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Every year between 2 and 3 million people get prescribed blood thinners. There’s a variety of reasons why you might need to take a blood thinner medication.
If you’ve previously suffered a heart attack or stroke or if you have an irregular heart rhythm, lupus, or deep vein thrombosis, you might be taking blood thinner medications.
It used to be that there was really only one choice on the market for blood thinners. In recent years though, that’s changed. Now there are several options on the market.
What’s the best blood thinner for you, you might be wondering. Read on to learn about some of the options available to you if you need them.
Warfarin (Coumadin)
Warfarin or Coumadin was previously the only choice on the market. It was an effective drug in preventing blood clots for patients at risk.
However, it’s a challenging drug to take because of all the monitoring that’s necessary. It often interacts with certain foods, especially those with vitamin K in them. This can cause the drug levels to vary and its effectiveness to go down.
This drug requires frequent blood tests to check its levels which is the reason many people didn’t like using it.
Apixaban (Eliquis)
Eliquis is part of the new group of drug options for people in need of a blood thinner. It’s called non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (NOACs) and they’ve been found to be very effective at keeping blood thinned without the regular blood testing from Coumadin.
This is one of the more popular new types of blood thinner medication. It comes with an Eliquis generic option too. Talk to your PricePro Pharmacy about which option is the best one for you.
Dabigatran (Pradaxa)
Like Eliquis, Pradaxa works to thin the blood and prevent clotting. it also doesn’t require the same level of blood testing needed.
Dabigatran works to block a clotting protein called thrombin in the blood. By blocking, the flood is able to flow, helping to prevent clots from forming.
Edoxaban (Savaysa)
Savaysa, like the previous two drugs, is also a non-vitamin K oral anticoagulant (NOAC). It works on the same premise as the two previous drugs.
All three of the NOACs can be taken orally with or without food. There are fewer food restrictions with these NOACs than you would have when taking Warfarin.
Rivaroxaban (Xarelto)
Also, an anti-clotting drug, Xarelto, is used after hip and knee surgeries too so there aren’t clots around the replacement parts.
Depending on why you’re taking this drug the dosage and prescription directions can vary slightly. For example, if you need the drug to treat already existing clots, you might need it twice a day. If you’re taking it to prevent clots, you’ll be prescribed to take it with dinner each evening.
Again, it’s always wise to discuss all medications you’re taking with your pharmacist to make sure there won’t be any drug interactions.
The Right Blood Thinner Medications for Your Needs
Blood thinner medications are an important tool to prevent clots from forming which could cause heart attacks or strokes. While Warfarin was effective, it’s a challenging drug to manage. Now the NOAC drugs give patients more options.
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