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I am faced with deciding which symptom to put first. Possible heart attack or possible stroke.
I discovered my CAD 5 years ago when I got an EBT scan with a score of 320. A subsequent score done on the local Kaiser Hosp GE machine a year later was about 220. At that time I discovered that I had Afib. I was asymptomatic for both symptoms of heart disease and problems from the Afib. I went on Warfarin to thin my blood and this worked for me. 15 months later I had another heart scan on the same GE machine, read by the same Radiologist. The score had increased to to 420. I went off Warfarin and went on MULTAQ to control my Afib. It worked and I went back into Sinus. I stayed in Sinus for the next year and got another Scan. Same machine and Radiologist. I increased from 420 to 450 in that period.
To review, I had a 42% annual increase using Warfarin, and a 9% annual increase the next year when I went off it. I have no doubt in my mind that the Warfarin was the cause of the size of the increase. My Cardiologist didn't believe it but admitted a year later that it might be so because he had read a study from Germany showing that Warfarin could have this effect on some people. Of course, I am dealing with Doctors that don't believe that a raise in score is necessarily a probable cause of a heart attack.
This last year I finally faced up to the fact that my gastritis was probably caused by my use of MULTAQ and I went off it. All my stomach symptoms ceased. I have been off it for three months now and believe I am staying in Sinus with occasional lapses into Afib. I don't believe the Afib lapse is for more than 24 hours. I can tell because my BP machine gives me error messages when I am in Afib. I check my BP twice a day.
Should I go on Pradaxa? It's the new drug that some are using instead of Warfarin. It's showing side effects and is not recommended for people over 75. I am 77. It's not on Kaiser's formulary and would cost me big bucks.
My decision as of now is to continue to stay off Warfarin. I know my Kaiser Doctors are going to give me a hard time about this. If I stay off and end up setting in a wheelchair staring at a wall, I will bitterly regret my decision. If, on the other hand, I go back on Warfarin and have a heart attack, that won't make me happy either.