Has anyone experienced great fatigue or exhaustion while on Eliquis

Hello,
I have been on Eliquis since my cryoablation a month ago. I feel very fatigued and exhausted. Can't stand the feeling. Lately I started to think that it may be related to the Eliquis that I am taking. Has anyone had a similar experience? If so, can switching to Xarelto or Pradaxa help? My EP insists that I stay on Eliquis 3 months.

Thanks
Leah H.

I doubt it's the Eliquis. Are you taking other drugs? A beta blocker or antiarrhythmic perhaps? Those are much more likely to cause fatigue.

Leah - Yes, when I started taking Eliquis, the first symptom I noticed was fatigue. Since I take no other meds, I knew it had to be the Eliquis. I also noted several other symptoms that I didn't have prior to Eliquis and did search online for comments from others about what they had noticed which confirmed not only my symptoms but noted many more as well.

I'm typically more sensitive to chemicals, in general, and that includes Rx meds, because I have multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) from an exposure long ago. Fortunately, the fatigue improved a bit when I was able go to the half-dose.

My other symptoms included muscle tightness - neck and shoulders - and an achy feeling along with an increase in my typical, existing muscle weakness..,,from previous statin damage... again both lessened with the half dose. Also, I have numbness and tingling in my right leg and both feet which is intermittent. I am not diabetic.

In my years of research on this topic, it's very apparent that even those without complications such as MCS, some individuals are more sensitive than others and symptoms can vary from mild to severe.
The majority of patients don't seem to be significantly affected.

Fortunately for you, three months isn't all that long until you're able to discontinue.

Jackie

Yes I had fatigue and a wierd feeling in my head and had ear ringing. This was after being on it for two years.
Before this I had no side effects. Tried Xarelto and it was worse. Went to Pradaxa and started feeling better after two weeks.
Went back on Eliquis twice to see if the side effects returned and they did both times after about a week.
Dr Natale said I could do half dose of Eliquis because I was low risk.
I went on half dose of Eliquis and have been fine, except if I take Eliquis on qn empty stomach, the wierd feeling in my head and ear ring comes back.

If you look online there are a quite a few people in who believe Eliquis causes them bad side effects.
I don’t find this that unusual. Eliquis is a powerful medication and it is relatively new. It can take many years for this type of information to surface.
Example is my side effects. I didnt report it and neither did my doctors. I looked on the FDA website to report it and couldn’t find a way to do it.

I am not taking drugs other than Eliquis.

I am sensitive to chemicals as well. As I weigh only 50 kilos and I'm 71, I'm on half a dose currently. (2.5 mg twice a day) and still feel this great fatigue and also some brain fog.

I wish it will get better soon, because I don't have the energy to do things.

I saw on the internet that Xarelto and Pradaxa can cause fatigue as well, so I had better stay with Eliquis and not switch. Two more months to hold on before I can discontinue.

Right now two months feels like eternity to me...

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Leah H.
Right now two months feels like eternity to me...

Why not try Pradaxa. Maybe some samples from the doctor.
In the future you may need this type of medication again. Knowing what is tolerable may be a good thing.

gmperf makes a good point. There are alternatives that might not have the same side effects. There is Pradaxa, Xarelto, and Savaysa, and of course warfarin as a last resort. (Because it's a pain to deal with and it has a higher bleed risk.)

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Carey
gmperf makes a good point. There are alternatives that might not have the same side effects. There is Pradaxa, Xarelto, and Savaysa, and of course warfarin as a last resort. (Because it's a pain to deal with and it has a higher bleed risk.)

The new anticoagulants still lack the research for effective comparison.

"When the new anticoagulants were being studied, the emphasis was on showing that they worked well compared to warfarin, without the need for blood monitoring. Since then, there has been more interest in individualized treatment. For example, this might include using the new drugs with occasional blood monitoring to further reduce the risks of stroke and bleeding."
[www.fda.gov]

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gmperf

Why not try Pradaxa. Maybe some samples from the doctor.
In the future you may need this type of medication again. Knowing what is tolerable may be a good thing.

I never tried Eliquis, but I tried the 3 other NOACs : Lixiana (= Savaysa), Pradaxa and Xarelto.
I didn't switched from one to another, it's just because I had to take an AC before and after ablation procedures and, having to pay the full price for those meds, I used the samples my docs gave me.
I experienced the same stomach discomfort with both Lixiana and Xarelto, but I've always been OK with Pradaxa.
Of course, it's me, and when I asked my pharmacist about that, she acknowledged it's highly individual.
I must add I experienced some various side effects while taking those meds, but as I was taking other drugs in the same time to deal with afib, I'm not sure which of them were responsible for the side effets, except for the stomach discomfort.
I've just stopped Pradaxa, and I never had any issue with it. So, as gmperf wrote here above, for the future I know what's tolerable.

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jpeters
The new anticoagulants still lack the research for effective comparison.

Effective comparison with what? Do you mean comparisons between them? Although that's true, they're all at least as effective as warfarin and have lower bleed risks than warfarin, so whatever differences might exist between them are probably minimal. The one major difference between them I'm aware of is that Eliquis has a lower bleed risk than Pradaxa in older patients.

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Carey

The new anticoagulants still lack the research for effective comparison.

Effective comparison with what? Do you mean comparisons between them? Although that's true, they're all at least as effective as warfarin s.

Not in my experience. I had four TEE's spaced several weeks apart while on Eliquis, and it did almost nothing to remove the clot. Switched to warfarin, and it was gone.

I had four TEE's spaced several weeks apart while on Eliquis, and it did almost nothing to remove the clot. Switched to warfarin, and it was gone.

That's scary! Was it an atrial appendage clot or somewhere else?
I've been on Eliquis for 6 weeks now. I've had headaches and puffy eyelids (especially in the am) from it. The first 10 days the headaches were difficult, but it has eased. I also see halos around lights and in my peripheral vision as I move my head (mostly at night), but I can't remember if I had some from the Flecainide and now it's just worse.
I had my ablation two weeks ago and have felt just like you since (very fatigued and exhausted). My heart's behaving, but I go back to work on Tuesday and am worried about stamina as I work at a busy hospital.
Do you think yours is worse since the ablation? I would be grateful to hear others' experiences for when they felt back to a semblance of normal after their procedure.

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libby
I had four TEE's spaced several weeks apart while on Eliquis, and it did almost nothing to remove the clot. Switched to warfarin, and it was gone.

That's scary! Was it an atrial appendage clot or somewhere else?

A lot of sludge in the Atrium that had to be removed prior to Cardioversion.

Scary, so sorry. I'm glad you're better. Was that post ablation or was your atrium big?

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libby
Scary, so sorry. I'm glad you're better. Was that post ablation or was your atrium big?

That was my introduction to AFIB. Yes, the atrium was enlarged. I thought I needed more bananas and continued to do daily laps at the pool until thrown into the hospital. Almost killed me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2018 05:18PM by jpeters.

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jpeters
Not in my experience. I had four TEE's spaced several weeks apart while on Eliquis, and it did almost nothing to remove the clot. Switched to warfarin, and it was gone.

One patient's anecdotal experience doesn't outweigh thousands of patients in randomly controlled trials. It's very hard to argue with the data.

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Carey

Not in my experience. I had four TEE's spaced several weeks apart while on Eliquis, and it did almost nothing to remove the clot. Switched to warfarin, and it was gone.

One patient's anecdotal experience doesn't outweigh thousands of patients in randomly controlled trials. It's very hard to argue with the data.

Monitoring for individual differences is still a way off.


Interesting: just read this comment about "anecdotal experience"

Bill Syrjala

bills01581@yahoo.com [AFIBsupport] <[email protected]>

12:57 PM (2 hours ago)

to AFIBsupport

Yes, that makes sense.

But i make my assessments on the probability of something, on anecdotes only, and have been doing it for 20+ years now, very successfully. I have gotten much more accurate results, and better outcomes, doing things that way, as opposed to relying on medical "science" dispensed by a committee whose primary goal is preserving medical revenue. e.g. i have cured cardiac ischemia and Lupus, with 100% clinical proof, using nothing more than the methods learned from anecdotal reports from alternative medicine. "Placebo" does not scrape your arteries squeaky clean in months, from 40 years of lousy diet and lifestyle habits.

I have been near death so many times, that i dont have time to wait around for clinical trials. I have had to force myself to learn the skill-set i described above. Once you do, there is nothing more liberating, to be able to take your healthcare into your own hands. It's a lot cheaper too. Next stop: cure my afib :-)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2018 05:59PM by jpeters.

i have cured cardiac ischemia and Lupus, with 100% clinical proof, using nothing more than the methods learned from anecdotal reports from alternative medicine. "Placebo" does not scrape your arteries squeaky clean in months, from 40 years of lousy diet and lifestyle habits.

Inspiring!! Tell me more about cleaning your arteries. Did you follow the diet from Caldwell Essylsten, Joel Fuhrman, other?

Do do I

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libby


Inspiring!! Tell me more about cleaning your arteries. Did you follow the diet from Caldwell Essylsten, Joel Fuhrman, other?

That was a part of a quote by Bill Syrjala. You can reach him at the posted email address.

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libby
I also see halos around lights and in my peripheral vision as I move my head (mostly at night), but I can't remember if I had some from the Flecainide and now it's just worse.

That's quite likely a side-effect of Flecainide rather than Eliquis. Flec is famous for vision problems.

We are really splitting hairs when it comes to anticoags. For .05 to 1.37 % differences in intracranial, gastrointestinal , major bleeds, its all what you are most comfortable choosing, ah, your poison. My short time on Warfarin, 3 months, I had absolutely no side effects but what a pain the testing was.

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hwkmn05
My short time on Warfarin, 3 months, I had absolutely no side effects but what a pain the testing was.

After you stabilize the INR (consistent diet, etc), it's much less of a hassle. I do mine about every 6 weeks, although 4 is recommended. I think testing is a positive, because it let's you know exactly what the anticoagulant is doing. We're all different, and even then our bodies are always changing.