Absolutely essential: read everything you can find about Elequis, especially the maker’s package insert. U think it comes with an FDA black box warning. It is not a drug to mess around with, but it looks to be better than Warfarin (BTW: Warfarin is diluted rat poison).

There is less risk of serious bleeding with Elequis & Xarelto. However, at least some of that evidence comes from meta-analysis which is not a very valid statistical procedure. The inventor of meta-analysis used to work for me, and he refused to use it because he didn’t trust it. There is a very costly way to stop internal bleeding from Elequis but not Xarelto. Do not do anything that might increase the risk of internal bleeding. That includes no aspirin, no NSAIDs. Blood has 2 different clotting systems, one for little cuts and bruises, and an additional system fro big cuts. The newer drugs only affect the big cut clotting system because that is what makes dangerous blood clots.

IF you get a cut that bleeds for more than 15 minutes, check with your MD right away because you may need a trip to the ER to stop it. Or you can do what the ER will charge $1,100 to do-- slap Combat Gauze on it. I asked the ER MD what Combat Gauze was. He gave me some chemistry mumbo jumbo. He got a funny look on his face when I replied “That’s a napkin soaked in powdered kitty litter”. High quality kitty litter costs less that $1 a lb. Wait till you see what Combat Gauze costs, but I keep it handy, and it is a lot cheaper than the ER. I’ve only had to use it once at home, so far.