Effient vs. Brilinta

• Are Brilinta and Effient the Same Thing?
• What Are Possible Side Effects of Effient?
• What Are Possible Side Effects of Brilinta?
• What Is Effient?
• What Is Brilinta?
• What Drugs Interact with Effient?
• What Drugs Interact with Brilinta?
• How Should Effient Be Taken?
• How Should Brilinta Be Taken?

Effient (prasugrel) and Brilinta (ticagrelor) are antiplatelet drugs (blood thinners) used to prevent blood clots in people with acute coronary syndrome who are undergoing a procedure after a recent heart attack or stroke, and in people with certain disorders of the heart or blood vessels.

Side effects of Effient and Brilinta that are similar include increased tendency for bleeding, headache, dizziness, back pain, minor chest pain, fatigue, nausea, cough, high or low blood pressure (hypertension or hypotension), and diarrhea.

Side effects of Effient that are different from Brilinta include tired feeling, shortness of breath, slow heart rate, rash, fever, and swelling or pain in the extremities.

Side effects of Brilinta that are different from Effient include bruising, nosebleeds, and irregular heartbeat.

Both Effient and Brilinta may interact with other anticoagulants, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

Brilinta may also interact with alcohol, antifungals, HIV/AIDS medications, cholesterol medications, heart or blood pressure medications, narcotics, seizure medicines, and tuberculosis medicines.

Common side effects of Effient include:

• an increased tendency for bleeding,
• headache,
• dizziness,
• back pain,
• minor chest pain,
• tired feeling,
• fatigue,
• nausea,
• cough,
• high or low blood pressure (hypertension or hypotension),
• shortness of breath,
• slow heart rate,
• rash,
• fever,
• swelling or pain in the extremities, and
• diarrhea.

Common side effects of Brilinta include:

• increased bleeding,
• nosebleeds, and
• bruising

Other side effects of Brilinta include:

• dizziness,
• cough,
• nausea,
• diarrhea,
• irregular heartbeat,
• high or low blood pressure,
• back pain,
• fatigue, and
• chest pain

Tell your doctor if you have serious side effects of Brilinta including easy bruising, unusual bleeding (nose, mouth, vagina, or rectum), bleeding from wounds or needle injections, any bleeding that will not stop; heavy menstrual periods; headache, dizziness, weakness, feeling like you might pass out; red, pink, or brown urine; black or bloody stools, coughing up blood or vomit that looks like coffee grounds; numbness, tingling, or muscle weakness (especially in your legs and feet); or loss of movement in any part of your body.

Effient (prasugrel) is an antiplatelet drug that prevents the platelets in the bloodstream from aggregating and forming blood clots, used to prevent blood clots in people with acute coronary syndrome who are undergoing a procedure after a recent heart attack or stroke, and in people with certain disorders of the heart or blood vessels.

Brilinta is a prescription medicine used to treat people who have had a heart attack or severe chest pain that happened because their heart was not getting enough oxygen.

Effient may interact with NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) or warfarin. Tell your doctor all medications and supplements you use. There are no adequate and well-controlled studies of Effient use in pregnant women, although studies in animals did not show any evidence of harm to the developing fetus. Effient should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit to the mother justifies the potential risk to the fetus. It is unknown whether prasugrel is excreted in human milk.

Brilinta may interact with other blood thinners, HIV or AIDS medications, seizure medications, and antifungals. Brilinta may also interact with dexamethasone, digoxin, nefazodone, antibiotics, cholesterol-lowering medications, and heart or blood pressure medications.

Brilinta may also interact with dexamethasone (Decadron), digoxin (Lanoxin, Digitek, Digibind), nefazodone (Serzone), certain antibiotics, cholesterol-lowering medications (statins), and heart or blood pressure medications.

Effient treatment is started as a single 60-mg oral loading dose and then continued at 10 mg orally once daily. Patients taking Effient should also take aspirin (75 mg to 325 mg) daily.

Brilinta can be taken with or without food.

Brilinta is taken with aspirin. Talk to your doctor about the dose of aspirin that you should take with Brilinta. You should not take a dose of aspirin higher than 100 mg daily because it can affect how well Brilinta works. Do not take doses of aspirin higher than what your doctor tells you to take. Tell your doctor if you take other medicines that contain aspirin, and do not take new over-the-counter medicines with aspirin in them.