Effient vs. Coumadin

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

Effient (prasugrel) and Coumadin (warfarin) are used to prevent blood clots.

Effient is 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.

Coumadin is used to reduce or prevent the chance of developing heart attacks (myocardial infarctions), strokes, and venous and other blood clots (deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary emboli and thrombi produced with atrial fibrillation). Coumadin is also used to treat these conditions if they develop.

Effient and Coumadin belong to different drug classes. Effient is an antiplatelet drug and Coumadin is an anticoagulant.

Side effects of Effient and Coumadin that are similar include increased tendency for bleeding and nausea.

Side effects of Effient that are different from Coumadin include headache, dizziness, back pain, minor chest pain, tired feeling, fatigue, 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.

Side effects of Coumadin that are different from Effient include easy bruising, vomiting, stomach pain, bloating, gas, or altered sense of taste.

Both Effient and Coumadin may interact with other medications to prevent blood clots.

Effient may also interact with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

Coumadin may also interact with alcohol, grapefruit or grapefruit juice, antibiotics, antifungals, sulfa drugs, medicines to treat tuberculosis, antidepressants, herbal (botanical) products (including coenzyme Q10, cranberry, echinacea, garlic, ginkgo biloba, ginseng, goldenseal, or St. John's wort), secobarbital, barbiturates, or seizure medications.

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 Coumadin include:

• easy bruising and bleeding,
• nausea,
• vomiting,
• stomach pain,
• bloating,
• gas, or
• altered sense of taste.

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.

Coumadin (warfarin) is a blood anticoagulant that inhibits the function of Vitamin K dependent coagulation used to inhibit the coagulation of blood to reduce or prevent the chance of developing heart attacks (myocardial infarctions), strokes, and venous and other blood clots (deep venous thromboses, pulmonary emboli and thrombi produced with atrial fibrillation). Coumadin is also used to treat these conditions if they develop. Coumadin is available as a generic.

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.

Coumadin may interact with blood thinners and heparin, antibiotics, antidepressants, antifungals, antithrombotics, bone marrow stimulants, bosentan, conivaptan, cyclosporine, dextran, heart or blood pressure medications, hepatitis C medications, HIV/AIDS medications, imatinib, isoniazid, nefazodone, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), rifabutin, rifampin, rifapentine, salicylates (such as aspirin, Pepto-Bismol, and others), seizure medications, St. John's wort, thrombopoietic growth factors, or vasodilators.

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.

Coumadin has a wide range of tablets: 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.5 and 10 mg tablets are available. An injectable form of the drug (5 mg) is also available. The dose of Coumadin is determined in each individual by administering a trial dose and ten measuring the patient's INR (International Normalized Ratio), a lab test that is standardized by the WHO (world Health Organization) and recognized worldwide. Therapeutic ranges for this test are between 2.0 to 3.0 when a patient is taking Coumadin. INR levels below 2 may allow easier blood clotting to occur while levels above 3 may cause excessive tendency for the patient to bleed.