← Return to After an ablation and no AFib can I stop my blood thinner Xarelto?

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Profile picture for gloaming @gloaming

I would not go off any prescription unless advised to by the person prescribing it in the first place. I will explain, though, about this specific prescription:
The risk of stroke when experiencing AF is estimated to be six times what an average person bears. That is the reason for the DOAC you are taking (Direct-acting Oral Anti-Coagulant). Even after and apparently successful ablation, you are still at risk of small runs of ectopy or AF. Also, and this is important, scientists have attributed some strokes weeks and months after no detectable AF to previous runs of AF...meaning you can still get clots coming out of the left atrial appendage (LAA). This is why some electrophysiologists want their ablatees to also have a Watchman device implanted in their LAA. If the Watchman seals off over five/six months, and if a trans-esophageal echocardiogram (TEE) shows no leakage from the LAA, you CAN go off a DOAC. The EP would usually agree to this change and say you can stop taking your Xarelto.
So, congratulations on having the ablation, and I hope it continues to show that you are free from AF going forward, but you still have the 12 week Holter monitor assessment coming where you will wear one for close to 24 hours to ensure you have no serious ectopy. If you are given the all clear, from there you must negotiate with your prescribing doctor as to the risk you're willing to accept if you have no Watchman implanted. My own cardiologist and EP have me on Eliquis for life because I'm still under a risk for strokes, even though I have no AF now for 27 months. I also don't have the Watchman, and that's a big difference.

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Replies to "I would not go off any prescription unless advised to by the person prescribing it in..."

Thankyou Gloaming. xo

So if after going through all of your procedures and "free" of aFib but considered still at high risk of developing clots, maybe aFib was not the reason for development of an original clot. I don't believe everyone who developed clots has aFib.

Wonderful to hear that you haven’t had a fib for 27 months!