Originally Posted by
DougRNS
Last Thursday I went to a cardiologist in my network to get clearance to stop taking coumadin in advance of a diagnostic procedure and to manage/monitor my blood thinner level. During the appointment she said that since I was at a low risk, a 1 out of 5, I could just take aspirin. I was told by my original, now out of network cardiologist, that i was a 1 out of 5 right after I had my incident in January 2021. That being the case, why wasn't I given that option of aspirin then? This is just another case of corruption/incompetence/indifference that infuriates me. I've been going through hell trying to get the correct dose and wasting an hour and a half for my weekly blood draw. There is such a long list of screw ups that it's hard to believe.
#RampantDysfunction
#RatBastards
I try to stay out of people's medical issues, but assuming you have Afib, you are supposed to look at your CHADS(2)-VASC(2) score to determine role of anticoagulation. People with a score of 0 don't need any blood thinners. People with a score of 2 or more should almost certainly be on one. People with a score of 1 is where it gets sticky, and the risks/benefits are nearly identical, so it's in the grey zone. My guess is that your score is 1 and that's why it seems like you are getting different opinions.
If your doctors are super-old fashioned they are going by the now outdated CHADS score. You may want to ask more. The newer blood thinners, especially Eliquis, seem to be much safer than the old fashioned rat poison, and do NOT need periodic blood tests. But they are quite expensive, so if you have a stingy drug benefit and have the option to be on warfarin or not, the scale might actually tip towards NOT taking it.