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Questions about Eliquis and Meds for Pain Relief

Posted by cece55 @cece55, Mar 2, 2019

I have a question for the group. I was diagnosed with AFib three months ago and after my first event I was put on a low dose aspirin along with my metoporal that I had been taking for a year. The dosage for the metoporal was 12.5 MG three times a day. After my second event of AFib six weeks ago, my electrophysiologist put me on Eliquis. The dosage is 5 MG twice a day. I felt fine for 4 weeks and then two weeks ago I started to have aching and stiffness in my lower back and hips. I might also add that I have very tight hips and lower back for years before this and have seen a physical therapist and added yoga and advil to my regimen. That seemed to give me a tolerance level over the years and I have been able to live with it.

Now...no advil allowed and I just saw a physical therapist again today who I will start working with next week. How do I know if I am having a reaction to the Eliquis or I am in a flare with my already tight hips and back? Is there a blood test to request? Possibly checking my liver and kidney function? The physical therapist also said I have osteo arthritis which could be contributing to this.

I am frustrated because I don't know how you tell the difference between a side effect and an existing condition that has worsened. I really don't want to chance going off the blood thinner....but what other way is there to tell?

Has anyone experienced this aching and does it finally go away if it is the Eliquis? I am not having any other problems with this drug except that there is not an over the counter medication for pain that you can take with it except Tylenol which has no effect on me.

Thank you for your input.
CeCe55

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mtnmarge | @mtnmarge | Jun 6 8:19am

I also have been on Eliquis for 3 years and, like you, have developed hip aching and weak legs. I also find little relief with Tylenol. I gad a cardiovervios 18 months ago and for a while I was functioning so much better except for the leg and hip issues. I currently take low dose of hydrocodone 1 to 2 a day. Now I am back in A fib and quite disappointed. At 83 I am trying to stay active..gardening, kayaking, 3 mile walk every day, lawn care etc. I am trying to find out if the opiate has affected the A fib...then it will be a decision between pain or A fib.

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dizzyprizzy | @dizzyprizzy | Jun 6 1:25pm

Your history of joint pain may mean Eliquis may be the wrong med for you. There are other blood thinners without this side effect. My friend with arthritis could not tolerate Eliquis and went back on his old med the joint pain went way down and he could take his pain meds again.

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harveywj | @harveywj | Jun 7 8:53am
In reply to @mtnmarge "I also have been on Eliquis for 3 years and, like you, have developed hip aching..." + (show)
@mtnmarge

I also have been on Eliquis for 3 years and, like you, have developed hip aching and weak legs. I also find little relief with Tylenol. I gad a cardiovervios 18 months ago and for a while I was functioning so much better except for the leg and hip issues. I currently take low dose of hydrocodone 1 to 2 a day. Now I am back in A fib and quite disappointed. At 83 I am trying to stay active..gardening, kayaking, 3 mile walk every day, lawn care etc. I am trying to find out if the opiate has affected the A fib...then it will be a decision between pain or A fib.

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Being in Afib presents its own problems. Afib interferes with normal perfusion. Perfusion is blood flowing through the body adequately bring nutrients and O2 the the organs and muscles. Every time I go into Afib I immediately feel lousy. Numerous times I would be off eliquis and doing fine and as soon as Afib starts I feel lousy even before I could even take the eliquis. One way to prove if it is eliquis is to take warfin. Warfarin and Eliquis use 2 very different path ways. Ironically when my brother came off Warfarin and started eliquis he felt better. Warfarin ia pain in the butt to keep normalized but it was the only thing out there for decades. So ask your doc to try it. Other things to consider esp at your age is that if you are more active because you had a cardioversion that increase in activity can affect arthritic and other conditions. Have you have been checked for intermittent claudication? I have not found anything in the literature yet that eliquis causes leg/muscle pain and aching. Despite the belief here based solely on casual observation claiming eliquis cause problems I would like to see some studies. I have an excellent EP: highly educated and very knowledgeable. I have asked him if he has seen any complaints about eliquis and is there any literature on it causing these side effects. He said no. This is a doc with over 100 citations on PubMed. I continue looking for legitimate science to prove the claims posted here about these side effects.

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