Anticoagulant medications are used to prevent blood clots from forming in the blood vessels. These clots can be harmful as they can impede the blood's circulation throughout the body. Blot clots that affect the brain, for example, can cause strokes. Anticoagulants also may be used to help prevent more blood clots from forming, and to treat conditions of the heart, blood vessels and lungs. Common anticoagulants or blood thinners include warfarin, heparin, clopidogrel, enoxaparin and ticlopidine. Some of these have no common side effects, while others have serious and non-serious side effects.
Bleeding
Bleeding may be a common serious side effect of anticoagulants, such as clopidogrel and enoxaparin, but is less common or rare with other blood thinners. Clopidogrel, for example, may cause nosebleeds, particularly at the start of treatment. This is not a serious side effect of the medication and typically resolves in a few days. Enoxaparin, however, may cause the user some serious side effects that involve bleeding. For example, the patient may experience bleeding from the gums and may also cough up blood. Nosebleeds also are common with enoxaparin, but are categorized as serious with this medicine. Patients may bleed longer from cuts and wounds than normal and may have blood in the urine or stools. In stools, this may manifest as black or red tar-like stools. The urine may be dark brown or red. For a woman, menstrual bleeding may be increased and she may experience vaginal bleeding between periods. All of these forms of bleeding from anticoagulants occur because the drugs may be preventing normal blood clotting. Patients taking enoxaparin should contact a physician immediately, the Mayo Clinic recommends.
Pain
Several anticoagulants may induce pain. For example, patients may feel pain at the site of injection for heparin, but it should be mild. With clopidogrel, pain may manifest as headaches or it may occur in the stomach. Pain in the stomach also may occur with ticlopidine use. The National Institutes of Health classifies these as non-serious side effects of these drugs. Enoxaparin also may cause headaches, but these are serious side effects, so the patient should consult a physician immediately.
Nausea and Diarrhea
Some anticoagulants, such as ticlopidine and clopidogrel, may induce nausea and queasiness at the start of treatment, leading to vomiting, Ticlopidine also may cause diarrhea at the beginning of treatment. This may be accompanied by abdominal cramps. These are common, non-serious side effects of these medications and do not generally require medical aid unless they are severe or continue beyond a few days.
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