Clot

[Joe Cool]

Hey everyone! I am not an avid "poster", but I check the forum every once in a while to see what's new. I had an "event" about a month ago that I thought I would share for what it might be worth to someone. I woke up one morning and had a blind spot in my left eye. I get the gray spots/shimmering lights going across my field of vision once in a while like many of you have mentioned on this site, so I wasn't too concerned at first. By then end of the day it was still there an hadn't moved. My wife (the nurse) told me to go to the optometrist. After examination by a retinal specialist he found the evidence of a clot. It was gone, but the damage was there. He made a call to my cardio right then and went down the next day for an echo (they found nothing) and a few days later a fluoroscope to check the valve velocity (again they found nothing). He put me on Plavix and increased my warfarin to put me in the 3.0-3.5 range. Mind you I was in the therapeutic range for my valve the whole time and I test every week. My cardio said that "what is therapeutic for everyone else is obviously not good enough for you"! I have noticed that since being on Plavix that I don't get the migrating blind spots in my vision any more. So a suspect that it will do the trick. It must have been some sticky platelets since warfarin prevents the other stringy type of clotting. The good news is that the blind spot is not in my central vision and the optometrist said it may heal itself or your brain will just disregard the spot after a while. The brain is marvelous isn't it!

Side Note: When I was first on warfarin I noticed the usual side effects of easier brusing, bleeding, etc. Now in the same therapeutic range and even higher, I don't notice those symtoms so much. My nose doesn't even bleed as much as it did BEFORE I was on warfarin an Plavix. Has anyone else noticed this with themselves?

 

[hensylee]

hey, good to see you check in. Thanks for sharing your clot experience. Glad you have a good dr who could 'fix' the problem. Hope your brain kicks in and ignores any damage done. I know we have eye problems from time to ime but don't recall specifically if clot is mentioned, but others will be along, you know, who will remember. Glad you stopped in - we need all the info we can get, plus we love to see our friends so we can know they are doing well. Blessins...........

 

[Duff Man]

Thank you so much for this valuable information. This is the kind of stuff I need to know going in.

 

[Ross]

I've never had bleeding of bruising problems with Coumadin, but I started coughing up blood when Plavix was added.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Whenever I have a "visual event", I chew a full (325mg) plain Aspirin. My Cardio commented "that is probably a good idea".

Most of my 'visual events' are attributed to Visual Migraines. They tend to clear up on 20 minutes or so (with or without aspirin). I am on anti-coagulation (Warfarin) but NOT on Plavix.

 

[geebee]

Sorry to hear of your problem and I hope your eyesight recovers totally.

Aspirin solves the "sticky" clots without some of the dangers that seem to be with Plavix (not that aspirin has no dangers).

I still have rare TIA symtoms but they have been greatly reduced with my 1/2aspirin/day regimen. Like Al, I chew aspirin also if I get any symptoms but I usually only chew 1/2 aspirin unless the symptoms are really severe.

I have had the same amount of bruising no matter what my INR level is, unless it is really high and then I seem to get the spontaneous bruising. Otherwise, I bruise a deep, gorgeous purple with bumps. I have gotten used to it over the past 28 years.

 

[Sherry]

Joe, thanks for posting. Sounds like you had good medical care after the episode, and you're on the right track with the Plavix. I too suffered from some of these eye episodes, not as longlasting as yours, but troublesome nonetheless. I took Plavix for a few years, which kept them at bay, and then discontinued it last October. Wouldn't you know it, a month or so later, I had another episode, eyes and weak hand. Went to the er, and he put me back on a baby aspirin daily. It's worked well. Best of luck to you.

 

[Jkm7]

For those of us who take a daily aspirin, be careful about chewing an additional aspirin as recommended. I take 325 mg (no coumadin) and would hesitate to take additional aspirin without consulting first about doing so.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

For those of us who take a daily aspirin, be careful about chewing an additional aspirin as recommended. I take 325 mg (no coumadin) and would hesitate to take additional aspirin without consulting first about doing so.

Just to be safe, anyone considering chewing an aspirin following an Ocular Event, should discuss this with their Cardiologist (and/or PCP) before following suit.

For clarification, I take a daily dose of 81mg Enteric (coated) Aspirin. If I have an Ocular Event within a few hours of taking the small dose, I only chew Half an Aspirin (182 mg). (So much for shortcuts...)

 

[geebee]

For those of us who take a daily aspirin, be careful about chewing an additional aspirin as recommended. I take 325 mg (no coumadin) and would hesitate to take additional aspirin without consulting first about doing so.

I would never advocate taking additional medicines without the okay of your doctor. I guess I thought that was a given but, just to be clear, anything I write is what I do with my doctor's recommendation and so should anyone else.

 

[Marty]

Branch Retinal Vein Thrombosis

Branch Retinal Vein Thrombosis

Joe, I had exactly the same symptoms with BRVT right eye about five years ago. I was curious why I had a thrombosis while therapeutically anticoagulated. I also had none of the other risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, high choleserol, etc. The retinologists lasered me, injected intravitreous cortisone(that's a sharp stick in the eye!), etc. Nothing helped. I'm left with poor wavy vision in my eye. The damaged retina included the macula so I can't read with the eye. It sees light and sort of helps my good left eye. The retinologist told me with one good eye I can get a drivers license and I'm OK to practise radiology looking for those little calcifications on mammograms,etc. I'm 82 now and just got my Virginia drivers license which requires an eye test. I've had no recurrence in the right eye and the left eye is still OK. I had a long dialogue with the "low vision"people at Indiana University. They had no answers as to why I had the thrombosis anticoagulated with no risk factors. The Plavix/aspirin question never came up.Neither was recommended for me. Take care of yourself. Hope this is a one shot deal for you like it was so far for me.
Warm regards, Marty