Warfarin and Aspirin

[Davey]

I had a Mitral valve prolapse twelve years ago and have a St Judes mechanical which is still ticking along quite nicely. When I left hospital all those years ago I was prescribed Warfarin and Aspirin. I have asked several Doctors if I need to keep taking Aspirin because it seems to me they both do the same job. I home monitor my levels and they are very stable, but every now and then I get a blood shot eye, lucky I havent had both eyes at once ! The doctors don't seem to have any good reason why I am taking Aspirin but say I may as well keep taking it. Anyone got any thoughts on this, I wonder if the Aspirin is causing the eye blowout.
Appreciate your comments.
Cheers
Davey

 

[Jkm7]

Warfarin slows the amount of time it takes blood to clot.

Aspirin makes blood cells less sticky so they are less likely to form clots.

They are both anti-coagulants but work in very different way.
Many VR'ers who have mechanical valves take both. It is not uncommon.

 

[Greg a]

warfarin slows the amount of time it takes blood to clot.

Aspirin makes blood cells less sticky so they are less likely to form clots.

They are both anti-coagulants but work in very different way.
Many vr'ers who have mechanical valves take both. It is not uncommon.

nailed it !!!!!!!

 

[dick0236]

I wonder if the Aspirin is causing the eye blowout.
Cheers
Davey

I do not take asparin with warfarin but I have eye blowouts very infrequently. My eye doctors tell me it does happen (hard cough, sneeze etc) from time to time and my use of warfarin probably makes them seem worse than they are. Mine usually are gone in a week, or so.

I think the use of asparin with warfarin is part of a newer treatment plan. Since my surgery, I have always been warned to never use asparin or products containing asparin. I was surprised when I first joined this forum when I read many posts where mechanical valve patients were prescribed asparin with warfarin. My guess is that the newer valves incorporate some features not present in older valves. My docs continue to tell me not to use asparin.

 

[ElectLive]

Sorry for the redirect to another thread, but our member dtread recently summed up a well established medical guideline for taking both: http://www.valvereplacement.org/forums/showthread.php?39528-ON-X-study&p=512373&highlight=#post512373

 

[Bina]

I had a Mitral valve prolapse twelve years ago and have a St Judes mechanical which is still ticking along quite nicely. When I left hospital all those years ago I was prescribed Warfarin and Aspirin. I have asked several Doctors if I need to keep taking Aspirin because it seems to me they both do the same job. I home monitor my levels and they are very stable, but every now and then I get a blood shot eye, lucky I havent had both eyes at once ! The doctors don't seem to have any good reason why I am taking Aspirin but say I may as well keep taking it. Anyone got any thoughts on this, I wonder if the Aspirin is causing the eye blowout.
Appreciate your comments.
Cheers
Davey

Actually Warfarin and Aspirin don't do the same job.
Warfarin is an anti-coagulant. (reduces clotting action in blood)
Aspirin is an anti-platelet. (causing the platelets in the blood to become more slippery).
Many surgeons/cardiologists will prescribe both after surgery, depending on the condition of the patient's
arteries, valves, etc. I took both for about 2 years and then the Aspirin was discontinued, which I was thrilled
with since any minor bleeds that I had previously now don't occur anymore.

 

[Davey]

Thankyou for all those replys, I think I will follow Doctors orders and continue with the Aspirin, i didn't realise that the Aspirin and Warfarin do different jobs. From time to time I have stopped using the Aspirin for a week or two, usually because I have run out of Aspirin, and I nearly always get short periods of shakey vision usually only lasting a minute or two. I don't know the medical term for it but it is slightly distorted and appears to be shakey. Must be related never happened prior to MVR.

 

[chaconne]

I think that the benefit to taking Aspirin with Warfarin is thought to outweigh any risk of extra bleeding which is low for only 81mg. I take both, but haven't noticed any significant change in my bleeding or bruising since before the surgery even though I have cut myself and bumped myself many times already. In the last 3 months since AVR, I've had my INR between 1.8 and 2.6.

 

[Ovie]

I want to say my cardiologist told me to avoid aspirin? or maybe it's only use aspirin. I know the big thing was Tylenol vs ibeprofoune, and I shouldnt take Tylenol, only ibeprofoune. Is that correct?

Also what is an eye blow out?

 

[RobThatsMe]

I want to say my cardiologist told me to avoid aspirin? or maybe it's only use aspirin. I know the big thing was Tylenol vs ibeprofoune, and I shouldnt take Tylenol, only ibeprofoune. Is that correct?

Also what is an eye blow out?

You have that backwords.
"Yes" to avoiding aspirin, unless advised by your doctor to take it as part of your coumadin and other medicine daily dosing.
For headaches and other aches, "Yes" to Tylenol, and "NO" to ibeprofoune.

RRob

 

[yotphix]

I want to say my cardiologist told me to avoid aspirin? or maybe it's only use aspirin. I know the big thing was Tylenol vs ibeprofoune, and I shouldnt take Tylenol, only ibeprofoune. Is that correct?

Also what is an eye blow out?

Definitely the normal advice is that Ibuprofen is more likely to cause a bleeding incident, especially a gastric bleed, when used in conjunction with warfarin. Those of us on ACT are generally told to use Tylenol for minor pain. If you need something more than that, your doctor may prescribe Naproxen, which apparently has less such effect, despite being in the same class of drugs. Aspirin is also in that class of drugs, called NSAIDs, or 'non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and should be avoided unless prescribed in low dose in conjunction with your Warfarin.

An eye blow out is just a little burst blood vessel in the eye resulting in a 'bloodshot' eye.

 

[Ovie]

Thank you both. I haven't had my surgery yet, but I've been taking ibuprofen, not Tylenol. Probably not good, but now I know I have it backwards, but was still correct about the aspirin. Plus thanks for the eye blowout information.

I apologize if I sidetracked this thread

 

[Cooker]

My cardiologist and my internist both say no to aspirin and aspirin products. Well color me noncomplying because I just swallowed two Aleve. I don’t take aspirin products everyday but when I hurt and the arthritis is not letting up I do what I have to do. So far after 6 years of taking it when I need it, no problems.

Ps. I am not a doctor. I am just an aging Chimp that refuses to hurt when I don’t have to.

 

[Protimenow]

I get the sense that a lot of doctors really aren't keeping up on the anticoagulants. The doctors who warn against an 81 mg enteric coated aspirin a day probably also think that you should COMPLETELY AVOID anything with vitamin K.

Low dose aspirin has been shown to help reduce risk of cardiac events (and do other good things for the body), and avoiding the small dose because you're taking warfarin is probably no longer thought to be medically correct for many of us. I take one 81 mg aspirin at bedtime -- along with warfarin -- and have neither had any abdominal bleeds nor any spikes in my INR.

I've also taken some NSAIDS when pain gets severe -- if necessary, or chronic doses of NSAIDS along with warfarin, I may increase the frequency of my testing. However, I personally don't see a major reason to contraindicate low dose aspirin taken along with warfarin.

 

[Jailene777]

If you drink alcohol it could interact also with the medication. Read the labels. I take aspirin as well. I was skeptical at first before taking both at once but eversince I found out how they both work I take em both.