Question posted by hamtownman on 24 Dec 2014
Last updated on 1 January 2022 by blueazure4
I started taking xarelto over a year ago. I started having lower back pain several months ago. I am a 66 year old male and realize that it is certainly possible that the back pain is not a side effect of xarelto. I also am aware that back pain is not an unusual side effect with the drug.
My question is this, has anyone experienced back pain with/attributable to xarelto and what have you taken for relief. Obviously, we are not able to take advil.
Many thanks
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I have Facto V Leiden with 2 major DVT events. I have to be on blood thinners for the rest of my life and was originally given Xarelto (20mg a day), then eventually switched to Eliquis (5mg 2x a day).
Xarelto did cause horrible back pain. I could not work out, mobility was limited. I was switched to Eliquis and the back pain subsided for me. I did have some joint pains and aches but I am not 100% if that is due to the Eliquis or wear and tear on joints.
I was just informed by my ins company that they will no longer cover Eliquis, so it is back to Xarelto for me.
HI I am in England, I have been on Riveroxobann for around two years. My problems started with calf muscle pains then gradually got worse.. IN the end I could not walk more than 25 yards, and sitting down at night it felt like my pevis bone was hitting on stone concrete. At christmas 2017, It got so bad that I started to itch in my eyes and face. MY GP changed me to Lixiana , Edoxaban and the itching stopped but the pains got worse and worse I stopped it two day ago and it is easing. I am now going to ask my GP to take Warfarin. What is strange , I looked on the net around 6 months ago and there were no reports of pains, now there are more than a few entries. My pharmacist is saying that off all her patients being moved from warfarin to these new drugs , I am the only one that has had problems. It is worrying.
be regards John C
I have on Xarelto for 18 months. 63 yr old male. Never had back pain . I did nothing different in my life and now have chronic back pain for the last 10 months. Tried switching to Eliquis, but side effects double back pain and other joint pain. Now i’m considering Coumadin.
I've been on Xaerlto for 5 months due to a DVT & PE. The first couple of months were o.k. but now lower back has literally bedridden me. The doctor didn't even know that this could be a side effect! Really at this point I'm ready to give up on the drug. And of course doctors will NOT prescribe opioids for the pain. They just say take Extra Strength Tylenol, which does nothing except cause my liver enzymes to increase (a bad thing). I'm reporting this drug to the CDC. It must contain a warning for severe back pain.
I definitely have back pain since starting on the Xarelto about a year and a half ago. It is particularly bad when I get up in the mornings. I have been taking Tylenol which helps most days.
Indent,
You're right. The pain is the worst in the morning. I've found if I put a gel pack from the freezer in my waist band near the pain while I'm fixing breakfast, the pain is lessened. Tylenol didn't seem to help me at all. A heating pad also helped when I am sitting in a chair.
Good luck.
I've been taking xarelto 20 mg daily for 2 months now. I had 3 idiopathic pulmonary emboli. I felt great at first. No shortness of breath and no pain what so ever. Now my shoulders ache as well as my neck... I hope it's just a side effect of this drug. Doc says I need to be on this blood thinner for a year... Good luck everyone and be strong
cooper69,
I cannot say for certain Xarelto was the cause of my back pain, but I do know if you have any kind of muscular/skeletal issue, they may be magnified by its use. The pain got so bad for me it put me in the ER. Since that ER visit, I've asked to be taken off the drug, and put on Coumadin. My family has had a history of Coumadin use, so I was ok with the diet restrictions and blood tests. Since being put on Coumadin, my back pain is going away, my insomnia has stopped, no more sinusitis, no more joint pain, and the kidney stone found in a CT scan during my ER visit has diminished in size from 7mm to 5mm. Coincidence???
Good luck.
I've been on Xarelto since Oct 19, 2017 for a DVT in my left leg. About a week after I was on Xarelto, I began experiencing intensifying lower back pain. After one month on the med, I mentioned it to my doctor and he said it was a normal side effect. He suggested taking Tylenol for the pain (since Advil is not an option on Xarelto). As weeks went by, I found myself icing my lower back in the mornings. Most days by noon time, the pain in the back was lessened, but would come back in the morning the next day. On February 17 at midnight, I was awakened with severe lower back pain. It was so bad I could not sit or lay down. I eventually was admitted to the ER and they were able to get the pain under control and sent me home. I will be seeing an orthopedic specialist this week. I have had a 5 year history with lower back issues, but they eventually go away with icing, Advil, stretching and core exercising.
This episode is the first time I've ever had this type of pain. Is there a correlation between the Xarelto and my ER episode? I have no proof, but I think if you have any kind of lower back pain or issues, the use of Xarelto magnifies the problem. Again, I have no proof, it's just a feeling I have.
This describes my situation exactly. DVT in left leg in October 2017, back pain every day since.. Has to be related I to Xarelto I would think?
I too have horrible lower back pain. I took myself off and it got better. I went back on and back pain is back.. im self employed i own a consructipn company. I cant afford to be in this much pain
I have been on Xarelto for 2 years. I must go off it for surgical procedures, which I have done three times. Each time I go off the drug I experience excruciating back pain. The first time it sent me to the Emergency Room. I learned from my own research that going off Xarelto causes back pain. I was given an opiad to deal with the pain and that left me worse off. I am allergic to narcotics and I had
the worse migraine headache along with the severe back pain. I now need surgery and cannot get
a reply to my many questions asked of doctors on how to proceed on Xarelto. Be careful.
Trish D . Edgewater FL
I switched from warfarin to Xarelto a few years ago, and within a year, I contracted severe debilitating lower back pain. I've been dealing with it for 15 months. Took exercise, escalating narcotics, physical therapy, then laser to nerves in lumbar. Nothing helped. I am sitting here now with a trial of a electrical stimulator implant. I will be asking my doctor if all of this could be a side effect of Xarelto.
CaptNova,
Lower back pain is a side effect of Xarelto. The last time I looked, it was #2, right behind Bleeding to Death. I think most people don't report the lower back pain to their doctors, they just accept it. The only way it will be reported as a critical side effect is to have the users report the pain to their family doctor.
Good luck.
I have back pain all of the time due to a severe injury that I sustained. Once I started taking Xarelto, OMG, the pain increased 10-fold. I am still taking it. I will be conferring with my PCP, not that she knows much about it. Soon, I will be going to a vascular surgeon and am hoping that he agrees that the intensity of my pain is being caused from Xarelto. The pain that I am having is absolutely EXCRUCIATING! I went to an E.R. last night. They did an M.R.I. Everything came out to be perfectly normal, no tumor, nothing. Go figure! It has to be the Xarelto!
If your health allows it, senior yoga has been a drug free miracle ache and pain reducer for my back, shoulders, and hips.
Don't do regular yoga where you'll be sharing the class with athletic women (mostly) and men in their 20's to 40's. The worst athletic injuries I ever had were from trying to keep up with them when I was in my 50's (I'm a 72 year old man).
Senior yoga with a good teacher will relax and strengthen all parts of your body, will improve your balance, your breathing, and will open up all your joints which will increase blood flow and promote healing. As part of your practice, if you're not already slim and active, weight control and general exercise and activity is important to reduce the load your lower back has to carry and to promote blood circulation, i.e. sit or lie down less and move more.
If you sleep on your side, try a pillow between your knees. It reduces the stress on your lower back caused by the weight of your thigh twisting your hip all night. If you sleep on your back, try a pillow under your knees to tilt your upper hip down, opening your lower back.
In certain positions the back is hurting. I think Xarelto is a plausible cause.
You are stuck if you are trying to solve severe pain with otc's. All you have is Tylenol and muscle rubs that don't have salicylates in them. Contact your dr. We're at an age where our backs are showing the wear and tear we put on it all I lives. But you do need to find out.
The few years I was on Warfarin I had to consult my Dr for every little thing, seems there are many interactions, when combined with each of our individual/unique circumstances that warrant this precaution.
pain, back pain, side effect, xarelto, male, lower back pain
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