Cardiologist suggests I can stop taking Eliquis. Any thoughts?
I have been on Eliquis for about 2 years now for afib. I had a successful ablation at Mayo in Rochester in August 2019 and have had no afib incidents that I’m aware of since that time. I track my pulse with my iwatch and regularly track my blood pressure. Both are fine. I’ve been of the understanding that I need to take Eliquis for the rest of my life, however, my cardiologist in Florida has suggested that I could stop taking the Eliquis. Has anyone had a similar situation or has stopped Eliquis because of a successful ablation?
Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Heart Rhythm Conditions Support Group.
Very happy to hear about your situation. It’s great to hear something hopeful instead of frightening experiences.👍
You said "I'm not sure what your meaning is".
Well I was replying to what you said earlier and I quote "Flutter is simply the musculature of whichever atrium has it contracting dutifully, as it is designed to do, to signals that come one after the other with no pausing interval."
The part of this sentence that is incorrect is "signals come one after the other with no pausing interval."
I hear you. Afib/heart failure convinced me to go on Eliquis 7 years ago was ok since a stroke would be terrible. About a month ago, I noticed I was having increased shortness of breath, lot's of fatique, strange feeling around waist, and an odd stomach ache when I would exert myself with yard work etc. First I thought my heart failure was returning, but didn't have the water gain. I think it's the side effects of Eliquis. I have asked for a smaller dose but dr says no, that the dosage is fine. I think I need less or something else. Frustrated by the narrow minded dr. I think they are afraid of the drug industry coming after them. Any ideas before I take on the dr again. They didn't want to do baby aspirin, not effective enough. I wonder who sponsored that study. I'm 76 and take good care of myself.
I see what you mean. I could have phrased that better, and thanks for pointing out my mistake. There have to be pauses...period. So that much we agree on. What I should have typed was that the flutter continues essentially indefinitely, with some exceptions. Flutter tends to stay in flutter, so the impulses come repeatedly with no 'breaks', probably the better choice of words.
Thanks, again.
I am appreciative of the prescriptions that help me with various health issues, but I have encountered several that have side effects (not always listed as such) and cause other problems. After my double mastectomy, I was told I should take a drug that MIGHT prevent the breast cancer from returning somewhere else. I was told I needed no chemotherapy and no radiation treatment and no cancer cells were found in my sentinel lymph nodes. With the drug I had a 5% and 8% chance of it returning; without the drugs the chance doubled. Taking the drug would increase my cholesterol and bone loss so I would have to also take drugs for those as well. I opted out.
Some drugs seem to exacerbate other conditions and Eliquis was one of those for me. I'd wake up in the morning with pain in my shoulders, or hands, or legs, or back and even my ribs and sometimes in all of those places. The pain would usually get better once I was up and moving around, but it was always there. When I told my cardiac electrophysiologist, my internist, and my cardiologist that I believed the pain was from Eliquis the response was always "that is not a side effect of Eliquis." They are correct in that joint, muscle, and bone pain are not listed as side effects. I finally told my cardiologist that I no longer wanted to take the Eliquis. He had me wear a Holter monitor for 14 days. I had no A-Fib and he agreed that I could take a low dose aspirin twice a day instead. Amazingly, the joint, muscle and bone pain was gone within 2 weeks of my last dose of Eliquis. I am well aware that the A-Fib can return at any time and I am still at risk of a stroke if the A-Fib returns but I take responsibility for my choices. Some doctors support my decision to refuse certain drugs and some are not happy with my refusal. I believe I have to do what provides the best quality of life for me.
I do believe that there is too much reliance in the medical profession on drugs and the claims of the pharmaceutical companies.
I am considering the Watchman implant. My sister has a Watchman and is off the Eliquis now. She was prone to falling and the concern was that on Eliquis if she fell and hit her head she might have a brain bleed. You might want to ask your doctor about the Watchman implant.
After the site is sealed, then most people don't take any blood thinners. I just had The Amulet done myself. Three years of Eliquis caused 15 side effects. That is big price because of an algorithm based on gender and age alone,
Did your husband have any funny feelings or things after his procedure.
Three years after the Ablation procedure, male age 77, and wearing the chest monitor two different times in the following 18 months, my new EP took me off Eloquis. He felt that med was not needed after the two periods wearing a monitor did not record any Afib events. I check my HR via a Fitbit hourly. Also, I had a pacemaker implanted 6 mos ago due to bradycardia/chronotropic incompetence. I don’t worry about being off Eloquis, there is a risk/reward which you need to make a decision. I did in the Fall of 19 leave my initial Afib cardiologist as that man was a distracted cardiologist going to Vanderbilt. Be an informed patient/consumer and make the best decision after asking questions. It could be that your EP really believes that the most safe treatment plan for you does involve Eloquis.
This is great news, Bill. Usually, once a person has a formal diagnosis of a heart disorder, but especially if they are...umm......ripe....and long in the tooth, the assigned CHAD2S score places them over 1, and often the cardiologist or EP will urge the patient to just accept that taking an NOAC for life is a good idea.
I recently evaluated myself using an on-line CHAD2S calculator and found that I merit a a solid 1.0. However, when I first presented to my cardiologist, newly diagnosed with an arrythmia, he mentioned that my BP was creeping up and he wanted more control over it. Now, six years later, and with a successful ablation, and even with a few kg added around my waist, my waking BP is 112/73. And that's a year without any metoprolol, the medication he said would do two things: keep the rate down when in AF, but also prevent each stroke of the heart from being so forceful, meaning a reduction in BP.
Has anyone had the lariat left atrial closure? Had does it rank compared to the watchman?