Safe blood thinning medication….

[Drls]

hello - I have been having a nightmare since having a mini stroke ( TIA) a month ago - I was put on clopidigrel which has made my RLS horrendous, during the day as well as the night and in my arms as well. I eventually managed to persuade my GP to change to dipyridermole this week but I had a horrendous reaction - intense migraine and violent vomiting - so I am back on the clopidigrel. Does any one know of a blood thinning medication that does not cause restless legs? The GP knows nothing and the stroke clinic didn’t either. Thanks!

[SueJohnson]

Xarelto (Rivaroxaban), ticagrelor (Brilinta) prasugrel (Effient or Efient), Fragmin (dalteparin) and Eliquis (apixaban) are probably safe - I can't find anything that says they aren't.

[Drls in reply to SueJohnson]

Thank you Sue - there are a few there to suggest to my GP!

[ChrisColumbus]

I had a TIA last year: they just put me on 75mg Aspirin, Atorvastatin for cholesterol (which like other statins was terrible for RLS, now on Ezetimibe), and originally Perindopril for blood pressure later Losartan (can't remember why this was changed). Only the statins exacerbated my RLS. But guess treatment depends on severity of TIA and assessed reason for it...

[Drls]

thank you - I can’t understand why I can’t just be on aspirin…. The statins made the whole situation worse so my gp took me off them - I have low cholesterol and low/median blood pressure. Thanks for your help .

[ChrisColumbus in reply to Drls]

My treatment was determined by The Wolfson Centre for the Prevention of Stroke and Dementia (CPSD) "the UK's first purpose-built research centre focussed specifically on prevention of cerebrovascular disease". However they knew nothing about RLS or our trouble with statins either, at least not until I told them forcefully!

[Drls]

no one seems to know much at all do they! And they don’t like being informed by the patient which I find ridiculous because we’ve got time to reasearch things and they haven’t! Did you find a specialist in rls?

[ChrisColumbus in reply to Drls]

They are few and far between. I didn't bother: forum members Sue Johnson (in US), Joolsg (UK) and a few others know more than most medics. But I believe that Kaarina, the admin, has a short list of neurologists recommended by forum members.

[Jelbea]

I take Xarelto (rivaroxaban) since having small clots in my lungs and a larger one in my leg. I have lifelong severe RLS and have not felt that Xarelto made it worse.

What interests me is that the drug you are taking - Clopidigrel - is used to lower the platelets in your blood. When I first developed a blood clot (in my leg) I had raised platelets and indeed when I checked back my platelets were raised for at least 2 or 3 years before that. Doctors did not bother checking on this fact and indeed they should have done so. If it had been checked I probably would not have gone on to get the lung clots. With high platelets it is possible to have a blood disorder which can lead to strokes, heart attacks, blood clots, etc. if not treated. It is readily treatable. This all happened me about the start of Covid and the doctors involved did not bother to follow up my high platelets and so I went on to develop more clots - luckily not stroke or heart attack. Another symptom of high platelets can be migraine headaches.

Please do check on your recent blood results and indeed any previous results to be sure you have not been poorly diagnosed. Sometimes you have to be your own advocate. I found out the hard way. Good Wishes

[Gmc54]

I take Edoxaban and have no problems with it. You mentioned aspirin in one of your replies, and the reason you can't take it is because it works in a completely different way to anticoagulants.

[cheriton22 in reply to Gmc54]

does warfarin cause rls?

[Gmc54 in reply to cheriton22]

I was on it for several years, and didn't notice a difference

[SueJohnson in reply to cheriton22]

Many people have worsening RLS on it.