My husband has been taking Brilinta since October 2012 after have two stents placed in his heart. He

How are you doing now?

2nd time I've been on Berlinta. My previous cardiologist took me off of it after about 2 months after having it. Had moderate breathing problems. I changed cardiologist and just had my 10th, 11th, & 12th stent put in. I can't take Effient, because of severe blood loss in stools. Plavix cannot do hat needs to be done. Sp my current cardiologist put me back on Berlinta because he stated it was better for me than Plavix. and the best available for me. told him about the breathing problems from before . He said he understood, but try it for awhile. Had open heart surgery in Sept. of 2013 - 5-way bypass & aortic valve replaced. Wondering if there is anyway to contradict the breathing problem & still take Berlinta?

Hi, I had 2 stents 8 days ago. I was prescribed Brilinta. 3 days later I began getting red spots all over my body. It started from my inner thighs and progressed to chest, stomach and back. It itches like hell sometime, especially while sleeping. I have called into the doctor but waiting for his response. I do not feel shortness of breathing but do feel slight pressure in my head with in few minutes if taking the meds. I have begun walking up the mountain trail, about 2 miles long each mornings and feels fine.
Hope this help to some...

red spots on your skin is one of the side effects listed as being one that you should call your doctor about.

My Mother is feeling the same way you did. Her stent was placed 4 days ago and the breathlessness started on the discharge day. What did you end up doing?

I'm trying to understand why the doctor would be so adamant to keep her on Brilinta when she has had Plavix in the past. After reading some comparisons, I think I understand why. Brilinta supposedly has fewer hemorrhages and doesn't seem to have the "genetic" problem -whereby it just doesn't work in 2-14% of people. But in my Mother's case, we DO know that the Plavix worked because she had a GI bleed within one month. Four years later her stents are still clear. So why the resistance? I'm at a loss. I've read the dyspnea from Brilinta is permanent. That is a hit to quality of life that I cannot endorse. Looking for rational, logical answers.

go to "Dollars for Docs" put your docs name and state in and check to see if he's getting paid for prescribing!

Hello Sir

Could you please tell me what happened next with your father?
My dad having the same case and its been 3 months stopping the brillanta and we need to give him the thinner blood mds but we are afraid.

My husband was on Brilintia for a year after having stents done and was ill for the whole time. Two years later he had to have more stents and chose to take Effient because a nurse recommended it since my husband had such a bad experience with Brilinta previously. His body accepted the Effient much better although he sometimes had bad days. All these heart drugs have serious side effects but you have to also look at the alternative... heart attack or worse.

I was reviewing comments and found yours to be disturbing. I was wondering, since your post of 13 April 2013, what has happened since. Were you able to change to a different medication? And are you doing well now?

am_gautam2002
I'm sorry, i saw the date 13 Apr 2013 and assumed that was the date you posted. Now I see it was recent. I still would like to know what you have done about your bleeding problem.

Bigdreams,
I'm the one who originally posted about Brillinta. My husband's cardiologist finally changed my husbands med to Plavix after he kept complaining about it. He experienced a terrible reaction to that also. So he went back to taking the Brillinta. His doctor said he had to take the Brillinta for at least a year, then he would reevaluate. When the year was up, the doctor wanted my husband to continue taking the Brillinta but my husband made his own decision to stop taking the med. it has been almost two years now since he stopped taking Brillinta and hasn't had any problems. I don't know why doctors keep denying that Brillinta causes severe reactions to some people. My husbands doctor kept telling him that it couldn't be the Brillinta causes his problems. But we definitely think it was.

Bigdreams,
I'm the one who originally posted about Brillinta. My husband's cardiologist finally changed my husbands med to Plavix after he kept complaining about it. He experienced a terrible reaction to that also. So he went back to taking the Brillinta. His doctor said he had to take the Brillinta for at least a year, then he would reevaluate. When the year was up, the doctor wanted my husband to continue taking the Brillinta but my husband made his own decision to stop taking the med. it has been almost two years now since he stopped taking Brillinta and hasn't had any problems. I don't know why doctors keep denying that Brillinta causes severe reactions to some people. My husbands doctor kept telling him that it couldn't be the Brillinta causes his problems. But we definitely think it was.

I am somewhat surprised by the lack of complaints regarding Brilinta. This is my second stent placement (along with an angioplasty), was given Brilinta and immediately reacted to it - the cardio replaced with Plavix after two days. I am still suffering lingering shortness of breath, from minor to severe. Unlike the docs treating some of the folks above, mine recognized that we had an immediate issue that had to b solved. It is your right as a patient to demand better care, or get a cardiologist that does not go by the nickname of "God", at least in his (her) eyes. It's time to dump lousy docs that are only concerned with the money involved in the prescription game, and find some who actually remember that there role in healthcare is to listen to their patients and solve the problems. Geez...

I'm 62 and recently had 3 stents placed. I'm on Brilinta and have had no issues other than bleeding gums. My heart doctor has told me that the bleeding gums have nothing to do with taking Brilinta. Uh-huh. I have never had any issues with my gums prior to taking Brilinta. It's been 30 days and there has not been any improvement. The crazy thing is I have no problem brushing or flossing; the bleeding gums start out of the blue. I had to go to the ER shortly after I was released following my stent placement for bleeding gums that the ER (Saturday night) doctor called moderate to severe. They bled for over 7 hours. 3 weeks later I had to see my dentist for another bleed that would not stop. I spoke with my PCP and we are giving it another week and then we will try and get the heart doctor to try something other than Brilinta.

Thank you Tito... My husband already talked his doctor into his changing from Brilinta to Plavix. After taking the Plavix for a week, he couldn't stand the side effects of Plavix any longer, it was worse than the Brilinta. So he went back to taking the Brillinta..now he has just resigned himself to the fact that he has to keep taking the Brilinta. He only has about 4 more months to take it. I did want to mention... a while back he decided to quit taking his Simvastatin (cholesterol medicine) to see if maybe it was reacting with the Brilinta and see if he would feel any difference. It did... after a while, he did start feeling a little better, although he still has the shortness of breathe once in a while. Especially in high elevations, like in the mountains. I hope this will be over soon. It's very life changing for everyone. It's funny how some people can breeze through post stent procedure with little or no problems, and others have great difficulty.

O yeah right. My dr also change my heart meds and lowered the dosage of my atorvastatin from 80mg to 20mg. Combinations of meds should also be good. I am taking plavix, aspirin, ramipril, coralan and atorvastatin. Now i'm feeling better with this combination.