flossing of course is essential !

[Gumbie_Cat in reply to pusillanimous]

I could have just done that. I’ve been sending off for Curaprox ones. Though I did find some Oral B soft toothbrushes in Boots - a bit cheaper so giving them a try. Oral B dental tape too - I find it easier to use than ordinary floss, plus the wee interdental brushes.

[Blearyeyed in reply to CDreamer]

I have to have a very soft brush for various reasons , I was also told not to use electric brushes.My current tooth brush is shaped like a dinosaur .

It's the only one I could find with the same softness as the original one the orthodontist gave me ! 🦕🦷😆😆😆

[Desanthony in reply to Blearyeyed]

Ive had to use one of those it also had a sucker on the end so could stick to the bathroom sink or the tiles - my wife loved it and used to stick it in odd places for me to find - so childish and they say men never grow up.

[Blearyeyed in reply to Desanthony]

To be honest. I'm pretty silly too, if they'd had normal adult brushes shaped like animals I probably would have had one when I could use them.The only annoying thing about the children's ones is that they are so short so you end up punching yourself in the nose while you are using it!😆😆😆

[Desanthony in reply to Blearyeyed]

Yes I can commiserate about the nose thing - mine is rather big being of both Jewish and French descent My wife also liked "pinging" the tooth brush back and forth when it was attached to tiles - Honestly!

[CDreamer]

Any anticoagulant may exacerbate bleeding but very unlikely to be the cause. Bleeding gums however are a sign of serious gum disease which can affect our hearts so best to go to a good dentist and see a hygienist every 3-6 months for advice and treatment and then prevention. In 2004 I had this and had to have extensive work done regarding gum hygiene and now so glad I did as I have retained my teeth (I was in danger of bone loss from the infection) and losing teeth.

We vastly underestimate just how important oral hygiene is to our overall health.

[pusillanimous in reply to CDreamer]

Do you have many specialist periodontists in the UK? I often wonder when I read on the online newspapers how difficult it is just to get an appointment with a general dentist, so is it even more difficult to consult a specialist?

[Desanthony in reply to pusillanimous]

It' seems its no problem getting an appointment at a private practice I called on Monday and had one on Tuesday with a specialist.

[pusillanimous in reply to Desanthony]

I'm very interested in dentistry. I was PA to the Professor of Oral rehabilitation at a South Africa University. Are you seeing a periodontist (gums)? as these days there are various specialties including endodontists whose specialise in root canal treatments.

[CDreamer in reply to pusillanimous]

I have no problem at all - just had root canal treatment - appointment within a week - just had my check yesterday - all now good so going for a crown. Hubble booked dentist + hygienist- appointment in 2 weeks. Grandson has just started periodontal treatment for jaw misalignment and is very proud of his state of the art ‘braces’ he chose colour purple! He can’t chew anything at the moment as jaw wired together so can’t enjoy his steak which is his biggest concern but that’s just for a few weeks. I was at the dentist yesterday they have 5 specialist dentists, some who just visit the practice. The problems you read about are for the NHS dentists because there are so few of them willing to deal with NHS to reclaim as the treatments they are able to offer are very limited, it’s an incredibly beaurocratic system and there are a lot of no shows which means dentists lose money. People are not willing or often able to pay - that’s also part of the issues of declining oral health. It may also depend upon where you live as rural areas are not as well served.

[pusillanimous in reply to CDreamer]

That's interesting, forgive me for saying this, I'm sure it is a typo- but surely your grandson is seeing a maxillo facial surgeon and an orthodontist to correct his problem?

[Desanthony in reply to pusillanimous]

They do at my private practice and a visiting one at my NHS practise

[BobD Volunteer]

My experiences of waking up with blood in my mouth were mainy due to antiplatelets such as aspirin or colpidogrel, were with ne exception whilst in hospital and were suggested to be from nose not gums though I do have gum disease despite three monthly hygienists visits. These were serious floods!.

[Hidden]

You raise an interesting point. The medics I have heard on the subject say that anticoagulants in themselves do not cause spontaneous bleeds. If a bleed is caused by gum disease, a burst blood vessel or any form of trauma, the anticoagulant will exacerbate the bleed and probably make it more difficult to stem. Ironically, this has often resulted in identifying some cancers much quicker than otherwise might be the case enabling quicker treatment and better outcomes. I’m not suggesting that you may have a more serious problem but think you should see your dentist asap to have your gums checked…..

[Electricblue1 in reply to Hidden]

I will do , I’m laid up with covid at the moment but I will as soon as I can.

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to Electricblue1]

Get well soon. x

[Electricblue1 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Thank you , hope you are well.

[CDreamer in reply to Electricblue1]

COVID = inflammation which if chronic throughout your body could also cause bleeding gums. That has happened to me - just a thought.

[Electricblue1 in reply to CDreamer]

Hi, last time I had covid it was all gastric but this time it’s respiratory, I feel better but finding it hard to catch my breath.

[CDreamer in reply to Electricblue1]

That seems to be the way of it with this version. Last time I couldn’t eat anything for 3 weeks. I found steam - 5 mins twice a day helped move the mucus and once that was coughed up, things improved.

[Buzby62]

I’ve had occasional bleeding but only when cleaning and seemed to be more since on apixaban. On my last checkup my dentist told me to use interdental brush daily which I have done for several weeks now. He said they would bleed at first but as you are treating the gum problem by cleaning it should reduce, he was absolutely right and I use interdental brush every day now with next to no bleeding. Takes a bit of practice and you need the correct size (maybe a few different sizes) but soon becomes routine if you persist.

Get well soon

You may find this post of interest

healthunlocked.com/afassoci...

[Rosie1066]

Hi, yes I have had this happen a few times. I am on Warfarin and have been fir about 14 years but I have only found blood in my mouth in the last year or so. First time it happened I was really worried when I awoke and found blood on my pillow and n my mouth and couldn’t work out where it as to where it had come from, and like you, I suspected it had come from my gums. Last time it happened was earlier this year. Most worrying when it first happened and I put it down to the Warfarin.

[Ronnieboy]

Funny you should say this I'm on blood thinners and I woke up with a mouthful of blood the other night ,which I traced to a cut tongue . I must have damaged it in the night somehow,but it took hours to stop,I've never had any kind of bleeding problems before.

[Electricblue1 in reply to Ronnieboy]

Hi, it’s very frustrating isn’t it , it’s always at night so maybe I’m brushing to hard.

[pusillanimous in reply to Electricblue1]

Have you been shown the correct brushing technique by a Dental Therapist or Hygienist ?

[Blearyeyed]

As people have said it is more likely to be from the gums but there is a small chance that it comes from the stomach especially if you aren't taking certain medications like aspirin with food and if you have only noticed it at night so you should contact the GP to discuss this as well as getting a dental check if you haven't had one in the last six months.

Gum bleeding doesn't just occur because of poor oral hygiene or gum disease , although if your gums are bleeding the risk of bacteria getting into the gums and then causing an infection or gum disease is higher.

You can get looser gums around the teeth as you age which can bleed from hard brushing or after vigorous chewing or teeth grinding at night.

Changes in hormones or certain medications like steroids

can also cause looser and more fragile gums because they effect your collagen production.

Certain digestive and connective tissue issues can also cause fragile gums because of the effect they have on collagen too.

Vitamin deficiency, Anaemia and dehydration can also cause the gums to bleed ,

As you can see there are many causes for weaker gums and the risk of the odd bleed , especially after vigorous brushing or tooth grinding can be higher.

So it is worth getting a check up at the GP in general to rule out other simple causes as well as the dentist, take care , Bee

PS : Has the bleeding only begun since you got COVID ?

The effect of an infection can also make you more run down and have more chance of gum bleeds , but it also could have caused other problems because of coughing or from the nose so it would be very wide to ask to speak a GP about this in a phone appointment tomorrow, just to be sure you shouldn't be following additional advice at the moment.

[Electricblue1 in reply to Blearyeyed]

Hi, I had this before when I was on blood thinners, I would wake up in the morning with blood clots in my mouth, I was checked out , had a x ray of my chest and went to the dentist had a clean but when I lowered the dose it stopped but I’ve been told to go on full dose or no dose of blood thinners.

[Easternmost]

I’ve had it twice and it seems to be due to overdoing the electric toothbrush or interdental stick. Bit alarming, but we are warned that you bleed more on anticoagulants. My gum health is good.