Should I be on blood thinners?

Hey guys,

Sorry to be bombing the board with questions, but my recent outbreak has give me lots of time to tbe panicked and worried about things.

After 2+ months of a quiet heart, my afib seems to be back with a vengeance. Basically whenever I wake up, I am liable to go into afib. Tonight my 4 month old daughter woke up and cried in the night and it woke me up and put me in afib.

Anyway, up until this point I had been taking two baby aspirin a day, but now that I've had 3 attacks in the past week (lasting about 1-2 hours each), should I go on a "real" blood thinner just in case?

I'm 36 with a CHADS score of 0, I want to be proactive and not get caught with a TIA or a stroke, does it makes sense to go on a blood thinner? Or am I being paranoid. I will see my cardio this week and map out a gameplan.

Thanks! This is one of hte only places I can come when I'm having an attack that will calm me down!!!

-Eric

No Eric, not at age 36 with CHADS zero that is contraindicated in the latest official AFIB guidelines for paroxysmal AFIB under such a scenario, unless you have some other significant stroke risk not mentioned. The aspirin is not doing much for you either except maybe burning a hole in your stomach.

Shannon

Shannon Wrote:
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> No Eric, not at age 36 with CHADS zero that is
> contraindicated in the latest official AFIB
> guidelines for paroxysmal AFIB under such a
> scenario, unless you have some other significant
> stroke risk not mentioned. The aspirin is not
> doing much for you either except maybe burning a
> hole in your stomach.
>
> Shannon

Dr. Natale has me on a 325 mg aspirin 1x a day after he took me off Xarelto. I assume the aspirin is for my one stent? Why would he have me on this Aspirin regiment. The comment about burning a hole in your stomach makes me concerned.

Could you please expound on this statement? Thanks in advance.

Thanks Shannon,

What do I do in the case of having an afib episode go more then 48 hours? Or do those rules only apply to people with higher CHADS scores?

Eric,

I believe the protocol is you need to be anticoagulated for 3-4 weeks or have a TEE prior to being cardioverted if you go past 48 hours.

George

So, once I hit 48 hours, then I'd have to start coumadin or whatever, for 3-4 weeks? I was thinking I'd need the "pump primed" so to speak, but if I can start taking them at 48 hours, then I'd be good.

My EP likes me to take coated aspirin
I was on eliquis prior to my Feb 2014 ablation and he has told me if I were to go into AFIB pop an eliquis.
this drug is very effective and not as severe side effects as most blood thinners
My CHADS is very low also

Thanks guys!

Just got back from the cardiologist. She said with my profile (healthy heart, age 36, a CHADS score of 0), she doesn't think I need to be on blood thinners or PIP drugs because my episodes resolve themselves within 3 hours usually(today's was 8 hours tho..) She actually said that I could go 24-48 hours in afib with no need to go into their office, unless I wanted to. She said she'd prescribe eliquis and/or a PIP drug if it would make me feel better.

She also thinks I'm crazy for wanting to consult someone in Austin TX for an ablation, she said my case is so routine that anyone can do it.

-Eric

Erich,
I had a TIA exactly 4 weeks ago. It came two days after a 5-hr episode and 9 days after a 26 hr episode - don;t know which one was the culprit, but I was only taking nattokinase at the time. I'm now on Xarelto.

I had a CHADS score of 1 at the time (I'm quite a bit older than you). I've had over 170 episodes over a 15 yr period and I guess I assumed I wasn't at much of a risk of clotting - I'm not so complacent now!

Personally, if there'd been a PIP protocol for the novel anticoagulants then, I'd have taken it. My episodes weren't as frequent as yours seem to be, but I think real peace of mind comes from an ablation.

"She also thinks I'm crazy for wanting to consult someone in Austin TX for an ablation, she said my case is so routine that anyone can do it."

If I were going for an ablation, I'd think I was crazy not to go to Austin, if I could!

If I were going for an ablation, I'd think I was crazy not to go to Austin, if I could!

-

Being burned in 21 places for 75 minutes on June 19 ... I chose Natale.

Still in NSR and on warfarin. I hear maybe I'll get an aspirin after 3 months.

Asides from the question of being on blood thinners one needs to consider the benefit versus the risk of being on blood thinners. For example, a relatively young man that works around heavy machinery all day may want to temper his decision on taking blood thinners and WHAT KIND of blood thinners. These new wonder drug blood thinners that require only occasional INR testing present an entirely new issue for the mix in that they have not "CURE" and it is possible to bleed internally to death while waiting for a determination of what is going on.

Murray L

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Tikosyn uptake Dec 2011 500ug b.i.d. NSR since!
Herein lies opinion, not professional advice, which all are well advised to seek.