Remember, your doctor is the single best source of information regarding your
health. Please consult your doctor if you have any questions about your health,
your medicines, or PLAVIX information.
General Questions About PLAVIX
What is PLAVIX?
PLAVIX is a prescription antiplatelet medicine that is proven to help keep platelets
in the blood from sticking together and forming clots. This helps your blood to
flow more easily, reducing the risk of a future heart attack or stroke.
What is an antiplatelet medicine?
Antiplatelet medicines help keep platelets from sticking together and forming clots,
which helps keep blood flowing. Clots are the direct cause of most heart attacks
and strokes. Doctors often prescribe antiplatelet medicines for patients who are
at increased risk for a future heart attack or
stroke, or who have Peripheral Artery
Disease (P.A.D.)—also known as poor circulation in the legs.
What is the important risk information I should know?
Certain genetic factors and some medicines such as Prilosec reduce the effect of PLAVIX leaving you at greater risk for heart attack and stroke. Your doctor may use genetic tests to determine treatment. Don’t stop taking PLAVIX without talking to your doctor as your risk of heart attack or stroke may increase. People with stomach ulcers or conditions that cause bleeding should not use PLAVIX. Taking PLAVIX alone or with some other medicines, including aspirin, may increase bleeding risk, so tell your doctor when planning surgery. Tell your doctor all medicines you take, including aspirin, especially if you’ve had a stroke. If fever, unexplained weakness or confusion develops, tell your doctor promptly. These may be signs of TTP, a rare but potentially life-threatening condition, reported sometimes less than 2 weeks after starting PLAVIX. Other rare but serious side effects may occur.
Click here for Full Prescribing Information Including Boxed Warning.
Are there any side effects that may occur
when taking PLAVIX or PLAVIX with aspirin?
Certain genetic factors and some medicines such as Prilosec reduce the effect of PLAVIX leaving you at greater risk for heart attack and stroke. Your doctor may use genetic tests to determine treatment. Don’t stop taking PLAVIX without talking to your doctor as your risk of heart attack or stroke may increase. People with stomach ulcers or conditions that cause bleeding should not use PLAVIX. Taking PLAVIX alone or with some other medicines, including aspirin, may increase bleeding risk, so tell your doctor when planning surgery. Tell your doctor all medicines you take, including aspirin, especially if you’ve had a stroke. If fever, unexplained weakness or confusion develops, tell your doctor promptly. These may be signs of TTP, a rare but potentially life-threatening condition, reported sometimes less than 2 weeks after starting PLAVIX. Other rare but serious side effects may occur.
Click here for Full Prescribing Information Including Boxed Warning.
What makes PLAVIX the #1 prescribed antiplatelet
medicine?*
For more than 11 years, doctors have written PLAVIX prescriptions to over 100 million people. PLAVIX has been the focus of extensive research, studies,
and scientific findings. The effectiveness of PLAVIX has been proven and the safety profile supported by 3 large clinical studies involving 77,000 patients.
What clinical data support the FDA-approved uses for PLAVIX?
In one clinical trial consisting of over 19,000 patients, PLAVIX was shown to be
more effective than aspirin at reducing the risk of another heart attack or stroke
for those who:
In another study involving over 12,000 patients, it was determined that PLAVIX taken
with aspirin and other heart medicines provided more protection against a future
heart attack or stroke than aspirin and other heart medicines alone for patients
who:
- had a certain type of heart attack (non–ST-segment elevation heart attack)
- were hospitalized with heart-related chest pain
Two heart attack research studies involved over 48,000 patients. These studies determined
that PLAVIX taken with aspirin goes beyond what other heart medicines do alone to
provide greater protection against a heart attack, stroke, or even death for patients
who:
- had a heart attack due to a completely blocked artery
Click here for Full Prescribing Information Including Boxed Warning.
Aren't blood pressure and cholesterol medicines enough to protect against heart
attack or stroke?
Reducing high blood pressure and cholesterol is important, but you also need to
help reduce the formation of clots in the blood. When platelets in the blood stick
together, they can form artery-clogging clots, which are the direct cause of most
heart attacks and strokes. Although blood pressure and cholesterol medicines reduce
your overall cardiovascular risk, they do not directly reduce clot formation. Prescription
PLAVIX does.
See how different cardiovascular medications work using the
Interactive Medications Chart.
How can PLAVIX help protect me from a future heart attack or stroke?
Your doctor may have prescribed PLAVIX because you have had a recent heart attack
or recent stroke, or have Peripheral Artery Disease (P.A.D.)—also known as poor
circulation in the legs. PLAVIX is proven to help keep platelets in the blood from
sticking together and forming clots—the cause of most heart attacks and strokes.
Taking PLAVIX once a day can help reduce your risk of a future heart attack or stroke,
so ask your doctor for more PLAVIX information.
How should PLAVIX be taken?
It’s important you take PLAVIX exactly as your doctor has directed to help reduce
your risk of a future heart attack or stroke. PLAVIX should be taken at the same time every day,
with or without food. For patients who have what doctors call Acute Coronary Syndrome
(ACS), PLAVIX should be taken together with aspirin as directed by your physician.
Remember, PLAVIX can help to protect you as long as you continue to take it as your
doctor recommends.
I'm currently taking Prilosec®, can this affect how PLAVIX works?
If you are currently taking Prilosec®, you should know that the effectiveness of PLAVIX has been shown to be reduced when it is taken with certain prescription or over-the-counter medications such as Prilosec® or other proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs), which reduce stomach acid. Other stomach acid reducers have not been shown to affect how PLAVIX works, with the exceptions of Tagamet® and Tagamet HB®.
If you have questions about how PLAVIX works in your body, talk with your doctor about your concerns. Tell your doctor about any other medications you are taking, including prescription or over-the-counter Prilosec® or other PPIs.
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Do certain genetic factors affect PLAVIX?
Certain genetic factors reduce the effect of PLAVIX leaving you at greater risk for heart attack and stroke. Your doctor may use genetic tests to determine treatment. Don’t stop taking PLAVIX without talking to your doctor as your risk of heart attack or stroke may increase.
What to do next: Learn about heart attack
or heart-related chest pain Get information
on stroke Find out more about P.A.D.
Already taking PLAVIX