tablets

[footballer]

my wife has recently been prescribed tranexamic acid for heavy periods but she has had a clot in the leg in the past will this affect her

[AB Editor]

For all medical questions, we strongly advise you to seek professional advice from your doctor or a healthcare professional.  Please do not rely on, or wait for, advice from Answerbank users.

[Kay]

Your wife must ask her GP about this FB.

[tracymort]

You definately need to talk to gp.  i wouldn't let her take any until she has gone back to him, he may have missed this in her history as apparently there is a risk of clots when taking this.

Has your tried anything else first before this?  The pill is out obviously too as your wife's history contraindicates this too.   Heavy periods often have an underlying cause like endometriosis or fibroids.  Personally i prefer complimentary medicine, a homeopath for example may be worth a try seeing that the common conventional treatments cannot be used based on your wife's history.

[MURKY]

Yes i took that stuff. Check with your GP, I think it has something to do with clotting blood anyway,

[soonny]

Tranexamic acid or it's chemical name,  Cyclohexanecarboxylic acid, 4-(aminomethyl) is actually an antifibrinolytic agent. Now I know you must be asking what's an antifibrinolytic agent... If youd don't mind reading a little. :)

 

Our blood clotting process is pretty complex to go into detail but let me just give you a simple outline. Whenever there's injury to the blood vessel, or any incidence which could cause a heamorrhage (leaking of blood), platelets would adhere to each other forming a platelet plug to sort of seal of the leakage temporarily before the real blood clotting process occur.

 

First prothrombin activator enzymes will be produced to turn inactive prothrombin into it's active form which is thrombin. Thrombin in turn will turn the soluble fibrinogen in the blood to precipitate into it's insoluble form which is fibrin. The fibrin will then form a mesh like network to seal of the wound before healing takes place. But what happens after healing is completed? You wouldn't want a fibrin mesh sticking there forever right? So it undergoes a process called fibrinolysis, the breaking down of the fibrin mesh, or the breaking down of the blood clot.

 

Tranexamic acid is antifibrinolytic, which means it prevents the breaking down of the fibrin mesh in return to maintain the blood clot. This is generally used to control massive haemorrhage. But I wouldn't advice using it if your wife has any past history of hypertension or any cardiovascular disease because this tends to form blood clots and might just clog up any major/minor arteries. This might lead to many things including a myocardial infarction (heart attack), stroke, etc etc.

[soonny]

If you suspect a blood clot in the leg, consult your GP. There are drugs (thrombus busters) which can dissolve blood clots fairly effectively but then again this would also come with side effects (cause your wife's period to worsen even more). Modern medicine... sigh...

 

your wife will be fine if the blood clot if not too huge and it doesn't travel to anywhere else in the body.

[lynneylou]

I have been prescribed this for the occasional heavy period although have been told this is due to polycystic ovaries. unsure whethe to take???r

[claireyfairy]

I took this on one occasion when I was 17 having been on a constant period for 5 weeks and didn't have a problem, then again there had not been a concern with blood clots with myself so I would tell you wife to call her gp surgery and double check, better to be safe than sorry

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