Plavix/Aspirin Description

The Plavix/Aspirin or generic Clopidogrel/Acetylsalicylic Acid combination is a clot fighting medication prescribed for reducing the risk of another heart attack or stroke, undergone the placement of a stent, or if you have a heart condition or narrowed arteries. Taking Plavix/Aspirin is not a cure for heart disease, it is a platelet aggregation inhibitor or anti platelet drug that can help to prevent another cardiac event. The generic alternative is not manufactured by the company that makes the brand product.

How This Combination Antiplatelet and ASA Will Help You

As an anti platelet medicine, Plavix/Aspirin works by stopping a natural substance in your body, called adenosine diphosphate (ADP), from binding to its receptors on platelets also known as thrombocytes. These are components of blood whose job it is to clump together to form a clot to stop bleeding. The clot, however, can break away and travel to your heart or brain and cause a heart attack or stroke or can block a stent that has been placed to keep arteries open. Depending on your cardiologist, Plavix/Aspirin may be taken for 1 year or less and then a low dose Aspirin is taken indefinitely and Plavix may be stopped.

Explanation of a Stent and Importance of Taking Plavix/Aspirin

If you have already experienced a heart attack or are at a high risk of having one, a cardiologist can recommend placing a stent in your coronary artery to improve the blood flow to your heart. The stent is a tiny wire mesh tube that is collapsed and placed over a catheter balloon. Once the blocked area is located, the balloon is inflated which expands the stent and it locks in place to hold the artery open.

Your body’s’ response to this minimally invasion procedure is to heal the area by forming a clot, which is not what you want to occur. Plavix/Aspirin works to stop platelets from forming a clot around the stent and this could take a month or more, depending on if the stent is bare or coated with a medication that means you may have to take Plavix/Aspirin longer.

Before You Receive a Plavix/Aspirin Rx

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, trying to become pregnant, or are breast feeding before taking Plavix/Aspirin as it may be harmful to your unborn or nursing baby. Other medical conditions or allergies should be discussed with your doctor and provide a list of any over the counter and prescription drugs you currently take or use, including herbal, dietary, and vitamin supplements. This will help your doctor determine if it is safe for you buy Plavix/Aspirin and begin taking it as directed.

Plavix/Aspirin Precautions

If you are scheduled for any surgical or dental procedure, inform the medical staff that you are taking Plavix/Aspirin as you may have to stop taking it for several days or more before and/or after the procedure. Ask your doctor about taking any acid-reducing products while on Plavix/Aspirin as their ingredients can interfere with how Plavix will work for you. Do not start, stop, or change the dosage of any meds you are on without talking to your doctor first.

Possible Side Effects of Plavix/Aspirin

• Itching
• Bruising
• Diarrhea

Drugs Similar to Plavix/Aspirin

• Effient
• Xarelto
• Aggrenox