Rare serious side effect of Eliquis: Muscle weakness

I'm having similar issues with Eliquis. I started taking it in March 2022, and gradually the strength in my legs began decreasing. I had to start using motorized carts in grocery stores around May, also walking with a cane. On the first of November, I got out of bed and couldn't walk and had to drag myself to the bathroom. I bought a wheelchair and now use that most of the time. Other times I can get by with my cane, but it's not easy. I asked my doctor if I could be having side effects from medication, and she responded with a flat "no". I'm very disappointed that my doctor wouldn't even consider the possibility.

I was recently diagnosed with a blood clot in my leg and put on Eliquis. Since starting it am having funny pains in my legs and also swollen ankles and right foot is swollen and painful. PA doesn't seem to be concerned. I am. Has anyone else had similar problems while taking Eliquis?

Hello @ellymayhem and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. To better connect you with other members who have had side effects from Eliquis, you will notice I have moved your post here:
- Rare serious side effect of Eliquis: Muscle weakness: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/rare-serious-side-effects-eliquis/

Members @ruz39 @tkeyler @heria and @lawsonsa may be able to come back and share about their experiences.

Have you been told to use compression socks and ice/elevate?

Have been taking Elliquis for several years without obvious side-effects. Along with other medications it enables me to control Afib episodes when they occur

Have been on it for just three weeks; I have had two falls, and bad balance issues. Until then, a pacemaker implanted last November had ended my continuing stumbles and bad falls.

I do Silver Sneakers classes five days a week, walk several miles every day, and HATE this.

Just started on Elliquis for my Afib. Woke up yesterday with a right eye that had broken blood vessels..it’s completely red! What a sight to see. Have itchiness and joint aches too. Any one else have these side effects with Elliquis? What other blood thinners would you recommend? Thanks!

I am on eliqus as well. I had 2 clots within a year and a half. Never could find out what caused them but I was put on the eliquis, I have noticed some muscle weakness in my legs as well, not to the extent you seem to be experiencing but enough to get my attention. There are times my legs feel like they are gonna give out on me just waking up the stairs and I'm only 40, I work construction and work-out 4 to 6 days a week. It is something that is def a little concerning to me, I would like to know what it is that makes eliquis have that effect on the muscles

I am taking Eliquis and I have developed sore muscles of the back, however, I was lifting weights and perhaps I was overloading my back muscles.
I do not think that Eliquis is the problem.
Suddenly I develop significant pain in the lower back but not on the spine somewhere to the side of the spine, muscle tension, this was bad and at one stage was debilitating, I sit with a hot water bottle over the painful area and I get up stiff. After I walk a bit, it gets better, this is being going on for three weeks. I hope this gets better in a week more or so and if it does not, I am afraid that I will need to do an MRI to find the real issue, Of course I am an old man which may be also a reason as to why my body is struggling a bit, however, my head tells me, not to be weak, maintain posture and walk as much as possible, and continue with Eliquis because if you suddenly stop taking it you can get blood clots travelling in the body, a real dangerous situation, my atrial fibrallation after the first cardio conversion did not work, now I am waiting to see the Specialist cardiologist in the next two weeks

First of all: blessings for your attitude and spirit.
Started Eliquis two months ago; since then have had numerous stumbles and falls. No fainting, or loss of consciousness, just tumbles, often with injuries to hands, arms, and legs. I LOVE to sail my Sunfish, garden, and exercise, but haven’t been able to sail for three summers now due to appendage injuries. Pacemaker as of 11/22, then heart MD said I was having too much Afib (asymptomatic) and had the choice of Eliquis or potentially massive stroke - not a real choice: - a true dilemma by my book. Not to mention the exorbitant cost! Yikes!
Any thoughts ??

May I ask what "natural holistic blood thinner" you take?

For my part, I take a non-pharmacetical "triple anticoagulant therapy" ( the alternative to the triple pharmaceutical anti-coagulant therapy that is all the rage now): Boluoke lumbrokinase (2x per day/B.I.D.; which has a Canadian-FDA clinical trial behind it), Pure Prescriptions Cardiokinase nattokinase (1x per day), & chewable low-dose (81 mg) aspirin (1x per day).

This way I am combining proteolytic/fibrinolytic enzymes with the anti-platelet forming effects of aspirin...to achieve optimal...yet safe "anti-coagulation"...as I work further through a metabolic cardiological approach to healing & even reversing the myocardial fibrosis...causing paroxysmal atrial fibrillation...I have suffered since the incident myocarditis caused by the Moderna-NIH COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.

My atrial fibrillation burden (the state-of-the-art health-scientific metric for the time one's heart spends in atrial fibrillation...over a measured/given period)...is on a long-term downward trend...after sharply rising earlier this year.

What, you might ask, am I taking to support myocardial remodeling (reversing the myocardial fibrosis/lesion in my left atrium)?

Well, that would be 4.5 mg a day of...bioperine-enhanced (or Longavida-enhanced) curcumin.

Consulting with a naturopathic cardiologist led me to the discover this promising research (unfortunately done on non-human animals) on the role of curcumin in the IL-17 signaling pathway: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34894517/.

Since starting (2 weeks ago) on the elevated dose of bioperine curcumin my atrial fibrillation burden has dramatically decreased from 18% (measured over a week, every week via my Apple Watch)...to 5%.

The villain (caused by the Modern-NIH mRNA C19 vaccines) was & remained...myocardial inflammation, which elicits fibrosis & disrupts normative electrical conductivity across the myocardium (which results in, among other things, arrhythmia/atrial fibrillation).

The only published data available on the level of atrial fibrillation burden--associated with an increased level of ischemic stroke--which is 11% or greater, is found here: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamacardiology/fullarticle/2681476.

Net-net: I am thrilled with the results thus far & will continue this curcumin protocol...& my natural triple anti-coagulant therapy...& my other metabolic heart-centric supplementation (mainstays are part of the Sinatra protocol: potassium (mostly citrate), magnesium taurate, taurine, D-ribose, hawthorne, glycine, BCCA, & l-glutamine).

Add to this my decades-long Veganism & my continued high-intensity fitness routine. To wit: Yesterday, with the benefit of my Garmin & FitBit watches, I recorded a VO2 max score of...58 (VO2 max range is 0-65). So my heart health remains..."excellent," whether indexed for my age or across all age groups.

For example, for those 65 years or older, a VO2 max score (which is something that a cardiac stress test will also measure as it is an indirect measure of ejection refraction)...a VO2 max score of 37 is categorized as "excellent").

More about VO2 max score: https://www.fitnescity.com/understanding-vo2-max.

Stay safe (wear an N95 respirator in public to avoid C19 infection) & all the best to everyone!