Heart attack/plavix- asprin

• By Threesacharm
• Reply 3429284
• October 3, 2012 at 11:00 pm
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So you had stents three years ago and have eleven ulcers and they are still keeping you on plavix??????????? You must be in the US. Have you seen your cardiologist lately? I also had to take protonix. Okay, you are in the US, it is called protonix there, we call it pantaloc. The recommendation, including from the American Heart association is that people are to take dual anti platelet therapy for at least twelve months after drug eluting stents. Many Americans are advised to continue taking plavix longer than a year because of a concern with late stent thrombosis (blood clots) that have occurred with des stents around a year and sometimes even past a year. The risk of having late stent thrombosis is less than one percent. It is actually .7 percent. Also consider that the stents in the study were first generation stents. They had a different coating than is presently used. We are now using second generation stents. The risk of bleeding excessively from ulcers with plavix is considerably higher. Harvard university is presently administering a study co sponsored by the makers of stents and of plavix and effient which looks at two time periods for dual anti platelet therapy, twelve months and thirty months. They aren't even studying it past thirty months. The findings are due to be reported in late 2014. Both Brazil and France have recently had studies come out regarding dual anti platelet therapy, but neither of them are as comprehensive as the Harvard study. Brazil's recommendation is six months, France's one year. Presently in Canada plavix is one year only except in people who have complex issues. I recently came off plavix at one year following three heart attacks and one DES stent. I was able to stop taking protonix and domperidone and my stomach issues have resolved. I am still taking aspirin, I take the coated one. It is of course up to you and your doctor regarding the decision to take plavix or not. I know American cardiologists tend to be very aggressive in keeping their patients on plavix forever, until the study says not to. I think though in your circumstance this needs to be reconsidered. Plavix does carry a caution for use in patients with your stomach issues. It takes ten days for your platelets to all be new, that is, no longer affected by plavix. I hope I have eased your mind a little, since now you know that there are millions of people who actually come off plavix at a year. There are also people who actually have heart attacks while taking plavix too. I know being plavix free has felt really great, but I was nervous about it for the first couple of weeks. Please talk to your doc before making changes to your meds. You don't have to wean off plavix, but I always think it is better to discuss this stuff with them. Some cardiologists are adamant about keeping all their people on plavix, some aren't but I think it is a personal thing, I certainly haven't seen anything that says dapt needs to be forever, especially when it is causing harm. Good luck to you.

• By 4slowgirl
• Reply 3429408 · In reply to 3429284 by Threesacharm
• October 4, 2012 at 12:05 am
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Thank you so much for your response. No-one knew about my ulcers till after I had the heart attack and they gave me the clot buster drug. It was then I started bleeding out everywhere and throwing up blood. They scoped me 3 times before they found the source of the bleeding. At that point, (although I was out and don't remember anything for 5 days), they had the stents in and had no choice but to be put on Plavix. Because they found the source of bleeding as being from 11 small ulcers aggrevated by the clot buster, that is when they also put me on protonix. Even the gastroenterologist said I was between a rock and hard place. I needed to be on Plavix because of the heart attack and stents-which can cause bleeding, and need to be on Protonix to help reduce stomach acid which causes ulcers. I am seeing my cardiologist again next week and will be asking about going off Plavix. My stomach is really starting to bother me. May even start taking a lower dose of asprin as well. I trust my Dr. but I also know my body and how I feel. I'll see what he says then end up making whatever decision I think best for my situation. Thank again for all you in-put.