Extreme Fatique, Joint Pain, Muscle Weakness With Eliquis For Afib

I was having extreme fatigue, joint pain, muscle weakness after starting Eliquis and started to having black stool with nausea and abdominal pain. I gradually reduced the dose until no longer taking Eliquis nor ever will. It really put a fear in me. Asprin works for me via my AFIB. I can tell if my blood is too thick when my heart is working hard to pump the blood out of my heart. I feel much better when my heart is pumping normally when the blood is thinner. You sometimes have to insist to your doctor the side effects you are feeling, this is a fairly new medication. Anyone else have these side effects?

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Yes, you are not the first person to post about these types of problems with it.

If the Aspirin is working well for you, then it is likely a good idea to stick with it, unless your doctor has some other reason for not doing so.

Is your INR checked regularly?

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I had one episode of Afib 2 years ago. My cardiologist put me on Zarelto. I had severe fatigue and told the Doctor about this. He changed it to Eliquis which is no better. I am taking daily 3 hour naps and feel tired even when I wake up. Coffee is the only thing that gives me energy. My Doctor said he would put me on an Aspirin therapy but then said due to my age 68 he decided not too. I checked the CHADS score and it means congestive heart failure, High Blood Pressure, Age over 75, D diabetes. If any of these pertain to you it has point system. I was 0 which showed to just take an Aspirin a day. You can google CHADS for information. It's been 3 days that I stopped Eliquis and my energy is back and have not been tired. No more blood thinners

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I too am experiencing fatigue and tiredness. Lack luster to say the least. I'm also experiencing painful muscle and joint pain. Will see my doctor about stopping Eliquis.
Was previously on xarelto and had no side effects.

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have been taking Elequis for 8 days now after coming off cartia for AFIB, now am getting the sneezes and cold/flu like symptoms and feel like crap, anyone else suffered this and gone off elequis?

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I'm experiencing the same thing. Developed a blood clot in my arm due to birth control, otherwise I'm a healthy 28 year old. Started on Xarelto and developed widespread muscle and joint pain 3 weeks into treatment. My doctor switched me to Eliquis and the symptoms disappeared 2 days after switching. However, the same thing has now happened. Around 3 weeks after starting Eliquis, I developed widespread muscle and joint pain. My neck is so sore that I can hardly sleep at night or turn my head. I also feel like I'm getting cold/symptoms. Yeah, I feel like crap. Don't know what's next, warfarin?

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I didn't realize that fatigue was a side effect of the med! I have NO ENERGY AT ALL LITERALLY!!!!! I sleep almost all day long and have to force myself to go anywhere and I'm only 55 years old! I know I feel fatigued because of my fibro but never line this it seems like things have gotten worse since beginning this med! Does everyone take it twice a day?

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YES,YES. I can hardly move . Muscle pain, back pain, knees, also blood shot eye. I have to get of this poison as it is killing me.

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I`ve been on Eliquis for 2 months due to AFIB, which I didnt know that I had to begin with.. Since I`ve been on this drug, I`m having AFIB and dizzy spells along with fainting feelings. Hell I feel worst on this drug. Dr says, dont quit taking Eliquis. I`d like to get off this drug.

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I`m taking this twice a day and feeling washed out, tired and dizzy. Wonder if the doctors are wrong in ordering a 2 a day dose

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What to do for muscle weakness when taking eliquis

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I have been on eliquis for over a year. I have had 2 heart ablations and on blood pressure meds also. I have severe pain on the left side of my back and down my leg. What can I take for pain besides Tylenol? It does not help much. I purchased nonrefundable trip tickets. Need some help.

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Hi RC , think you may need further advice from cardiol as I was taking cartia daily to stop risk of stroke as suffer from a/fib. I have had a dual lead pacemaker put in back in 2014 which helped and continued with cartia until last Sept when I had a mini stroke, after this I was started on Elequis as told cartia not strong enough to thin blood anymore, this was advised and reason being if had mini stroke on cartia the risk is now to high for more serious stroke hence the elequis now which is 1 5mg dose twice daily. Luckily the mini stroke had no effect except a bit of loss of vision in right eye for about 15 mins. I have been as said on the elequis now for nearly two years and exercise reg, no pain anywhere, sometimes a bit of fatique but nothing I feel is out of the ordinary for my age of 66.. hopefully you will get some positive advice from a good talk with a good cardiologist, I hope you can enjoy your life kind regards, Johnb

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Yes. And my energy level is zero with eliquis. Will see dr again very unhappy

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I had been taking Eliquis for a week and then I had severe nausea and severe weakness. I have blood clotting problem. I was taking just 2.5 a day. My doctor had me to take 2 a day. Glad I didn't take the second pill. I am still feeling weak and have joint pain.

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My husband has been on Eliquis for 6 months and had his pacemaker replaced in Nov. at 70 he has been very active until he was put on this drug, thought it might be new pm but now thinking its Eliquis. He has no energy and his legs have gotten so weak and are tired& heavy. Will call to get it changed, if possible.

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There are sevetal things to consider with ANY anticoagulant I had a massive saddle pulmonary embolism at the beginning of February. It recurred barely two weeks out of tbe hospital while I was on warfarin. I was taken off warfarin a month later because my INR was so unstable I had to have the tests done twice a week and it still yoyo'd between 1.5 and 4.5 (my goal level was 2.5-3.5 due to apparent unspecified clotting issues). I was miserable on warfarin, and I had the rare side effects, change of taste, numbness and tingling in hands and feet, and GI distress every time I took it. Warfarin has the advantage of an antidote with Vitamin K. It also has the disadvantage of taking up to 48 hours to INCREASE anticoagulant effect if your INR drops too low. It is slow-acting.

I've been on Eliquis for a little over a week now. I'm experiencing some of the fatigue and joint pain, though for me it is very hard to tell if it's a flare of my rheumatoid artnritis or the Eliquis. I've been off my Humira and methotrexate disease-modifying drugs since the pulmlnary embolism, so it could be that. Assuming it's the Eliquis, though, there are three things to consider. I'm at a very high dose, 5 mg. That can be adjusted to 2.5, which is the standard dose for most. Anyone taking 5 mg and experiencing side effects should ask if they can try the 2.5. A poster stated they were taking 1.5 mg, but I could find no information on that dose; in the US, at least, it is not offered. But if you are on a 5 mg dose, there is definite room to reduce.

The second thing to consider is that, yes, Eliquis has no antidote. But it has an effective duration of about 12 hours. That means if you do experience excessive bleeding, you have a short time before it wears off. To me, this is no more dangerous than warfarin, where a bleeding event would mean time to travel to the ER, be diagnosed, and receive Vitamin K. The 12 hr duration of Eliquis is also why you take 2 a day. If you take one a day, you are essentially bouncing between a coagulated and anticoagulated state every 12 hours, which for most of us would be very bad. Don't reduce to one a day...if you feel you must go off Eliquis without a doctor's assistance, then cut the pills and take lower doses, reducing gradually. I don't usually advocate coated pill-cutting, but the dosing info states it can be crushed (though crushed was given through a naso-gastric tube, not swallowed). At any rate, if it was administered crushed, cut should be acceptable.

Which brings me to the third point. Don't just stop taking Eliquis. Going off it cold turkey is associated with increased chance of DVT and PE above the usual risk when you stop taking an anticoagulant. With its short duration, you can transition to any other anticoagulant within a couple of days or go off it and not risk the increased clotting chance.

I have taken many, many medications over the yeats, many of them with severe side effects. All you can do is a cost/benefit analysis for you, personally. In my case, I am disabled and can't work. At this time, with pulmonary hypertension, RA, and risk of another PE, the side effects from Eliquis are acceptable, though I'll see if I can try a reduced dose. Everyone reacts differently to drugs...my dad has been on warfarin for ten years,and couldn't understand why I had so many problems with it. I love Eliquis in comparison. He threw a blood clot while on Xarelto. He loves his warfarin. Mileage varies. Your most-hated drug can be someone else's miracle.

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Here is a solution go natural. Quit listening to them doctors, they really don't care about your health. They along with big Pharma are in the medical business to make money. No way in hell only a prescription drug made in a factory can prevent, treat, or cure blood clots. Cayenne pepper, garlic, ginger, water, fasting, nattokinase are among the natural alternatives.

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Get off it. Quit taking the doctor's word as f***ing gospel. They don't give a f*** about your health. They are in this business to make money. Take natural medications. I don't believe only a prescribed drugs made in a factory can treat, prevent & cure blood clots, that is BULL!! Tell you doctor you want to go natural and watch what he says, he will be against it because he can't profit from it like he does with them poisons like warfarin, xarelto and the like. I'm going against my doctor and going natural so I know how you feel. Trust!!

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This is the most horrible drug that I've ever been on, all it does is make me dizzy and I never know when it's going to hit and then from there I turn into a wreck and go into a panic attack. I am begging to get off this drug and they won't but I called GP today and he said take 1, at bedtime. I have a mitral valve repair coming up on 6/1 and my life has been ruined with this drug, they tell me, go out, enjoy your life, kiss my grits, what's to enjoy when you have no idea when the merry go round is going to start.

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I have been fighting doctor for day's, all I get is dizzy, she tells me that is not a side effect, frankly, she's FOS, it's a rare 1 and I'm drug sensitive, call my GP, he said cut to 1 and take, at bedtime. I have a mitral valve leak due to be fixed on 6/1 and I can't life like this, any longer, stick a fork, in me.

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I started Eliquis on Dec. 17, 2023 was put on because i have 100% Afib. On Christmas eve I started getting a severe pain on my left side (my back). I just shook it off thinking my pants were to tight. Christmas day the pain got worse. then I noticed my urine was getting darker. Then my urine got real dark. I started noticing I was so tired and weak that I couldn't get out of bed, didn't have a bowel movement since starting the Eliquis, then the blood started in my urine. I am now starting to get dizzy, feeling awful, finally I said that's it, I go to see my PA because my Cariologist doesn't respond to my calls, and she says that there is so much blood in my urine, so she put me on an antibiotic and tells me if I feel worse to take myself to the hospital. Now it is New Years eve and I am at the hospital. They do a cat scan and say they don't see anything, they do blood work and that seems alright, they do a urine analysis and tell me that I need a Urologist. The ER Doctor asks me if I am taking any new meds and I tell him Eliquis and he says "Oh", he thinks this could be my problem. I leave the hospital and I take myself off the Eliquis. After a couple of days I see that the blood in my urine is getting better and the pain in my back is going away and the weakness and tiredness is going away. I go to the Urologist and he does a test on me to make sure that I have no cancer in my bladder which comes back negative. He also thinks this could be the Eliquis. So I told him I am staying off of it. I now have an appointment to see a new Cardiologist. I don't think I will be going on any blood thinners anymore. I am scared about having a stroke but I don't think that I can live with all the side effects. I am going to look into natural ways to thin my blood.

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I was placed on eliquis for pulmonary embolism, I too am having extreme fatigue to the the point I fall asleep sitting up and extreme leg muscle pain

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Wow, glad I am not alone. I too have fatigue, weight gain, but the dizziness is the worst, scary. I don't want to have a stroke so I take it but have been sporadic. I have an appointment for an ablation consultation next week and I hope and pray it works.

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Anyone else have back pain after taking Eliquis.Went off it for a couple of days due to a procedure and the back pain disappeared. Back on it again and back pain and inflammation under the ribs started again. I have persistent Afib,cardioversion did not last waiting to see electrophysiology.

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Re: Bobbir (# 93)

I had a similar situation, I traveled to Europe and had been taking Metropolo and aspirin for 8 years, I had a stroke while on a cruise ship in the Baltic sea. I was in the hospital in Helsinki. Pradaxa gave me severe heart burn. So I am on Eliquis now. I do get dizzy but feel alright. I exercise and feel pretty good. But don't tell my Doctor or he will get mad, I am taking half the dose. But I take Aleve for pain so I think it balances out.

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anemia!!!!!!! don't overlook it, iron and b12 could help a great deal

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2 x 5mg, after a month my legs are very weak. I was fit and strong before an injury caused dvt. I did not want to take pharma but also didn't want to die, going the natural route. Hope I can clear the poison soon. eliquis = poison

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Re: BeccaB (# 96)

Ditto to all you said... Was about to get an MRI & decided to do some research and WOW was I surprised... Had similar issue with hips when on Crestor years ago... Stopped taking pain subsided. Have to d/c this Med. Has your pain subsided yet???

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Re: Nana (# 95)

Look into natural blood thinners like Tumeric...There are also many others...
I am having many pain issues also with Eliquis.

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Re: Hope (# 94)

Look into a Natural remedy called “Mastic Gum”...
For me it’s a Miracle for my belly.

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