Plavix Plus Nexium May Equal Heart Attack

[OhioChick]

Source: AP

Blood Thinners, Heartburn Drugs May Not Mix Well

POSTED: 9:51 am EST November 14, 2008

NEW YORK -- Stent patients who take the blood thinner Plavix along with certain heartburn drugs may face a greater risk of heart attack, stroke and other dangerous events, according to a study of more than 14,000 patients in a database kept by pharmacy benefits manager Medco Health Solutions.

The numbers showed that stent patients who were taking Plavix with popular prescription heartburn drugs, including Nexium, were significantly more likely to be hospitalized for a heart attack, stroke, chest pain or a coronary artery bypass operation than those who took Plavix alone.

Medco's chief medical officer said heartburn drugs could interfere with a liver enzyme needed to process Plavix, neutralizing its effects. But he stressed that patients should not stop taking Plavix or heartburn drugs, particularly if they have a history of stomach problems.

A spokesman for Bristol-Myers said the company is reviewing the data. But he questioned Medco's approach and urged patients to talk with their doctors before taking any action.

Read more: http://www.newsnet5.com/health/17979812/detail.html

[HannibalBarca]

1. Interesting

I'm a pharmacist and I dispense alot of those, must do some further reseach into it.
Thanks for the article.

[shadowknows69]

2. Lovely I think my mother is on both of these

I wonder if it includes Prilosec?

[Dogmudgeon]

3. Prilosec CAN cause arrhythmias

"Proton-pump antacids", like Nexium and Prilosec, cause arrhythmias in a small, but significant, number of patients. (I am one such patient.) Most of the time, these arrhythmias will be benign, but in most cases a cardiac stress test will be needed to tell.

Your mother should ask her physician about this. On the other hand, serious worry is probably not required.

Good luck to her!

--p!

[shadowknows69]

4. Thanks for the info

I might have to update my own doctor on the news. She has me on Plavix and told me to go get Prilosec for my acid reflux, which thankfully doesn't really bother me much anymore, so I never got any. But I swear I'm more informed about medical stories than she is most of the time.

[davsand]

7. Go figure. I had a stress echo for this very type of problem in September.

I'm taking (you guessed it!) Prilosec, however, I HAD been on Pepcid AC (Famotidine) at the time I initially went in for the palpitations. I don't take any cardiac drugs, currently, but I do take DiovanHCT for HBP, and now I'm wondering how safe ANY of this crap is. Hell, my hair is even falling out!

Sometimes I think the best thing for your health is to avoid the docs completely.



:grr:


Laura

[grasswire]

9. how's your magnesium level?

After suffering with palpitations for many years -- to the point that I was often in fear of death -- an ER doc started me on a magnesium supplement. It has totally turned my life around. I do take Prilosec or pepcid. But now that I am taking a magnesium/calcium/zinc supplement and coQ10 every day, the worry is gone. Totally gone. The palpitations are rare.

[arikara]

11. I was having palpitations too

until I started taking magnesium supplements. Turns out that our food is dangerously deficient in this crucial mineral.

I also sprinkle epsom salts into my veggie garden now as that is magnesium.

[OhioChick]

13. "Sometimes I think the best thing for your health is to avoid the docs completely."

I often wonder that myself.

[cabluedem]

14. "Follow the money". We live in country with a "for-profit" medical system. Do the math.

That about sums it up.

[grasswire]

8. what kind of an arrhythmia?

Do you know?

[Lugnut]

18. My mother definitely is.

She has been taking Plavix since her first stroke 14 yeaers ago. Nexium was added to treat stomach issues about three or four years ago. I will be checking in with her physician to ask about this on Monday morning.

[suston96]

5. I take Ranitidine - for heartburn/stomach pain/ulcer? - with Plavix.........

I have a stent in addition to ByPass surgery.....Try this, thanks to Google......Clopidigrel is Plavix.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18786302

[NEOhiodemocrat]

6. thanks for the information

my husband has had two stents put in (2 and 3 years ago May) and is on Plavix and Nexium. I will have to keep this in mind. Trouble will be getting him to go talk to his doctor. With our great health care coverage (not)he is really resistant to doctor or hospital visits right now. Two nights ago he told me real casually that "I think I may have had a heart attack this morning", he had the pain in his left arm and just layed down on the couch and slept. I can't convince him that someday he is just not going to wake up. He had his second heart attack while attempting to vote on electronic machine that kept acting up! Maybe he will just have to cut down on the heartburn medicine at least. He doensn't need it so much anymore it seems.

[grasswire]

10. Is he taking an aspirin daily?

Make him do it. A baby aspirin each day.

[NEOhiodemocrat]

17. yes he does

They started him on that right after the first heart attack.

[arikara]

12. My husband also has all kinds of cardiac probs

and I do understand your concern. I'm curious as to why your mr is still on plavix after 2 years though. My mr had his third round of stents - these ones the medicated type - put in last Dec and the cardiologist said he'd be on plavix for a year which is nearly up. I get the feeling that the length of time taking plavix is dependent upon the doctor's affiliation with the drug company more than anything else.

He also has an implanted cardiac defibrillator -with potentially faulty medtronic leads no less- and has had several ablations to correct arrhythmias. These were compounded when they put him on digoxin which totally depleted his already low magnesium levels. I wish we'd known about magnesium deficiencies causing arrhythmias before he got sucked into the black hole of cardiac ablations. He also has periodic bouts of heartburn for which he takes pariet, another type of proton pump inhibitor. However I only give it to him for a week or 2 at a time if he's complaining of symptoms otherwise he doesn't get it... the fewer pills to interact with each other, the better. We find that flour products cause the heartburn more than anything else and simply try to avoid that instead of taking pills. The proton pump inhibitors aren't safe for long term use, they can cause osteoporosis among other things. And to add insult to injury, as you know they are blasted expensive.

[NEOhiodemocrat]

16. When they took him off the Plavix

is when he had his second heart attack. He was scheduled to go in for carpal tunnel surgery and the doctor decided that being off his medicines for the week leading up to that is what caused the second episode. So hopefully they will try to get him off of it again soon. It will be 2 years this coming May since he had the last stent put in. His are the medicated ones also. I didn't know that flour products causes heartburn but he has been doing much better on that issue over the summer and fall since we have been eating mostly out of the garden and a lot of fruit we grow also. So maybe the change in diet has helped. I will keep that in mind and try not to add a lot of flour products back in.

[goforit]

15. Scarey, eh?