Pradaxa

Why are many on here taking Eliquis which has no antidote, I understand that Pradaxa has a reversal drug, what is the problem with Pradaxa?

Liz

There's no problem. Like any drug there are pros and cons and those pros and cons will vary from person to person.

1- Eliquis has a better safety profile with older patients.

2- Pradaxa might have interactions with other meds the person is taking (that's the reason I was switched from Pradaxa to Eliquis). The same can be true of any of the anticoagulants so there's nothing special about Pradaxa in that regard.

3- Some people find Pradaxa hard on the GI tract.

4- Lots of other possible reasons, including mundane things like the quirks of their insurance coverage.

I went on Pradaxa as soon as it was available. I couldn't wait to get off Coumadin. After taking Pradaxa for 13 months, I developed acid reflex which had slowly became a serious problem. I went back on the Coumadin for awhile and then switched to Eliquis. The acid reflex went away once I stopped the Pradaxa.

I myself quit taking Pradaxa because I thought it made the swelling and Arthritis in my Knees worse. I think there were more complaints from users to the FDA about Bleeding with Pradaxa, compared to Zarelto and Eliquis.

Also seems like the Docs tend to write Rx's for the newer Drug choices.

Thank you all for your replies

I thought because Pradaxa has an anti-dote that it would be safer to take.

Liz

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Elizabeth
I thought because Pradaxa has an anti-dote that it would be safer to take.

Well, it currently has that advantage, but I think you may be overestimating the risk of anticoagulants. The availability of a reversal agent is going to make a difference for only a very tiny number of people taking it.

This will all be a moot question soon anyway since reversal agents for Eliquis and the other NOACs are in the pipeline now and will be available fairly soon.

The biggest issue for all these newer blood thinners is COST. These newer blood thinners cost approximately $400 a month without insurance.
These same blood thinners cost less than half that price in Canada Pharmacies.

Re: This notation about Pradaxa is dated 2014.

Thanks for catching this. Sorry.

I have deleted the post. I have a file with various links to adverse effects for the NOACS. The link I posted obviously did not match for Pradaxa. I've checked the URLs in my collection but don't find the one that matches that statement so I can't retrieve and correct. Hmmmm.

Jackie



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2018 12:40PM by Jackie.

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Jackie
This notation about Pradaxa is dated 2014.

Pradaxa (dabigatran) - one of the new oral agents has a potential safety signal – though very controversial at the current time, some data suggest an increase in heart attack and acute coronary syndrome in some patients with the use of this new drug (Daiichi Sankyo 2014).
[www.daiichisankyo.com]

Wrong link? That link is about edoxaban, a completely different drug.

I was put on Pradaxa when I first started my AFIB Journey in Dec 2011 by my local Cardiologist. Pradaxa has a crappy shelf life especially when you open the bottle and the pills hit Air. Pradaxa is extremely Acidic. I found out the hard way when I tried to dry swallow it one day and it got hung in my esophagus. I was in the car and 15 minutes from the nearest store. It literally burned my esophagus and there are pictures on the Internet where It burnt a whole in individuals esophagus.

Smackman::

That sure was a very bad experience, that seems to be the compliant about Pradaxa that it causes an acid stomach. All blood thinners have some sort of problem, some worst than others.

LIz

It does bother me there is no “reversing agent” for Any of the newer blood thinners besides Pradaxa. Pradaxa is its own beast in many other ways.
I am always full of skepticism when it comes to pharmaceutical drugs. Cardiologists and EP’s mostly talk down Coumadin like it’s a blood thinner beast meaning you are putting your life at stake by taking the inferior Coumadin BUT as with many other expensive drugs like Elmiron for IC patients, Doctors push these expensive drugs.
For instance 3 years ago my Daddy went into AFIB and it is permanent AFIB NOW due to his age and Health. The Cardiologist put him on a very expensive Beta Blocker. After finding out, I had it changed to a $4 a month Beta Blocker and it works just as well. Why prescribe a 85 year old senior citizen or anyone unnecessary expensive drugs? I have my own thoughts but I will refrain. 🤔



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/2018 09:32AM by smackman.

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smackman
It does bother me there is no “reversing agent” for Any of the newer blood thinners besides Pradaxa.

There is, it just hasn't been approved by the FDA yet. I believe it's expected to be this year.

I'm curious what beta blocker your father was prescribed that was expensive. Beta blockers are all generally inexpensive.

Whoops; That was suppose to be a PM.
LOL



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/2018 08:49PM by smackman.

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Carey

There is, it just hasn't been approved by the FDA yet. I believe it's expected to be this year.

Don't quote me on this, but I think I saw somewhere that the Pradaxa reversal agent was also somewhat effective against Eliquis and Xarelto. Regardless, reversal agents for both should be coming soon. Like I've said before, though, there will still be some lag in terms of when every ER department nationwide has them in their pharmacy and has been trained on how to use them. I don't know of any metric that tracks that, so it's impossible to say something like "by such-and-such a date (month/year) ALL factor Xa anticoagulants will be reversible nationwide". Sadly we just don't live in a world like that. I could easily see this website as being the clearinghouse for that information when the time comes. Let's hope it's soon!

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smackman
It was not a brand version of the same beta blocker because silverscripts would not approve it. Silverscripts will only approve non generic drugs if it does not have a generic.

I don't blame them. I won't buy name brand drugs if a generic exists either. It sounds like the doctor wrote a prescription for Toprol or something like that when he could have just written a prescription for metoprolol (metoprolol is generic Toprol). There's absolutely no reason to take a name brand beta blocker that's commonly used for afib. They all have generics.