Blood tests

[Chinkoflight]

Hi I have just switched over from antiplatelet Clopidogrel to anticoagulant EDOXABAN following detection of AF on a LINQ ECG implant. My GP has asked me to get a blood test and is suggesting tests every 3 months. I thought a benefit of the drug was no need for blood tests. Anyone got experience to share? I have no problem with blood tests, but the nurses have extreme difficulty finding a vein. The last time took 3 appointments and 8 attempts before a successful sample was taken and a very bruised hand!

[SpeedyH]

Hi there. The blood tests your GP has asked you to have will be to check that your kidneys and liver are not being adversely affected by the drug and that it is not making you anaemic. These are possible side effects of the drug. This is different to the type of blood test you have to have with older type anticoagulants which check that your blood is clotting at the correct rate. It is usual to be checked at the start of treatment and if there are no other health factors in the mix then you tend to have blood tests annually. Factors that might affect your GPs decision to do blood tests more frequently are age (70+), high blood pressure, kidneys already not working as efficiently as they could and others. I'm guessing that your GP wants to make sure the drug is not having adverse affects and if all is well with your blood tests they might become less frequent.

[Chinkoflight in reply to SpeedyH]

Thanks, that's really helpful.

[Turnipgirl]

The blood tests aren't anything to worry about and usually they are every 6 months or yearly.

I find that the phlebotomists are nice and put me at ease!

[Chinkoflight in reply to Turnipgirl]

As I said it's the nurses who have the problems, three appointments, three nurses, 8 holes, one sample! and two bruised arms. They say it's my fault, veins not good...😂. I'm very calm...and always try to put the nurses at ease when they see me coming!

[Turnipgirl in reply to Chinkoflight]

Last year I had a bad experience with a blood test due to the incompetence of the member of staff and they tried 3 times but no luck!

Usually they can do the test on the first try so it must have been a bad day for those nurses!

Quite recently I was worried when they said that a blood test needed to be repeated and the nurse said how something had gone wrong at the lab rather than me being ill!

She did reassure me that if a blood test looks nasty they will ring you right away and ask you to come in rather than wait 5 weeks to ask you to come in by text to have the test repeated!

[Chinkoflight in reply to Turnipgirl]

I've learnt a whole new set of character building traits since my stroke and my dependence on the NHS! But my humour gets me through. I feel I have had the best of outcomes to date. I really feel for all the staff, I know how the public sector can be taken for granted and criticised. There are many things that can be done better, but my flaky veins are what they are and whenever I have had to give blood, even when much younger it's been a challenge!It is frustrating though and I now have to book a specific nurse and wait for her availability! Her technique - no compromise, I'm getting blood!😈

[john-boy-92]

SpeedyH is right, and I have 6 monthly blood tests for kidney function, although I'm on Pradaxa.

Stroke patients are prescribed clopidogrel if the stroke was not due to AF, whereas an anticoagulant is prescribed if the stroke was associated with AF. My stroke was due to a clot and therefore I'm on Pradaxa (anticoagulant). Clopidogrel and some other drugs are metabolised by enzyme CYP2C10 . About a third of the population (higher for Afro-Caribbean and South Asian) have variants of that enzyme that make it less effective. So the change in medication may be a precautionary move.

I've edited this as I've just read that you've had a stroke. Join the club. There are various online stroke groups and, a number of University and Government studies that ask for lived experience people (and their carers) who've had a stroke.