Afib/dangers of eliquis

@margaretfriel
I would think that they saw a greater influx of all patients after 2021. During the major COVID era people put off medical visits and procedures so much that healthcare insurance premiums were practically flat. Once the pandemic eased people who should have been continuing there follow up care but did not started coming back in possibly worse conditions because of the neglect.

Welll, met the new cardiologist and he would like to see a 2 week Holter Monitor, then referred to an EP..and then decide if I can get off the Eliquis. He did not mention it, but the after visit notes changed my diagnosis to A Flutter. Interesting. He said the muscle stiffness and joint pain is not from Eliquis..not worth a battle.

@rushhome Where do you feel this all leaves you?

@gloaming I am happy to do the extra testing as he is being a bit more thorough than the first cardiologist. I had asked that cardiologist for a referral to an EP last year and that did not happen, so ok with that. Their practice is not in the REACT pip trial yet but should be in several months, so if they do decide that they do not want me entirely off of Eliquis, that could open the possibility to enter that trial with a different physician in his practice. A little surprised that the change to A flutter was made without discussion, I just caught it on the after visit summary. When I was initially diagnosed in the ER 16 months ago, the nurse told the physician it was flutter..the physician made the call there for afib. Wondering if the new cardiologist saw the ERs ekg and changed it or what made that change happen. Both EKGs since have been normal.

@rushhome Generally A-flutter is lumped in with A-fib as A-flutter is also associated with an increased risk of stroke due to the formation of clots associated with either arrhythmia. The medical treatment would be pretty much the same, including blood thinner use for those with higher risk of stroke than just having the arrhythmias. The difference would be important for ablation purposes.

I've had both A-flutter and A-fib, along with my old friend atrial tachycardia. You could tell the difference on an EKG, but I'll be doggoned if they feel any different from each other when I'm having them! Except from my pacemaker reports it looks as though I don't even feel the A-fib all the time.

Eliquis is making me sick! Unable to stand up And do much of anything without wanting to pass out. Heart races, sweat pours.

@debzathome And if those symptoms are ongoing I hope you will get them checked out to find more likely causes rather than to assume it's the Eliquis and do nothing except to possibly stop taking the drug.

@marybird I couldn't possibly agree more. We don't know this unfortunate person's medical circumstances, any ongoing or recent diagnosis, what has been prescribed, in what dose, and so on. Eliquis gets blamed because it has just been added to the person's daily regimen, and if things go sour, it must be the Eliquis. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc, which is the old fallacy. Not that such reasoning isn't often right, just that it's not always right. Eliquis can't stop an arrhythmia...it's not designed to do that. All it does is retard the clotting mechanism. It sounds to me that this person is having some kind of cardiac disregulation which apixaban cannot help...or hinder.

@debzathome I honestly can't see how this is due to apixaban. It 'MAY' be, but I highly doubt it. I believe you are in a tachyarrhythmia, possible AF or AFL, and you're not doing well. You should see an internist right away or a cardiologist if you feel you can wait.

Note that, if you can tell that your HR is above 100 BPM, you are probably fibrillating, and you should get help before 24 hours have passed. If it's near 130-160 BPM, it means your ventricle is pacing the rogue signal and is beating as quickly, which is not good for more than a few hours. Please see, 'rapid ventricular response', or RVR in google.

People being afraid of Eliquis is unwise. It is an excellent stroke prevention option for most people. Honestly people who understand its value are unlikely to advertise that. My husband has no problems at all and has been on it 5 years