Is my father's bladder bleeding due to taking Aspirin and Plavix?

Question

Hello doctor,

I am writing on behalf of my sick father. Last year, he suffered a brain stroke on the right side of the brain, which caused paralysis on his left side of the body. A week after that, he was diagnosed with heart blockage, which needed a bypass procedure. After treatment, he started recovering and walking with a tripod, but he still not able to gain movement of the hand. We just found out that five days before the stroke, he stopped all his medications (Aspirin, cholesterol medicine, Co-diovan, and Avodart). Now, he is on other medications (Tritace 5 mg, Ramipril, Plavix, Aspirin, Feromin, Avodart, Crestor, and Rabezole). He has been suffering from constant bladder bleeding and enlarged prostate, and he is not able to do any operations as his condition does not allow it. He had 20 blood transfusions so far. The doctors are recommending to stop one of the medications after one year of the stroke, which is next week, and they are suggesting to stop Aspirin or Plavix. We would like a second opinion.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com. I read your query and understand your concerns. If you ask me with the formed conclusion that the bladder bleeding is resulting from the use of blood thinners, I would say yes there is need to stop Aspirin. This is a straightforward answer, as the risk of bleeding is much higher than the benefits offered by blood thinners. My opinion is based on the fact that if it can cause bladder bleeding, then it can similarly cause hemorrhagic stroke, which could cause more problems than the benefits. However, I would like to know the current PT (prothrombin time), APTT (activated partial thromboplastin time), INR (international normalized ratio), and platelet count before concluding that the bleeding is caused by blood thinners. If you have the reports, I will request you to share with me. I hope this helps you. If you have more questions feel free to write back to me.