What could have happened?

[Nancy]

I seem to remember that there were some cautions going off Effexor re: strange neurological things like pin prick and electric shock sensations, bad dreams, and some other odd things. Anyway before you finally taper off do some online reading about it so it won't take you be surprise. It's a strange drug.

 

[JohnCalderwood]

Thank you Nancy. I will only come off under carefull Doctors supervision.

 

[karen14]

LOL (laughing out loud) John! Love your sense of humor! That's worth more than anything, especially in your recovery. Best wishes, ~Karen

 

[irel]

John - You are braver than I am. seven days postop, I walked twice around the neighbourhood, othere than the weather being a little cool and windy, it went well. However I have not walked since, other than from one end of the house to the other for 10 minutes, twice per day. I do plan to get out today. So far the worst I find is trying to sleeep and I generally don't get more than two or so hrs a time..When I lie down, I am disturbed by an urge to cough or clear my lungs. The only effective way for me to do this is to be standing and when I get the urge; force it out as I would normally have cleared my throat before surgery. Overall, this is a lot harder than I expected, but one day at a time.
Gord

 

[Bryan B]

I'm on: atenolol
ranitidine
venlafaxine (effexor)(anxiety)
coumadine
disatinib (for CML)
methoprazine(for sleep)
A.S.A
tylenol

I think I am going to try to come off the effexor in a few months. You see when I tried to water the plants I was either in a drug ridden fog, or I was trying to clean my head from its drug ridden fog. Either way guilty with an explanation. Were either of the two drugs you were on, on my list?

This might not having anything to do with John's overdoing it in the garden, but did anyone notice that on his list of medications was Coumadin and A.S.A. Assuming ASA means the same thing in Canada as it does in the USA that would have me worried right there. Even though I don't take anticoagulants I've been around here long enough to know that taking Coumadin and Aspirin (commonly called ASA) is not generally a good combination. I just thought that needed to be brought up unless A.S.A. means something else in Canada.

I also agree with others that Effexor is a drug that you need a tapering plan to go off of. Stopping it cold turkey could cause seizures. Stopping is slowly is not a piece of cake but will make it more tolerable. I have not personally been on this drug but in the past I've been on Paxil and most recently Celexa. Both drugs helped when I needed them but both had "side effects" that I didn't care for. Both times I went off of them I needed to taper off of them. With the Celexa I was more impatient and was pretty miserable for several days (but I'm glad I'm off of it now).

 

[Ross]

Bryan nearly everyone of us on Coumadin, also take aspirin. The Doctors seem to be split about whether there is really any benefit to doing it, but most all of our Doctors have us on asprin regimes anyhow.

 

[catwoman]

This might not having anything to do with John's overdoing it in the garden, but did anyone notice that on his list of medications was Coumadin and A.S.A. Assuming ASA means the same thing in Canada as it does in the USA that would have me worried right there. Even though I don't take anticoagulants I've been around here long enough to know that taking Coumadin and Aspirin (commonly called ASA) is not generally a good combination. I just thought that needed to be brought up unless A.S.A. means something else in Canada.

Bryan:
I agree with Ross.
Doctors are routinely Rxing 81mg of aspirin daily for most patients at around age 50 today as a preventive -- regardless if they're taking warfarin or not. Otherwise, I'd venture to say that most warfarin patients don't take aspirin. If I have a headache (very rare for me), I turn to Tylenol or Aleve.

My guess is John's problem was DTMTS -- doing too much too soon.

 

[Bina]

This might not having anything to do with John's overdoing it in the garden, but did anyone notice that on his list of medications was Coumadin and A.S.A. Assuming ASA means the same thing in Canada as it does in the USA that would have me worried right there. Even though I don't take anticoagulants I've been around here long enough to know that taking Coumadin and Aspirin (commonly called ASA) is not generally a good combination. I just thought that needed to be brought up unless A.S.A. means something else in Canada.........

Bryan,
Yes A.S.A. is the same drug whether you have one foot on the American side, or on the Canadian side of the border.
It is very common to have it prescribed for a short time post op in conjunction with Coumadin/warfarin for a broader prevention of clots. My surgeon had me take it until my cardio gave me the OK to stop it.
Of course, we are talking about LOW dose ASA of 81 mg.

 

[JohnCalderwood]

Looking back, I just think it was the stupidity of trying to do to much 8 days after a major surgery. I take "aspirin" . Is that different from A.S.A? It is a hard to find 80mgs childrens size. One a day. Pretty small dose.

 

[Ross]

Come on down here, we have lots of it.

 

[Bina]

Looking back, I just think it was the stupidity of trying to do to much 8 days after a major surgery. I take "aspirin" . Is that different from A.S.A? It is a hard to find 80mgs childrens size. One a day. Pretty small dose.

John, the low dose 81mg version is available almost everywhere, even Walmart.
You can buy the name brand Aspirin, or the generic version of A.S.A. for much less money. Same stuff.
Make sure it is the enteric coated tablets so that you won't have any stomach upset.

 

[Freddie]

What mg does Baby Aspirin have? My S/O mother takes one baby aspirin a day.
FYI - it's behind the pharmacy counter if your looking for it - well it use to be behind the counter here in Canada.

 

[Bryan B]

Ross and others,

Thanks for letting me know that, I honestly didn't know that aspirin was normally used along with anticoagulant therapy. I guess if you're getting your INR checked regularly and it is within range it doesn't really matter how it gets there, only that it stays there. If you take one aspirin a day consistently as part of your medication therapy it makes sense. I think I was thinking about taking it for pain or fever instead of Tylenol where it could raise your INR quickly if you are taking several 325mg tablets daily. That's what happens when I try to make a comment about anticoagulation therapy when I've never been on it. But if nothing else at least I learned something.

 

[Ross]

Ross and others,

Thanks for letting me know that, I honestly didn't know that aspirin was normally used along with anticoagulant therapy. I guess if you're getting your INR checked regularly and it is within range it doesn't really matter how it gets there, only that it stays there. If you take one aspirin a day consistently as part of your medication therapy it makes sense. I think I was thinking about taking it for pain or fever instead of Tylenol where it could raise your INR quickly if you are taking several 325mg tablets daily. That's what happens when I try to make a comment about anticoagulation therapy when I've never been on it. But if nothing else at least I learned something.

Asprin works differently then Coumadin. It affects the plateletts whereas Coumadin simply interferes with the livers vitamin K uptake. Most people take 81mg tablets, but some Doctors have their patients on 325mg once a day. I've asked several Doctors on their thoughts and they all have different opinions, but believe that an asprin regimen is a good idea.

The bad part about Tylenol isn't so much the rise in INR, but the liver damage that can occur from taking more then 1500mg a day. I'm one of those that Tylenol just doesn't help. I used to take the 500mg ES all the time. I'm just lucky nothing happened.

 

[Superbob]

John, the low dose 81mg version is available almost everywhere, even Walmart.
You can buy the name brand Aspirin, or the generic version of A.S.A. for much less money. Same stuff.
Make sure it is the enteric coated tablets so that you won't have any stomach upset.

The low-dose (or baby) aspirin is 81 mg. It's all over the place here in the States over the counter -- not just pharmacies but grocery stores, etc. Very common for docs to prescribe it as a preventive. Name brands like Bayer are coated to prevent stomach distress. Higher doses of aspirin can have side effects such as increased ringing in the ears, but one 81 mg a day is pretty small dose.

 

[catwoman]

We should make it clear that an 81mg tablet of aspirin is frequently prescribed by family doctors and internists as a preventive starting at about 50 -- even if there are no cardiac issues going on.

My former cardiologist told me to take it along with my warfarin. The cardiologist I go to now said I could take it or not take it. I dropped it. However, my husband takes one every day; he goes to my former cardio.

 

[dtread]

John, you could have had something similar to what I had five days after my surgery. What I had was called "heart block" or "heart pauses", where my heart would pause for several seconds before restarting. It felt similar to the feeling if you got up from a sitting position too fast and all the blood rushed from your head to your legs; i.e., a faint feeling where you would have to steady yourself until the blood flow got back to the brain. I am certain that in my case it was due to the inflammation from the surgery. In my case it occurred while I was laying in the hospital bed. They moved me to ICU and then the next day gave me a pacemaker to prevent it happening again; i.e., the pacemaker prevents my heart from beating too slowly (bradycardia). You might want to mention it to your cardiologist. I would guess that they might want to have you wear what is called a "holter monitor" for a week or so to monitor your heart to see if you have an arrhythmia problem. What you were doing in the garden doesn't sound all that strenuous to me.