apixaban and hematuria

[37Polly]

Has anyone else had this issue? I have now had second serious episode of hematuria ( gross blood in my urine ) that was initially diagnosed as likely UTI, but later not confirmed by tests, and have been told it’s likely a result of my taking blood thinner. I am curious 🤨. My blood work showed small increase in WBC , and both my younger brother and father died of bladder cancer. As a female, this is less likely, but I have never heard of anyone on blood thinners who has this. And yes, I bruise terribly, while taking lowest dose possible for afib. Thanks in advance for any response.

[SamAdmin Administrator Arrhythmia Alliance AF Association]

Good afternoon

Thank you for your post on the Atrial Fibrillation support forum.

Hopefully a member of the support forum maybe able to help with this question.

We would recommend to speak to a Medical Professional as they should be able to advise you if the anticoagulants could cause blood in the urine.

Kind regards

SamAdmin

[Omniscient1]

Apparently it's a thing! Plenty of references on the web. Risking the wrath of The Admin,here's one.academic.oup.com/ehjcvp/art...

[37Polly in reply to Omniscient1]

Thank you for the reference. I have read and saved it to share with my PCP who is at least doing early follow up testing. A urologist might make me feel more comfortable, since this is actually a second occurrence in past six months with no explanation. I really value this site for just your kind response.

[RoyMacDonald]

I've never heard of it before, it's always been found to be a problem with something else that causes the bleeding and is exacerbated by the Apixaban.

All the best.

Roy

[Auriculaire]

Given your family history you should get it checked out and not just blame the Apixaban.

[spinningjenny]

I agree with Auriculaire. As your GP if you can have a referal to Urology just to put your mind at rest.

[jimlad2]

Yep. Also in agreement with Auriculaire. Better to press for a more detail assessment as early as possible to be on the safe side, including at least ultrasound and preferably a CT scan. My mother had a similar problem and was repeatedly told that it was caused by a bladder/urine infection. Eventually, after more than a year an ultrasound was carried out and revealed a possible tumour which was confirmed by CT scan to be 5-6 cm in diameter, by which time it was much too late. She was on Rivaroxaban at the time and that was never cited as a possible explanation. Hope all goes well for you.

[Visigoth]

Yes I had a prolonged episode of this 18 months ago, which led to numerous investigations. No abnormality was found so I concluded that there was at least some connection with my Apixaban. I haven’t had an episode since.

[Debjimmay]

I’m so glad I read your post because I gad a similar experience with blood in the urine. I’m on 5 mg of Eliquis twive a day, One morning, about a month ago, I suddenly felt a burning sensation and intense bladder pressure. At one point only blood and a trickle of urine was coming out. I feared I had a blockage of some sort. I was given an antibiotic by my GP. I’m 72 and have never had anything like this in my life. I also wondered if it could have been the Eliquis that caused the bleeding. I live in fear that this will happen again as it was extremely scary.

[TenorJK]

apixaban and riveroxaban both gave me severe backache in kidney area also got infections so stopped them and was put on warfarin so no problems definitely get it checked out. X

[doodle68]

Hi Polly I have been on apixaban for 7 years with no problems then a couple of weeks ago I got up in the morning and passed what looked like neat blood in my urine, it was bright and thick . My bladder also felt uncomfortable .

I have had UTIs over the years and this did not feel like that was the problem. I took a sample and telephoned my local GP surgery . I was told to stop taking the apixaban for 3 days then if the problem continued a scan would be needed also to take in the sample to test for a UTI . I said it didn’t feel like a UTI the usual symptoms were absent . The doctor said not to worry it was most probably a burst blood vessel not unusual when taking ACs and a bump or lifting could cause it . I was so scared of stopping apixaban because of the stroke risk .

I drank lots of fluids and kept an eye on the urine and through the day the changed colour and it became more normal . By the following day it looked normal so I restarted the apixaban with relief . I haven’t received a result from the test so guess it was normal.

I hope you are ok by now .

[Kevinder23]

Thank you so much for the replys ,they have really helped 😘

[37Polly]

thanks to all. I appreciate the feedback. Antibiotic seems to have resolved the problem but it’s not clear what the issue, though the Eliquis is still major suspect. More testing ahead and fingers crossed.

[Desanthony]

It is a thing with anticoagulants apparently. However, the anticoagulant could also be making an existing problem somewhere there bleed more than it would and so giving you the heads up that something is wrong. I had an oscopy to check on this back in April - only something small found to be wrong and causing blood in urine - not as much as you are experiencing though. Told if it gets worse there is an operation to sort it but at the moment it is such a slight thing that it would not be worth operating on. Other than that no problems I just have to get used to seeing a little blood in my urine now and again. Always worth getting this checked out especially with your family history.

Take care and I do hope this is nothing to worry about.

[37Polly in reply to Desanthony]

Thank you. Glad to hear a simple reason. Follow up testing this week. 🤞 I appreciate your response and good wishes.