I had a heart attack and one stent fitted 5 years ago, and since have kept well. My GP has just done a medication review and has noticed i have been on clopidogrel for 5 years. She has been in touch with the cardiologist who says my notes say i should have been on them for 12 months only then Aspirin for life. I am now terrified to come off them so Gp is weaning me off them , only because of my anxiety. Has this happened to anyone else ? I am worried about having another cardiac event if this is stopped but have been assured the Aspirin will be enough. I know its silly but i'm still a bit worried.
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Susiemac21
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I have to come off it at the end of the month and like you am worried but many on here say thay feel much better after stopping it .
Plus is not so much horrible bruising my arms and legs look like I have received a good battering .
My repeat prescriptions do have on them to stop taking at the end of June 2020 I spoke to my GP during a telephone consolation last week to see if I had to taper off them but was told just to stop.
I think i am worried because it has been an oversight and i have been left on them for 5 years, i did wonder but as they were prescribed and were on my repeat prescription i thought i was meant to be on them for life. So i am hoping that after all these years things will be ok.
They are only necessary for the first 12 -24 months although some say 6 months is actually sufficient but . Some people even take them instead of aspirin as they are better on the stomach I took them for year then just stopped. Endothelium heals rapidly but for some people it can take longer but by now all should be ok but as always get the clearance from cardiologist
My Gp wrote to the Cardiologist who has advised i should stop taking them as they were only prescribed for 12 months. I just feel as i have kept well they must be doing something right in addition to the Aspirin. Will wait and see but don't want to spend the next months feeling anxious . thank you for you replies i appreciate it .
Hi there - my only suggestion is that you get checked for AFib before going off Clopidogrel (may involve a Holter monitor). My husband was on clopidogrel for 3 years post heart attack and stents and just on aspirin. 1 year later in March this year he had a stroke and another one in April which they now established was due to AFib (he had no symptoms whatsoever of AFib so you dont always know). He is now on Pradaxa and doing well (here is hoping!)
I definitely dont want to scare you but it may be worth excluding AFib. Best wishes!
I have been checked for A fib as my GP had thought at one stage i had Atrial flutter and wore a monitor for a week ectopics were picked up and bisprolol was increased and they are manageable and can bother me at times but i have had a few ecg's and am always in sinus rythm but will keep an eye out for it. I have to say i had not thought about the possibility of a stroke .
Look - I am not a medical professional and everyone is different but with my husband it was established the strokes were due to AFib (2 within 5 weeks... I thought I would lose the plot!) and they said anticoagulants will make further strokes highly unlikely... I suggest you check out the stroke risk with your gp or cardiologist. Best of luck!
So was that a year after he stopped taking the clopidogrel he suffered the stokes? yes i will ask the Gp about that, although i thought if the risk was high they would have kept me on it .
Yes he was taken off Clopidogrel in December 2018 and the strokes happened earlier this year, but of course he had not been diagnosed with AFib at that point and he had no symptoms.. I think as they had found some irregularities with you they would be well aware of any risks but in my experience it is always worth asking the questions specifically... take care!
Hi Susie, I don't know your age and I believe that the risk of major bleeding out weighs the benefits of clopidogril at some point but this is what happened to me.
Had a stent at 51 and started 12 months of dual anti platelet therapy . A year later when it was time to stop the clopidogril I told my cardiologist that I had read about some instances of delayed stent healing and asked to stay on clopidogril for longer. He said that as I was assessed as low bleeding risk, just stay on the clopidogril and stop the aspirin.
After further discussion with my gp I have decided to carry on with clopidogrel indefinitely because I prefer to have the reduced heart attack and stroke risk that clopidogrel offers.
That was 4 years ago and I'm still here so hopefully it's working.
The bleeding risk doesn't worry me and I continue to surf and jump my mountain bike with no problems so far. 😊
It has never bothered me as such either and as i have kept well i wondered why they bothered to take me off of i now, i am 62 and have kept in fairly good health except for Rhabdomyolosis in 2018 which was drug induced and took them 3 weeks in hospital to discover what it was as my liver was failing and i was yellow, i temporarily lost the use of my legs. they then discovered it was the Atorvastatin iwas taking with antibiotics i was given for a UTI which i have now been taken off and now take Ezetimbe i was treated and am fine now .They have looked at my hospital admissions and all my notes and have said i am ok to come off clopidogrel so i guess i will have to trust them!
Hi Susiemac21. My husband was on Clopidogrel for 6 months after his quad bypass in November 2018. Our GP in consultation with the cardiologist decided a 75mg aspirin would be better. I've heard of people being on Clopidogrel for years though.
I'm not sure whether you need to be weaned off them so that's something to ask your GP. My husband just stopped them!
All the very best and good luck (and don't worry!!). xxx
Thank you, yes i am being weaned off, but i guess it cant be good to take a tablet i don't 'need, as lots of people only take it for 12 months and keep fine. ill keep taking the aspirin as usual and hope for the best.
Hi ChristineK I was on ticagrelor and aspirin after I had my ha last year they also gave me a painful stomach, was taken off them and put on clopidogrel also had an endoscopy which was clear, it did calm down. Then this year my meds have been swapped around which I think has triggered it off again, not sure what’s wrong at the moment. I hope yours calms down, you could ask your GP for a stronger antacid to protect your stomach. Take care.
I have been on Clopidogrel for 5 years too but I have had side effects when this is mixed with certain BP meds in severe muscle pains mainly in legs. I have also noticed severe hair loss and although this says side effects 1 in so many thousand I appear to be one. I have asked GP and he has said it can be changed to aspirin so may be the way to go. A bit of dilemma. Lately I have not tolerated B P meds and I am now back to bendrofluasamide And appears the one with least side effects. Can’t tolerated statins because of severe muscle pains so take benecol. Hope this helps.
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