Today’s news? (March 13th, 2006) in the associated press - there is a
story about plavix and aspirin. It also stated in the article that patients
who do not have coronary heart disease should not take plavix at all. Several years ago (possibly 3) I had problems with my feet turning purple. They checked the arteries for blockage in my legs and found no problems. The only thing they noted in the test was that I had very small veins. My PCP doctor put me on plavix which did make a difference. my feet returned to normal color and I have not had any other problems with them. I do however occasionatley inthe winter (like twice this past winter have had my fingers turn completely white down to the knuckle ( no clue if related). I don’t know if it would be that I have a circulation problem or what the small veins meant. I do not have high blood pressure or any other problems they specified in the article. I do not have coronary heart disease. Should I consider stopping the plavix and seeing what happens? Is the drug more harmful than what the benefits I am receiving? Could aspirin be a better alternative - but then I hear that aspirin isn’t could for the stomach. I pay 50.00 co-payment every three months for the plavix. I am on a fixed income and if its un-necessary it doesn’t make sense but if I need it I have no problem with taking it.Hopefully you have read or know about the article and can give me some advice. I guess the article has scared me into wondering if I should be taking plavix. I am 47 if that would make a difference and I weigh around 135 (trying to get down to 128)
Dr. Joshua’s Answer
Plavix (clopidrogel) is not commonly used for venous insufficiency (problem with deep vein blood flow in legs). For prevention and treatment of deep venous thrombosis (blood clot), anticoagulants such as miniheparins and warfarin are used. Aspirin and plavix exert their effects by acting on platelets, and are used for diseases affecting arteries, such as atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease.
I’m not sure what your diagnosis was. I’m sure your primary care physician had his/her good reasons to prescribe Plavix for you, and it seems to have helped. If you are concerned that you might not need Plavix, discuss your concerns with your physician.
The study to which you refer found that a combination of Plavix plus Aspirin may be harmful to some patients who have not had strokes or heart attack and are taking the combo as a primary preventive measure because they have increased risk factors for developing such disease. There was no indication that Plavix alone was harmful. Also, for those who had already had a heart event or a stroke, the combination of Plavix and Aspirin was apparently beneficial. Plavix is usually added when a patient suffers a TIA, stroke or a heart attack despite being on aspirin - it’s called “aspirin failure”.
In summary, the latest news on Plavix provide no such evidence that you should stop taking Plavix. You should never stop taking a prescribed medication anyway without consulting your doctor.
As for your fingers turning white in the cold, it’s called Raynaud’s Phenomenon, and I’ll write a separate article about it here.
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