My GP told me that my best blood-thinner choices were Coumadin, Xarelto, and Eliquis.
I did my research, and, right or wrong, I chose Eliquis, even knowing its expense. (I have no insurance, thus I paid a lot of money to buy my first bottle of pills.)
I have since discovered that there also is Pradaxa (dabigatran), which seems similar to Eliquis, but is far less expensive. It also seems to be more flexible in terms of dosage. It has been around since 2010, I understand.
Are there any opinions about Pradaxa? It doesn't seem to be used in the U.K. Or is it? I say this because of all the appearances of the word "apixaban."
Yes, I know, I could ask my doc. But he's not available for a few days. I'm still waiting to hear from the cardiology clinic to which I have been referred.
Written by
Corazon17
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When first diagnosed with AFL in hospital emerg. Doctor wrote prescription for Eliquis until my appt with the cardiologist. And it was very expensive. When the time came to renew the prescription the pharmacist mentioned apixaban. It's a generic version of Eliquis. Just as effective and much lower cost.
With the exception of a few months on Edoxaban I have been on Warfarin ( a.k.a. Coumadin ) for some 14 years. My GP had been trying to get me to move off Warfarin for years. I had repeatedly refused. Come last November 2023, I had to move onto a different pain killer and my GP claimed Edoxaban and the new pain killers were a better combination.
Disaster struck ........... I had a total of 4 months of the most vile, horrific nightmares ever. That added to the sleeplessness was sooooooo traumatic. Phoned my GP, couldn't get an appointment to talk to her so I sent the Surgery an email telling them I planned to return to Warfarin ......... and why. Eventually I got their agreement. I have my own INR testing device, I pretty much understand Warfarin and I self test and when needed - I self dose.
I would never touch any of these NOAC's, still a long way to go in documenting side effects .... " in real life". Stay with this forum and you'll see that more and more patients complain about different side effects.
That all said, most GP's, cardiologists and EP's will now - as a first line of attack - prescribe these NOAC's over Warfarin. Even mine did the same and he was surprised to see me on Warfarin. I told him my stry with Edoxaban ........ and he just said ........ fair enough stay with it.
I started on Warfarin, but my blood coagubility wouldn't settle to the right amount so I tried Rivaroxaban because most AF patients of the medical group which runs a group of six medical centres including my own, took Rivaroxaban without any problems. My body didn't like Rivaroxaban and reacted against it with the auto-immune response of Polymyalgia Rheumatica, pain (algia) of many (poly), muscles (my). I had Polymyalgia Rheumatica for nearly 4 years.Being once "bitten" I was twice shy of the new anticoagulants, and went back to Warfarin, buying my own INR test meter, finding that eating foods containing vitamin K regularly did not lead to fluctuations in my INR ( blood coagubility level).
A new arrhythmia nurse tried to get me on a different Doac, but I insisted on staying on Warfarin. I email my INR reading to her every 6 weeks.
I have used Dabigatran 150mg capsules 2x day since its introduction 15+ years ago? and have never had any issues .I have had 2 ablations during the period and my consultant has never suggested I change the medication .Hope this helps making your decision
I would choose the cheapest if money matters as it is forever. Many here speak highly of warfarin ("Coumadin") especially when used with (rather expensive...) home test kits, but in the UK the drugs are all free and edoxaban, conveniently once daily, seems to be the NHS's current choice. I believe dabigatran to be equally as effective. After reading many studies. I doubt, for use in AF, there is any one that is better than another - of consequence, anyway.
Sad to hear that you have to pay for life saving medicines in your country. Thankfully we have NHS in UK. I was on pradaxa for some years when first diagnosed then they changed me to edoxaban which I prefer as it is only 1 pill a day while pradaxa was 1 in morning and 1 in evening - easy to forget. I had no problem with pradaxa except in initial months I suffered with foot gout which can be a side effect within the first year or so. This did clear up and I remained on pradaxa for years. Best of luck whatever you decide.
I'm a new Pradaxa user myself. Bit scary, all the dire warnings on the leaflet in the packet but the only one that has affected me really inconveniently is constant indigestion.It's admittedly better if you follow the manufacturer's advice of taking the medicine with food, but, with me at least, it never quite goes away. I do have have a hiatus hernia, but this hadn't acted up for 10 years or so, under control by using Losec 20mg twice a day. Another thing to talk to the doctor about next check up.
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