My EP took me off eliquis. But I’m petrified. I’ll have a stroke now.

@lindy9 there have been some recent studies which conclude that caffeine is an Afib preventer. Sorta counterintuitive after all the years of drs pushing me to cut back on coffee to reduce
Don’t trust my word check it out.

Yes you are saying the same as I have been told and read over last 8 yrs since I recognized my first Aflutter/afib attack. However I must have a contrarian EP in that after my ablation he prescribed 81 mg aspirin instead of elliquis. This has concerned me somewhat but I’ve read some studies which cast doubt on the anticoagulant gospel that is prevalent among cardiac community. There are some studies ARTESIA et al which don’t support the anticoagulant as being better for stroke prevention. My naive opinion is that medical types issue black white rules that are simple for everyone but don’t dig into the depths of data. Some say that anticoagulant isn’t warranted for patients who have undergone successful ablations

@chickenfarmer another recent study on anticoagulants for those who have undergone ablation by Korean EP types affirms that anticoagulants are not any more effective than aspirin for preventing strokes in post ablation patients. Check out ALONE-AF trial. Also check ARTESIA, NOAH-AFNET, LOOP trials which all cast doubt on the use of DOACs for all Afib patients. The ARTESIA trial goes further by breaking down results by CHADVASC scores. These last 3 trials are concerned with those patients with subclinical AFIB/FLUTTER so there’s some controversy but it only points out the fact that the whole AFIB- stroke relationship isn’t as clear cut as we’re told by the general cardiac literature. My EP also is professor so I tend to trust his judgment when he took me off Eliquis. I do keep a ‘pill in the pocket’ in case I have an AFIB/FLUTTER episode of sufficient length- EP says 4 hrs or more.

@gloaming Yeah, I do understand that. I'd probably have reacted the same way you did had someone else posted what I did. But honestly, I appreciate your posts and what I said in that one really was aimed generally, at no one in particular.
I just know the mishmash of good, bad, misleading or misunderstood information on a medical topic can be so confusing, and can scare the bejibbers out of a person who may be suffering from a particular condition and takes all that information to heart, making them imagine things are so much worse than they really are. I know there are many issues with the medical establishment these days, making it difficult for people to trust or believe their healthcare providers. Some folks adopt a defensive or standoffish stance with their providers, not believing anything the provider says unless it's what they want to hear- this gets to be a vicious circle as the provider may react in kind and the patient stands to gain nothing at all in the way of the help and knowledge the provider possesses. That kind of leaves the patient to his/her own devices.

I guess I am lucky in that I've developed long standing relationships with my doctors that allow for the back and forth dialogue regarding my medical issues. And I do have the education and background in healthcare to understand what I read, and to ask the questions of my providers that puts this information in context of its application to me. That makes all this confusing information make sense to me, though I know not everyone can do that.

Funny, on the topic of Eliquis ( or bloodthinner) or not, I'm one of those people who will probably be a "lifer" on Eliquis by virtue of my A-fib, risk factors for stroke and family history. My A-fib, fortunately has remained paroxysmal and the episodes not that often and generally short in duration. My cardiologist has always been the conservative type ( as am I so I appreciate this) and didn't start me on the Eliquis till I had several 2-3 hour long A-fib events. Since I have a pacemaker with a remote monitor, my cardiologist/pacemaker clinic knows exactly when, how often and how long my A-fib events are ( since the monitor rats on me when these occur) so they know my A-fib burden is low. I've asked, when they tell me my last 3 month monitor report ( or maybe two 3 month reports) showed no signs of A-fib, about my chances of discontinuing the Eliquis, and the cardiologist always tell me that 1) I know, and you know, there will be more occurrences of A-fib, and 2) my other risk factors for stroke justify the Eliquis ( my CHAD2DS2 score of 4, plus a strong family history of strokes). I know he is right, and those requests I have to reconsider the blood thinner are always followed with reports of more A-fib. I can't argue with him, especially considering how conservative he was in waiting for more evidence of A-fib to start me on the bloodthinner. Fortunately, I have had no side effects from the Eliquis, and it's not even that expensive for me as I can use the manufacturer's coupon to pay my copay for the drug. Even still, if my A-fib remains as infrequent and brief as it has, I'd still happily consider a pill in the pocket anticoagulation if that becomes feasible.

And thank you for the warm welcome.

@marybird that’s what my doctor has me doing it. He didn’t take the blood thinners away from me. He just has me doing pill in pocket because I did feel awful on our request and I did fall once and I had severe bleeding. I just hope he’s right.

@kmj126 Hope the studies I noted earlier in this chain help your peace of mind.

@chickenfarmer I’m trying to find it. I need peace of mind. I’m so anxious

@lindy9 there have been some recent studies which conclude that caffeine is an Afib preventer. Sorta counterintuitive after all the years of drs pushing me to cut back on coffee to reduce
Don’t trust my word check it out.

Well, in my case, my chads score was also 1, and my Electrophysiologist also, did not want to put me on a blood thinner, with only a couple documented A-Fib attacks. Then something happened, that changed the picture. My neurologist was alarmed at some sudden neurological symptoms that I had, so she ordered an MRI. The MRI revealed that I had suffered a couple strokes recently. The next day, my electrophysiologist put me on Eliquist blood thinner! Furthermore, a Watchman implantation is planned for March! Make of it what you will, but that’s my story!