Low hemoglobin count - related to blood thinners?

[51heartattack]

Hello - hope you're all doing OK. I had a heart attack in December and 2 stents fitted; have been on all sorts of drugs since - 2 of them blood thinners - Aspirin and ticagrelor since.

Have recently had routine blood test showing very low hemoglobin levels which could account for general feeling of tiredness/breathlessness. Anemia is listed as a common side effect for Ticagrelor so seems like the blood thinners might be a candidate - has anyone else had similar experience? Did you swap out your blood thinning medication?

I only need to take the Ticagrelor for 12 months so maybe I can stop it in December - should I perhaps suck it up for the remaining 7 months?

All advice/anecdotes appreciated!

[10gingercats]

It can be difficult for doctors to trace the cause of anaemia unless it is blatantly obvious.I had a low ferratin reserve and low haem. count due to my storage of blood being low in my liver. Doctor at hospital prescribed a transfusion and that worked well. .So not a problem related to anticoagulants.

[Hidden]

Rather than people on here, your GP should be advising you if you have 'very low' haemoglobin levels which under some circumstances can be serious to health. Perhaps a change of medication is required which the GP should arrange, with an iron tablet supplement. I can't comment on tigrelor but certainly NSAIDs like aspirin can, for some, cause stomach bleeds which will lower your haemoglobin levels (as I found out) , although perhaps not low dose aspirin. Finally you can to some degree help yourself elevate your blood iron levels by choosing foods rich in iron Obviously red meat and spinach are good for this. There are others, including cashews, so you could research them. But from personal experience it takes some weeks for the haemoglobin levels to recover, since as I understand it, the body can only metabolise dietary iron in small quantities, which is why when haemoglobin levels are really low, a transfusion is often required..

[51heartattack in reply to Hidden]

Thanks so much for responding - I am absolutely taking my GP's advice - I was just interested to know if anyone else had had a similar experience. I have another round of tests this Thursday and I guess we'll take it from there. Thanks again

[Cruise1 in reply to Hidden]

I had 2 stents fitted Jan 2021 and took Clopidogrel for 12 months together with aspirin and Lanzaprazole. I had been filed tired recently and saw Gp 2 weeks ago. He wanted blood tests. Two week wait for them. Yesterday I got urgent call from GP regarding previous days blood tests saying he wanted to see me that morning. Turns out my haemoglobin is low. Sent me straight to Emergency Day Care at the hospital as he said I needed urgent iron infusion. More blood tests, 5 hour wait only to be given iron tablets that I could have bought over the counter! No mention of further blood tests to check levels. GP wants further tests e.g stool samples and echocardiogram to determine any blood loss. I wonder about the aspirin too.

[51heartattack in reply to Cruise1]

Heavens ! You poor thing. I hope you’re doing OK. There is someone on here I was chatting to yesterday who got their blood levels back up by switching to coated aspirin. Might be something to bear in mind.I hope you get some answers soon. Look after yourself and take care

[Cruise1]

Yes Insaw that too. Think I gave solve ongoing chesty cough with phlegm a year on by taking antihistamines (wife’ suggestion)