What medications were effective in treating DVT?

[Patient Comments]

Warfarin (Coumadin) is an oral medication taken to thin or anticoagulate the blood. It may take a few days for its action to take effect. The dose needs to be individualized for each person, and blood clotting must be monitored routinely since changes in diet, activity, and the administration of other medications may affect the levels of warfarin. Blood tests (usually international normalized ratio [INR]) are done routinely to monitor the blood-thinning effects and help the health care professional select the appropriate warfarin dose. Ideally, the INR should be kept in a range between 2.0 and 3.0. Blood tests are done weekly until the INR stabilizes and then are done every 2 weeks to every month.Enoxaparin (Lovenox) is a low molecular weight heparin injected beneath the skin to thin the blood. The dose is usually 1 milligram per kilogram of weight injected twice daily or 1.5 milligrams per kilogram injected once daily. Enoxaparin usually is considered a temporary medication to be used to thin the blood while warfarin begins to take effect; however, it may be used over the long term in some patients with cancer. Fondaparinux (Arixtra) is another injectable chemically related to low molecular weight heparin, used for DVT prevention and treatment.If a woman develops a DVT/PE while pregnant it is usually treated with heparin only, because warfarin is dangerous to administer during pregnancy.Rivaroxaban (Xarelto) is a newer medication, which belongs to the selective Factor Xa inhibitor class of drugs, is an oral tablet for the treatment of DVT. It may be used as a treatment and a preventive therapy for blood clots.Apixaban (Eliquis), dabigatran (Pradaxa), and Edoxaban (Savaysa, Lixiana) are also used to prevent blood clots and treat acute DVT.

[Patient Comments]

Coumadin has always been the gold standard for treating blood clots. When pregnant, you cannot take Coumadin, instead, I took heparin injections. Not fun, but it worked. I few years back, my hematologist switched me to Xarelto. I had severe muscle cramps within thirty days, but fortunately those subsided. Unfortunately, I had a severe nosebleed that last over several hours and I was admitted to the hospital. I almost bled to death, and near the end of the saga I developed deep vein thrombosis 4. For me, Coumadin is the safest course of action. Even today, when my blood is not appropriately thinned (bit of a misnomer; it is not thin just less sticky and therefore less prone to clotting), I must also take heparin injections until my blood work (INR = International Normalized Ratio) is back to within a normal safe range. I will require anticoagulants for the balance of my life due to a rare blood clotting disorder known as antiphospholipid antibody syndrome.

[Patient Comments]

I have had 2 episodes of DVT (deep vein thrombosis) on my left leg. Once, when I was in my twenties. The second, when I was in my thirties during my 9th week pregnancy. I was hospitalized for 20 days. I had to have heparin jabs 3 times a day during my stay in the hospital. After I was discharged, I had to continue to jab Fraxiparine once a day until I gave birth. I also had to continue the jab for a week after giving birth. Since then, I never had any occurrence and I am now in my early sixties.