Does anyone with AFIB NOT take blood thinners?

I had an artificial valve put in six years ago. While I was very nervous about taking on a life-long medication (warfarin), I did. None of the side affects that I had read about occurred. As I read more and as my heart aged (active 58-year-old) I realized the added value of a blood thinner. It protects against stroke from clots that can occur or an be broken loose by sudden and strong skips in your heart beat. I had considered an all-natural way of keeping my blood thin, but opted away from it because of the "reversibility" issue. I ride bicycles quite a bit. It is within the realm of possibilities that I can end up in the emergency room bleeding. Being able to reverse the effect of warfarin in order to conduct an emergency procedure, situation seemed like a good thing. Anyway, it hasn't been the drug that I feared. And given the increased risk of stroke as I age ...

Jo, I don't blame you for not wanting a drug. I believe thin, healthy blood is best achieved naturally. If you don't have an underlying condition and docs recommend it just cuz you fit a profile, I would reject it too as long as there is good natural plan in place. Doctors too often prescribe what is not needed and never revisit to modify or eliminate. In the case of an artificial valve, I would say go with the thinner only because Western medicine doesn't know how to deal with anything else. That's why it looks at supplements and natural remedies with horizontal stares. Docs in Western Med don't get it. And they don't seem to want to.

The ONLY person who can help you make decisions about starting or stopping a medication is your cardiologist. We are NOT doctors , we are just a very wide group of heart patients like you with a wide range of opinions. While it can be helpful to hear from other folks about their experiences and opinions which can open discussions with your doctor, he/she is the only one truly qualified to guide you in your health decisions. I wish you the best.

I understand you are not dr but just wondered if anyone else had been in this situtation, right now i am wearing an event moniter for 30 days to see how often or if i go into afib.

i have afib and have had bleeds on both warfarin and eliquis, so now i am wondering since i finally got my last round of bleeding stoppped after 4 months if i should go back on eliquis or any blood thinner. I am a 72 year old woman with copd so an ablation is out of the question and i really dont think i am in afib enough to matter plus i have always had non specif tach all my life. I am taking digoxin and diltiazem

@bock. INR is not suitable for monitoring the blood clotting under a therapy with the new "blood-thinners", like xarelto or eliquis.due to the possible effect on the INR. some patients show an increase, other patients do not. which laborator does make the test plays a role also.
yoanne

if I opt to take warfarin instead of the new anticoagulant, how to get my INR into the therapeutic range of 2.5. presently my INR is 1.1
Thk you

Taking eliquis Xarelto or pradaxa will increase INR.,..is this true?

This is not an answer to your question, but I wanted you (and all of you) to be aware that. Xarelto is MUCH cheaper from the right Canadian pharmacies (check ones on the CIPA approved list).

I. get a three months supply for. $145 and having just noticed there's now a generic for much less, I. plan to order that next time - provided my cardiologist approves. It's just criminal. what Big Pharma does in this country. with the collusion of the government.

I have paroxysmal afib with tachycardia, about once a year. One cardio doc continually pressed me to go on blood thinners and I declined. A few years later they removed the female factor from one of the CHADS scores and the doc was no longer obliged to pressure me. He later said that I had been right and that docs had been overmedicating.

The local hospital cardiologist one told me to "go home and forget this happened"!

I always land in ambulance and ER.

My latest episode was long at 7 hours. That hospital cardio did an echo to make sure I hadn't formed any clots. So far so good.

My mother has been on Warfarin for a long time and has bleeds. She also has vascular dementia and it makes sense that Warfarin would be contributing. That said, when she went off for a procedure, she had a stroke.