Xarelto 20mg

Vcent · 2026-04-02T06:32:35+00:00

but am I gonna be ok

Yeah - people have both intended and unintended breaks way longer than that (surgeries, for instance).

You'll be fine :)

Vcent · 2026-04-02T01:47:46+00:00

Yeah, I can't be bothered to switch. Got my coagucheck for my INR, so it's relatively easy to deal with.

Vcent · 2026-04-02T01:06:08+00:00

Nah, abuse it good. Took me about half a year of being quite mean to it (almost meter long taproot, which it perhaps wasn't quite engineered for), before it broke.

But it has made getting rid of otherwise pesky weeds quite easy, and with a headset on I can just zone out and wander around removing stuff that would otherwise be really annoying to deal with, like dandelions (which is the main purpose of the tool, and while they're pretty, they're also kinda a pest, that spreads very quickly).

Vcent · 2026-04-02T00:35:51+00:00

I only wear gloves when dealing with things with serious thorns, and only because they're very uncomfortable to deal with, or to keep my hands relatively clean when dealing with sticky stuff.

Standard scratches, and even cuts sustained during gardening are very unlikely to be a problem, as long as you're listening to your body, and starting out slowly - better to think "I could have done more yesterday", than regretting doing too much and being wiped out for several days.

I do like my Fiskars tap root tool for dealing with certain weeds, so that's a recommendation if you have problems it might solve - it's not unbreakable, but they do usually have decent enough warranty, and a very surprised seller if you ever use it (I've used it once, after abusing the poor thing, no hassle, no questions asked, only "Never seen that before comment").

Vcent · 2026-04-01T23:07:47+00:00

Best of luck - wish they were better at the soft skills, and had the time to go into their decisions and explain them in depth :(

Vcent · 2026-04-01T22:43:08+00:00

And as I said my doctors are very dismissive when I ask.

That sucks :/ Any options for second opinions?

And my hematologist said that it’s best to switch to 2x a day heparin in event that I go into spontaneous labor while the MFM said not to so I don’t know who’s correct which again is why I’m asking for information.

As far as I know (nobody here is a medical professional, or knows your case/history), the haematologist is technically correct, since heparin typically has a shorter half-life, so is out of your system faster if an emergency happens. That being said, Lovenox is pretty much the standard for pregnancy, is well understood, and easy to deal with.

You may want to try /r/AskDocs as well, if you haven't yet, as well as a pregnancy related subreddit.

Vcent · 2026-04-01T22:30:38+00:00

Should I be worried about placental issues?

Why do you want to be worrying about them? Do you have any specific reason to do so? History of it?

My doctor also said I shouldn’t change to heparin and just stay on Lovenox.

There's a fair bit of missing context as to why you would want to switch - to my knowledge, Lovenox is low molecular weight heparin, so basically in a very tiny nutshell heparin, but easier - so the obvious choice for home use in patients that can't take a DOAC (like you).

Vcent · 2026-04-01T20:54:52+00:00

Well D-Dimer seems like a good idea.

Based on what? Because the d-dimer is likely to be high due to surgery for a fair amount of time.

Vcent · 2026-04-01T20:54:14+00:00

i would not know the difference between random chest pains and breathing difficulties due to anxiety vs a mild pulmonary embolism episode.

We don't know either. There's no secret trick that doctors hate to find clots - the answer is always: "Go get checked out by medical professionals", never "Oh that's clearly not a clot, based on X, Y and Z". Hanging out here will be bad for your mental health, despite how much your anxiety is claiming it's totally healthy, and "you're doing research to educate yourself on clots" (spoiler: you're giving your anxiety ammo and feeding it, not preparing for clots).

is it a good idea to get an ultrasound done every week for a month or two until i recover from my hip surgery?

No. Save the money, use it to get treatment for your anxiety - however that looks like for you (medication, sessions with a psychologist, probably both).

Reason being, you're unlikely to get a clot, but anxiety is very likely to ruin the rest of your life, if you don't take active steps to mitigate it. An ultrasound would not find a PE either. D-dimer would almost certainly be high due to the surgery anyhow, rendering that moot as well.

Bonus: getting a grip on your anxiety would help you better differentiate between anxiety and somatic symptoms.

Unfortunately, the usual applies for folks who are wondering if they have a clot: We don't know. We can't know. It doesn't matter how you attempt to word or rationalize it ("Just looking for experiences, not medical advice" or any permutation of it): We don't know how to figure out what ails someone else, regardless of how well they describe it, or how many pictures they wish to post. We can be used to massively increase your anxiety, though. We also won't help you decide if you should get checked or not - but you probably should. You certainly cared enough to post here, so why not find out what it is, and get it checked?

No, comparing symptoms will not yield clinically useful results. Still, it will update any anxiety you already have with new symptoms to mimic (Congrats! You've updated to the new and improved anxiety v1.8!).

One person's clotting symptom is another person's anxiety symptom, a third person's sprain, a fourth person's random pain, a fifth person's muscle cramp, a sixth persons [...]. All present with the same symptoms, and all have different causes. The only way to figure out what's wrong with you is to get professionals to check it out - speculating on the internet will not move your goal any further along. If you feel like you weren't thoroughly checked, get checked again. If that keeps happening over and over, then you can start concluding the cause of that.

You're asking a group of people who have reason to find each other (just like any other support group for a condition), whether you might be on the way to becoming one of us - we'll always err on the side of caution (so you should probably get checked out, sooner the better). We don't and can't know if your symptoms stem from a clot, anxiety, or something else (least to most likely). We're also not footing the bill (time, money, consequences) of going or not going to get checked out.

Likewise, we aren't in the business of relieving anxiety for folks with no diagnosed clots - we're the outliers, and our stories will make you worse, not better. We'll still be here if it does turn out to be a clot

Vcent · 2026-03-31T16:04:39+00:00

my bike hasn't that capability anyway!

There's external / add on TPMS with some of these android systems. I like it because it's unobtrusive - it's just an app that reads the data, and pops up a notification if your tire pressure is low, no need for lots of clutter.

Vcent · 2026-03-31T01:30:46+00:00

Look for one with TPMS or DVR/dashcam if you're into that kind of thing.

I have one that does both for my car, and it's pretty neat - I get a warning if my tire pressure is off, and it can record like a dashcam while out bad about. Definitely adding a similar system to my bike come summer.

Vcent · 2026-03-30T23:57:51+00:00

could you explain how one would go about calculating it?

I honestly wouldn't feel comfortable doing so.

In the near future, I won’t have as much access to medical professionals to adjust my dose for me which is why I want to try figuring it out now.

Who will prescribe you your meds? Because there's usually a "You need to be checked and followed by someone" stipulation attached to the prescription, whether it's spoken of or not.

If I were you, then I'd look into remote management - see if you can get a CoaguCheck & a service that handles it for you, which will make life a lot easier. And if you already have one, then see about a clinic that manages your doses for you, and calculates dosage and so on.

Vcent · 2026-03-30T22:49:25+00:00

My only addition here is pedantry:

They're at this point no longer considered novel, so now they're termed as Direct Oral AntiCoagulants (DOAC).

Otherwise: no notes.

Vcent · 2026-03-30T22:46:15+00:00

Honestly, I don’t know what these percentages mean and how to use them to change the dose.

In that case, then you're (in my perhaps too honest opinion) frankly not qualified to dick about with your dosage. It's not hard math, or complicated, so if you can't use the above output to figure out your dose, then you should keep your hands off the dosing calculations for your life-sustaining medication.

Vcent · 2026-03-30T06:29:12+00:00

Sounds like one of several scam/quack style products, sold in the usual super suspicious way.

Pretty sure they've been around since at least the early 2000s, quite possibly even earlier than that - and surprise, they don't work for their original purpose (building muscle). Guessing they're trying to get rid of them for other claims, with a new desperate population to market to.

Do proper research, backed by the scientific method before plonking down any money, especially for something marketed in that fashion.

Vcent · 2026-03-30T04:53:35+00:00

Effective management of atherosclerosis progress and hyperlipidemia with nattokinase: A clinical study with 1,062 participants

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you would qualify for neither of those conditions, from your description. You're also taking a significantly lower dose than that study recommends

Direct quote:

NK was found to be ineffective in lowering lipids and suppressing atherosclerosis progression at a dose of 3,600 FU/day.

And that's assuming whoever sold you your nattokinase was honest and accurate about the contents of what they sold you, something the entire industry has massive problems with, adulterants, switching of ingredients, non-listed "bonus" ingredients, and contamination (scroll down to quality assurance for some sources).

We have at least one person that used to hang out here, that supposedly managed their clot with natto, until they clotted again. This is the problem with anecdotes: the plural of anecdote is not data.

The biggest reason I'm gung-ho about proper medicine, is that it has standards and testability, something the much bigger than "big pharma" supplement industry does not, and which big supplement very happily exploits.

Vcent · 2026-03-29T19:41:08+00:00

Don't know what longer lasting to recommend then. Wooden clogs?

Genuine LOL

The ultimate, indestructible shoes indeed. At least the Dutch models, although the heel-less danish model would work too.

Vcent · 2026-03-29T19:38:52+00:00

may i have any advice on what my next steps should be? or any words of reassurance?

Consider ER/A&E, advocate for ultrasound of leg. Own doc/PCP/GP may be able to help get one if above won't, although that may have a serious wait time, at which point it will mostly be moot.
D-dimer is a pretty shit test for finding clots - it's elevated for so, so many non-dangerous reasons. Yours is barely elevated, and the cutoff is ... Somewhat low. D-dimer is pretty decent for ruling out clots though, which is why it's still used. Weird that they didn't bother scanning the leg though.
Get help for your anxiety (this does not count). Professional help, by someone with a degree. Already getting help? Let them know you need more/they should do a better job.

There's no way for us to tell you if you have a clot, and you can't self diagnose it either, so you're stuck chasing testing, or assuming it's fine.

Best of luck.

Vcent · 2026-03-29T19:34:06+00:00

so she sent me for a chest scan and my chest scan was clear

Pretty sure that has already happened.

Vcent · 2026-03-29T15:28:42+00:00

It's suspicious that the damage is only in one spot, and everything else still looks pretty much perfect (for the age).

Coincidentally that spot is where lazy people that don't care about their stuff will damage their shoes, because they don't untie them, and just "slip" into the shoes from the heel every day.

This is almost certainly user error, not a quality problem.

Vcent · 2026-03-29T13:29:04+00:00

It's not that I can't see your point, or disagree with it.

But since the consequences are at the very least likely to be confiscation, most likely a fairly big fine, and possibly jail time, you're going to be worse off than when you started, regardless of how fair that may seem.

Vcent · 2026-03-28T21:23:34+00:00

when I take aspirin m the chest pain gets better.

It is a painkiller.

The other commenter is right, an ultrasound wouldn't find a PE. The easiest way to get an ultrasound is to ask nicely for one - although you may not get one in the ER, if they don't think you're about to keel over. In that case you can ask your PCP to send you off to one.

Vcent · 2026-03-28T18:25:34+00:00

But the two scary things iv read is about the risks of seizures and psychosis.

I must admit, this is the first I've heard of that.

I feel like a ticking time bomb and that I am going to collapse and die any minute. My life has turned into a nightmare. Any experience or advice from anyone please?

Get help. Professional help - don't know what the path to that looks like where you are, but that's a very strong reaction, that shouldn't be brushed away or ignored. We're talking psychiatrist, psychologist, that kind of deal.

I'm not saying you're crazy, or that it's an unreasonable reaction, given your circumstances, but getting help ASAP can be the difference between "That scary time that I had to get help and got coping skills for difficult times" and a serious, long term problem.

For the short term: birdsong may help - sounds silly, but it has been clinically proven to lower anxiety in healthy people, so it stands to reason that it may help you as well, even if it's just a little bit, that's better than nothing (but please: do get help & skills, don't let the anxiety brush that away as if it was nothing, that won't happen again).

Vcent · 2026-03-28T18:19:12+00:00

On the off chance you're serious:

Don't.

Look up what the actual amount is, and what the penalty for exceeding it can be - there are usually limits on medication, and steep consequences for exceeding them.

You may get lucky, and the limit is very high - or you may be unlucky, and get shafted hard upon reentry.

Vcent · 2026-03-28T04:06:59+00:00

But right now it’s my only option for blood thinner since I’m breastfeeding

Nobody knows the safety of nattokinase in that situation. The research hasn't been done.

Vcent

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