Cycling and Warfarin/Blood Thinners

[Bollo]

I‘ve been on the apixaban for persistent AF with a side order of blood pressure for about 18 months before getting ablationated, which seems to have fixed me for now at least. Before that my heart rhythm was all over the shop so riding was off the cards apart from some gentle turbos and rollers. Now I’m back on the bike and riding as normal, or a bit slower after 18 months off 😞. I’m hoping my checkup in a couple of weeks will mean I can come off the apixaban and the beta-blockers, which does affect my riding ability.

Nobody seems to get too stressed about apixaban, or certainly not in the same way warfarin seems to have a reputation. I’ve been warned off contact sports (very much in my past) and they’d want to see you in A&E if you have any bang on the head, which is a risk you have to balance with cycling. I’ve even had a dental implant and the dentist didn’t consider it any sort of blocker on the procedure.

 

[Raging_Pixie]

I was on rivaroxoban for a bit. I've refused warfarin for years but AF treatment meant I had to be on thinners for a bit. I haven't ridden much because of the AF but did make a conscious decision not to ride while on thinners. My decision may have been different if I was still commuting though. Now I'm (touch wood) largely out of AF and off thinners I'm slowly picking up cycling. I don't have the power I used to but that could be down to being fat more than the betablockers I'm still on

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I was on clopidogrel for a year or so after a suspect stroke

of teh wrong kind - before "someone" chips in!

anyway - I found a problem with scratches and just not stopping bleeding
I came back home a few times under circumstances where I would have a few scratches from things like hawthorn bushes
but I looked like I had been in a major traffic accident
because my whole leg was totally covered in blood and you could follow my path from the shed to the back door by the blood drops!!!

If we hadn;t realised it would have given my wife a shock!

 

[vickster]

Or the thinners might have meant a clot did not form?

Which would also be bad, uncontrolled bleeding under the skin 🤔

 

[andrew_s]

Warfarin has made no difference to my cycling.

If you cut yourself, you don't stop bleeding as quickly, but you do stop.
That can mean blood on clothes - for example from a knee scrape that runs down your shin onto your sock or shoe. Wash out the garment in cold water immediately you get home.
The worst I've had was a scalp gash that needed 3 or 5 staples in. That was messy.

You'll get different dosage warfarin tablets (5/3/1/0.5) so you can take the dosage they tell you after each INR test (finger prick 1 drop). The different strengths should all be on the same prescription. If your INR value is steady tests can be a couple of months apart, but if it goes out of range (e.g. change of diet), it's adjust the dose and come back next week.