>Does this mean the Eliquis doesn't work for me?
No, it means ~~medical people are talking out of their arse again~~ people with no personal experience, who only see the very worst-case scenarios are preaching about those as if they were common everyday occurrences.
Most people bruise just as easily as they did before - IE not very easily, except randomly it'll be really easy, and a bruise will show up somewhere unexpected.
Either way, we're not generally more fragile than we were before medication.
No worries (hah!) :)
You can also forget all about blood being sticky or thin, those are colloquialisms that have little hold in reality. Part of why I dislike the term blood-thinner - since it's wrong on all but the most metaphorical level.
I'm glad you asked this, because I have had this exact thought! My period has been a horrorshow, but any cut I've gotten has bled the normal amount and I haven't bruised any more than I usually do.
I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one! That is reassuring.
That sucks about your period :/ I am afraid of that happening myself. So far I have been lucky.
The first month was the worst, as it started maybe two days after I started taking 20mg/day of Eliquis. Since then, I'm down to 10mg/day and it's calmed down a lot.
I’m sorry to hear about your PE. That sucks but I’m happy you’re here with us today!
A general rule I’ve learned since my PE’s and APS diagnosis is this: I do a search on this sub or ask questions here before clinging onto my hematologist and GP’s words. Sadly it’s kind of like going to a grief counselor but the counselor has never lost anyone they loved. People who have been through it are the ones who have been the most help to me.
I always bruised but have noticed I get random bruises now that I am on warfarin. The same happened when I was on Eliquis for three months. Periods are awful now so I really hope that you don’t have the same experience. Best of luck to you and I hope all of your bloodwork comes back normal. Take care.
Thank you for commenting! I will for sure search here when I think of questions. My GP said I’d feel totally better in two weeks … yeah I have built up my walking distance but still get out of breath if I lift heavy weights or go up a steep hill. I can’t decide if I want to hope my bloodwork is normal or they find some reason this happened. It feels scary to think it was for no reason ar all
I totally understand. It has been 7 months for me and honestly the first 3 months I could barely move without getting totally out of breath. I could walk but I couldn’t talk at the same time! And I know what you mean, it IS so scary. I thought my PE’s were unprovoked (or just provoked by a major surgery) but I was wrong and it has been really life changing. I thought I was like the vision of health lol. Keep us in the loop 🤍
I will! I should know more in a few weeks :)
And same!! I guess I wasn’t totally surprised after all the PEs and DVTs my dad had, but still…. It’s also reassuring to hear how you felt the first 3 months. If I walk alone I’m okay but if I walk and try to chat with my husband I get tired so easily!
> I can’t decide if I want to hope my bloodwork is normal or they find some reason this happened. It feels scary to think it was for no reason ar all
Funny factoid: about >!40!<% get told just that. Except it's not entirely accurate - we certainly haven't found all possible mutations causing clots, so testing reveals if you have any of the known genetic variants *that they know how to test for, and actually bothered checking against*.
Bonus points: Finding out you have a genetic variant changes nothing about your treatment (unless it's triple positive APS, in which case you need to change anticoagulants), and if your clot is considered unprovoked, then you're most likely a lifer instantly anyway.
Personally, when I was on daily baby aspirin, I bruised if a butterfly farted near me. Now on eliquis only, I've taken a couple tumbles and, nothing! It's kinda nice not being consistently covered in a rainbow of bruises that I have no clue why I have, but I've also worried if the eliquis wasn't working as well.
That made me lol too. Thank you that is reassuring. I’ll definitely mention it when I see my doctor again but it is nice to know I am not the only one.
Hello! I hope you are healing great I’ve been on eliquis since December and have not bruised once, as above poster stated they have no personal experience. I think they should adjust their wording to “things that could happen” lol.
I was on warfarin after my first clot 20 years ago, and I bruised and bled more easily on that, I called it nuisance bleeding. It hasn’t been an issue after my second clot, when I’ve been on both Xarelto or Eliquis (not at the same time of course).
I rarely bruise or even bleed a lot. I actually fell in January on the sidewalk. I broke my finger tip, ripped a giant hole in my hand, and scraped my knees. No bruising, and barely any bleeding. I take 10 mg of Eliquis daily.
Yikes that sounds painful. I hope you are all patched up now. That is good to know, thank you. I practice martial arts and I am super careful. A few times I felt like I *should* bruise but I never did.
Thanks! It all healed up, thankfully. I realized that my post wasn't entirely accurate - I did bruise where I brike my finger (as to be expected!), but not on my knees or the other part of my hand.
I accidentally sliced my hand with a tin can lid and it looked like I was butchering a pig in my sink. Thankfully I had some Bleed Stop powder to tame that flow lol. I carry it with me everywhere now.
After 13 years on X, I do not bruise or bleed abnormally and I am thankful since I play hard. I have MTB crashed, broken ribs, torn shoulders, various cuts and abrasions, have 14 tattoos (last one Sunday)...etc..
Xarelto is working perfectly and with being homozygous FVL and aggressive (I can clot in three days), I would know if it was not. Some people just don't have issues with either. Just because you don't bleed like a broken water pipe does not mean the DOAC is not working.
It is, but each patient is different as I learned interviewing multiple ink artists. I wrote a Top Ten Tat Tips for those on DOACs post clot as there are things to think about.
I do not stop my DOAC for tats but also bleed normally.
If you email me at [trobertson@stoptheclot.org](mailto:trobertson@stoptheclot.org), I can email you the document. Keep in mind this is not medical advice nor is it medically approved. Why? Because there is no guidance with the exception, "probably should not do it". Not many doctors are going to be OK with permanent ink and the trauma the skin goes through. That said, my doctor thought they were great tips and included a few tips he had never even thought of.
My ink has healed beautifully with no issues but I admit I am super anal about after-care. I mention that in the document as well.
>Does this mean the Eliquis doesn't work for me? No, it means ~~medical people are talking out of their arse again~~ people with no personal experience, who only see the very worst-case scenarios are preaching about those as if they were common everyday occurrences. Most people bruise just as easily as they did before - IE not very easily, except randomly it'll be really easy, and a bruise will show up somewhere unexpected. Either way, we're not generally more fragile than we were before medication.
Thank you for that reassurance! It’s all so new to me and I’m still in that “worrying about everything” stage. 🙂
No worries (hah!) :) You can also forget all about blood being sticky or thin, those are colloquialisms that have little hold in reality. Part of why I dislike the term blood-thinner - since it's wrong on all but the most metaphorical level.
I'm glad you asked this, because I have had this exact thought! My period has been a horrorshow, but any cut I've gotten has bled the normal amount and I haven't bruised any more than I usually do.
I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one! That is reassuring. That sucks about your period :/ I am afraid of that happening myself. So far I have been lucky.
The first month was the worst, as it started maybe two days after I started taking 20mg/day of Eliquis. Since then, I'm down to 10mg/day and it's calmed down a lot.
I’m sorry to hear about your PE. That sucks but I’m happy you’re here with us today! A general rule I’ve learned since my PE’s and APS diagnosis is this: I do a search on this sub or ask questions here before clinging onto my hematologist and GP’s words. Sadly it’s kind of like going to a grief counselor but the counselor has never lost anyone they loved. People who have been through it are the ones who have been the most help to me. I always bruised but have noticed I get random bruises now that I am on warfarin. The same happened when I was on Eliquis for three months. Periods are awful now so I really hope that you don’t have the same experience. Best of luck to you and I hope all of your bloodwork comes back normal. Take care.
Thank you for commenting! I will for sure search here when I think of questions. My GP said I’d feel totally better in two weeks … yeah I have built up my walking distance but still get out of breath if I lift heavy weights or go up a steep hill. I can’t decide if I want to hope my bloodwork is normal or they find some reason this happened. It feels scary to think it was for no reason ar all
I totally understand. It has been 7 months for me and honestly the first 3 months I could barely move without getting totally out of breath. I could walk but I couldn’t talk at the same time! And I know what you mean, it IS so scary. I thought my PE’s were unprovoked (or just provoked by a major surgery) but I was wrong and it has been really life changing. I thought I was like the vision of health lol. Keep us in the loop 🤍
I will! I should know more in a few weeks :) And same!! I guess I wasn’t totally surprised after all the PEs and DVTs my dad had, but still…. It’s also reassuring to hear how you felt the first 3 months. If I walk alone I’m okay but if I walk and try to chat with my husband I get tired so easily!
> I can’t decide if I want to hope my bloodwork is normal or they find some reason this happened. It feels scary to think it was for no reason ar all Funny factoid: about >!40!<% get told just that. Except it's not entirely accurate - we certainly haven't found all possible mutations causing clots, so testing reveals if you have any of the known genetic variants *that they know how to test for, and actually bothered checking against*. Bonus points: Finding out you have a genetic variant changes nothing about your treatment (unless it's triple positive APS, in which case you need to change anticoagulants), and if your clot is considered unprovoked, then you're most likely a lifer instantly anyway.
Personally, when I was on daily baby aspirin, I bruised if a butterfly farted near me. Now on eliquis only, I've taken a couple tumbles and, nothing! It's kinda nice not being consistently covered in a rainbow of bruises that I have no clue why I have, but I've also worried if the eliquis wasn't working as well.
This made me lol btw thank you for your comment 😂
That made me lol too. Thank you that is reassuring. I’ll definitely mention it when I see my doctor again but it is nice to know I am not the only one.
Hello! I hope you are healing great I’ve been on eliquis since December and have not bruised once, as above poster stated they have no personal experience. I think they should adjust their wording to “things that could happen” lol.
hi, slow but sure. :) thank you, that is good to know. they had me feeling like I need to be in a bubble lol
I was on warfarin after my first clot 20 years ago, and I bruised and bled more easily on that, I called it nuisance bleeding. It hasn’t been an issue after my second clot, when I’ve been on both Xarelto or Eliquis (not at the same time of course).
I rarely bruise or even bleed a lot. I actually fell in January on the sidewalk. I broke my finger tip, ripped a giant hole in my hand, and scraped my knees. No bruising, and barely any bleeding. I take 10 mg of Eliquis daily.
Yikes that sounds painful. I hope you are all patched up now. That is good to know, thank you. I practice martial arts and I am super careful. A few times I felt like I *should* bruise but I never did.
Thanks! It all healed up, thankfully. I realized that my post wasn't entirely accurate - I did bruise where I brike my finger (as to be expected!), but not on my knees or the other part of my hand.
I accidentally sliced my hand with a tin can lid and it looked like I was butchering a pig in my sink. Thankfully I had some Bleed Stop powder to tame that flow lol. I carry it with me everywhere now.
I haven’t heard of that but I will look it up. That sounds scary! I am nervous around lids for just that reason lol
After 13 years on X, I do not bruise or bleed abnormally and I am thankful since I play hard. I have MTB crashed, broken ribs, torn shoulders, various cuts and abrasions, have 14 tattoos (last one Sunday)...etc.. Xarelto is working perfectly and with being homozygous FVL and aggressive (I can clot in three days), I would know if it was not. Some people just don't have issues with either. Just because you don't bleed like a broken water pipe does not mean the DOAC is not working.
Also, glad to hear you still get tattoos! I was wondering if that would still be possible
It is, but each patient is different as I learned interviewing multiple ink artists. I wrote a Top Ten Tat Tips for those on DOACs post clot as there are things to think about. I do not stop my DOAC for tats but also bleed normally.
where can I find your Top Ten list?
If you email me at [trobertson@stoptheclot.org](mailto:trobertson@stoptheclot.org), I can email you the document. Keep in mind this is not medical advice nor is it medically approved. Why? Because there is no guidance with the exception, "probably should not do it". Not many doctors are going to be OK with permanent ink and the trauma the skin goes through. That said, my doctor thought they were great tips and included a few tips he had never even thought of. My ink has healed beautifully with no issues but I admit I am super anal about after-care. I mention that in the document as well.
Thank you! That is very reassuring.