anticoagulant -v- blood thinner

[Tapanac]

I know this is a silly squabble, but my friend fell over and got a blood clot through being inactive for a long while.

She now says after all the presumably heparin type injections that she is on apixaban snd says it is a blood thinner and making her lose weight

I said I’ve been on them since about 2017 and no weight loss and they not blood thinners, but are anticoagulants.

She won’t have it and keeps saying I’m wrong. I have tried in simplest terms to explain the difference, but no she has become argumentative. I decided to let it all go, especially if she’s ok, but she won’t.

Any ideas how I can explain to her in simplest form the difference between anticoagulants and blood thinners please? I even sent her a clipping from Google, but..

I know this is a silly and long message, but she is driving me balmy!!!

Thank you

Pat xx

A

[Borderterriorist]

Anticoagulants work by interrupting the process involved in the formation of blood clots. They're sometimes called "blood-thinning" medicines, although they don't actually make the blood thinner

Anticoagulant medicines - NHS

nhs.uk

From the NHS website!

[Tapanac in reply to Borderterriorist]

Thank you. My friend is like a dog with a bone about it all and I have TRIED to explain it to her as you’ve just described, but she won’t listen and keeps saying she is right. We are all in our 80s and I suppose you could say we are daft old people!!!

[BobD Volunteer]

Oh how I understand.

Try explaining that nothing actually thins blood. the viscosity stays the same whatever. Antiplatelets such as aspirin and clopidogrel work to stop the platelets joining together to form lumps which could become clots. They are also used to help break down such clumps when a DVT for examplee has formed.

Anticoagulants slow down the whole clotting process and each type has its use. Anticoagulants are used to help prevent strokes in people with AF where the irregular heart beat can allow pooling of the blood within the heart . Antiplatelets are used to help stop clots forming on foreign bodies in the blood system such as artificial heart valves or stents. and where clots may already have formed to stop them getting larger. Antiplatelets are of very limited use in stroke prevention for AF.

On the other hand there is a Devon saying " you can't teach pork!"

Good luck.

[Tapanac in reply to BobD]

Found your answer. Thank you so much. Love your humour as always too

Pat x

[jeanjeannie50]

Anticoagulants and blood thinners are the same thing - they protect people from getting blood clots. Even GP's will often refer to anticoagulants as blood thinners. Yes, we know that blood thinners is not really a good description as they don't actually thin the blood but they do protect the blood from thickening and causing clots. In general calling these drugs blood thinners is far easier for most people to understand than calling them anticoagulants.

Sorry, but I'm sick to death of all this must call them anticoagulants pettiness.

I've never heard of them causing people to lose weight though.

Jean

[Tapanac in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Ha ha as I’ve been on apixaban if they did lose weight I would be a walking skeleton by now! Thank you jean

Pat xx

[BenHall1]

My understanding has always been that the phrase "BLOOD THINNERS" is a lazy term ( or a term used by the uninformed ) for anticoagulant. Blood is not thinned, rather that the "VISCOSITY" of blood is changed. Think different viscosities of car engine oils.

Now my preferred anticoagulant of choice is Warfarin. When I had knee replacement surgery I had to stop Warfarin 6 days before goin' under the knife. Almost as soon as surgery was over and I was back in my room a nurse came in and gave me a double injection of Fragmin ( same family as Heparin ) , this was/is a very quick acting anticoagulant to keep a patient safeguarded until they can return to their normal anticoagulant. Later in the evening I then returned to my normal Warfarin dose and continued thereafter/ ever since. End of, and no problems.

When you've been off an anticoagulant for a while and then return to it it is pretty much normal to get an injection of a a quick acting anticoagulant until normal stuff is resumed.

Why not tell her to 'Google' VISCOSITY...... if nothing else, it'll keep her occupied !! 😂

[Tapanac in reply to BenHall1]

Thank you. Ha ha her husband has now jumped on the bandwagon saying I’m old fashioned. I’m just big prong thdm now snd talking happy things!!!!!

[Borderterriorist]

TBH with someone that stubborn, I'd just say "you're correct" and try to move on!

[Tapanac in reply to Borderterriorist]

Exactly and that’s what I’m doing. Thank you

[mjames1]

You are both right and both wrong.

"Thinners" is a very common way to refer anticoagulants in the medical community. It is no more incorrect or "lazy" than using "contrast dye” instead of “iodinated contrast agent" even though nothing is being dyed. Or using "heart attack" instead of "myocardial infarction" when of course the heart is not being attacked.

These words are often used to simplify medical terms by doctors, among both peers and patients. Just like even anticoagulant” itself is a simplification, when DOACs, warfarin, and heparin work differently. In specialized discussions, doctors specify the exact type used or just use the name of the drug itself.

So let your friend be. She is as correct or incorrect as you are. You don't want to end up being pedantic like some here.

The weight loss should be reported to her doctor. It is not a common side effect of Apixaban (Eliquis).

Jim

[Tapanac in reply to mjames1]

Thank you Jim. I decided after the first conversation I would say no more, but she keeps on about it. Leave it long enough and hopefully she will forget all about it. Who cares anyway as long as it works and she is well. She EP T go to GP about the weight loss, but she is swings snd roundabouts and we are seeing them on Sunday for my hubby’s birthday so I’ll check on her then

Thsnk you

[CDreamer]

Anticoagulants prevent clotting - prophylactic at preventing clots, especially for AF sufferers.

Asprin - antiplatelet - helps to bust the clot after an event such as heart attack or stroke or for DVT from inactivity. Keeping the calf muscles active, especially when inactive is important.

You just cannot win some arguments with people with entrenched thinking which has categorical errors. Unfortunately the medical profession also lumps both as ‘blood thinners’.

If only Apixaban caused me to lose weight!

[Tapanac in reply to CDreamer]

Exactly. Wish it would help me too to lose weight. A few of my friends are a bit envious that I can still get in the earrings I wore at college though!!!! Pretty old and rough after 70 years since college but…

[CDreamer in reply to Tapanac]

Where there is life……