Natural Thinners v Clexane - has anyone swapped from Clexane to Natural products?

[BKHeather]

Hi Everyone,

I would like to introduce myself - a 70 plus years old lady from Down under - who recently ( March 2015) had a full hysterectomy with focus on a class 4 Ovarian Cancer.... I am doing well without Chemo or further traditional treatment however I do have to take blood thinners daily due to a DVT that actually occurred BEFORE the surgery following a fall. Most of the DVT has disappeared but there is a small occlusion in a vein in the groin with co-laterals by passing it.....because of this the Haematologist believes I will be on thinners for life.

My question is has anyone actually quit the orthodox thinners and opted for Natural products....I take many of these and am vegetarian. I have just started on Serrapeptase which may dissolve the clot however it is not recommended for those on anti-coagulant medications.....I might add I am a trained Homoeopath and have always taken Naturopathic formulations.

So would love to read your experiences please

[Dody18]

Hi, I'm 75 and had a total knee replacement in March, in April I was back again as I had a blood clot on my lung, I am on revoxaban, and as I had had a blood clot 42 years ago after a C section I too am on blood thinning for life, I can't have another scan to see if it's gone as it is too much radio activity, so will never know if it is working or not.

[BKHeather in reply to Dody18]

Thank you for sharing - I am not sure if the chemical you are using is the same as Clexane but it is very off putting to be "on" a substance for life. The clot that remains is bothersome with me and I do still have regular ultrasounds to check its progress (or not as the case may be.) but I do understand the caution for CT scans and radioactivity....in the last 12 months I had 5 CT scans and managed to keep the contrast down to one only of the 5.....in my mind it was the first one that set the Ovarian Cancer from being benign to malignant but of course one can never tell.

I am taking many Natural thinners and want to reduce my Clexane so was keen to know what test I could have done to see if coagulation was normal....the Haematologist is not that co-operative and I don't know what test to ask for.

Currently I am taking Serrapeptase an enzyme that can remove fibrin deposits but it has a caution agaist use with anti-coagulants

[Rousseau]

I've not heard of serrapeptase but will have a look, thanks. I've had two blood clots in the last couple of years, both of which were treated with short term - a few weeks - of rivaroxiban, after I refused the permanent warfarin. Rivaroxiban is apparently too expensive to prescribe long term whereas warfarin is as cheap as chips! I've recently been taking horse chestnut extract, which contains aescin, of which there has been some research indicating it can be useful. I mentioned it to my consultant the other day, expecting him to give me the usual legal response that if it's not approved by the NHS.... (I'm in the UK) but in fact he (vaguely) acknowledged aescin as perhaps helpful. I've also been feeding myself with buckthorn berries - jam, juice, etc. which are plentiful along the coast near me. These are billed as a superfood; including assisting with blood circulation.

[BKHeather]

I use Horse Chestnut tincture - from a herbalist - 5 drops three times a day....I took it to help remove fluid from the leg that had the DVT....it was very enlarged. If you google for natural blood thinners there are a lot of suggestions that come up from reputable people.....many just regular food items.....you can select to eat daily. Another suggestion is to walk barefoot on sand or grass - scientifically proven to charge the red blood cells so that they repell each other and don't stick together to form a clot.

Serrapeptase is not able to be registered with drug companies - well it could but they can't patent it as it is naturally occurring so there is no money to be made hence no energy put into research. It has however been used in Germany and Japan and in Germany Doctors can prescribe it. A Dr Neiper who was a cardiologist - now deceased - used it with great benefit preventing more than one of his patients from undergoing surgery because it removed plaque in arteries etc....it is the enzyme that dissolves non living tissue such as clots and old fibrin - the stuff in blood that can clot - and was found in of all things Silk Worms who dissolved their cocoons so that they could fly away as moths.....it is now made synthetically in labs. The special thing is that it does not harm healthy tissue so no side effects.