Can You Ride on Roller Coasters if You're Taking Coumadin

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Howdy,
Had a mild MI 5 weeks ago with 2 coronary stents placed. Last week had to have a third stent. Cardiologist said "You're good, see you in 25 years".

BUT!!!

Now I'm on a platelet inhibitor, (blood thiner). For two years.... Bruise easily and bleed for a while with minor cuts.:ddog

SOOOO...

In this situation, would you continue to ride????
Insight, comments, observations, etc will be appreciated.

Thanks!
Sugar Pig almost certain...

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NC

I remember reading about someone on here that rides on cumadin sp?
I felt like that was a little past my comfort range (my sister is on it for life). I sure would hate to give up riding though.
Personal decision, the answer is probably already in your head.

Good luck!
I can't tell you what you should do with your life, but may I suggest that you consider your quality of life.
If you love to ride - as in you can't wait to get on the bike each and every day, rain or shine, commuting to work or enjoying a weekend excursion, then perhaps riding is worth the risk.

Of course if you are supporting a spouse and/or kids, I feel that those responsibilities come before anything else.

...and if it's only 2 years, a hiatus may be in order. Taking a break from the things we love to do can be a good thing.
I am an ATGATT rider. Not much riskier with the meds, IMHO.
If your style is riding in shorts, sandals and a tank top, I'd stay off the bike (saw a rider last weekend out on an sport bike dressed as such).

Of course, mowing the yard could be just as dangerous.
Morbid(ity) Thought: With bikes, it isn't bleeding to death that's the risk, it's the impact that usually kills you.....ride on, no more risk than the rest of us. Wear one of those med-alert bracelet things to inform the ambulance crew.
I have the lifetime supply of coumadin. Last year my doctor talked me into retiring from being a track junkie. Higher speeds and taking higher risks in order to go around the track as fast as I can- I could no longer justify the risk of an uncontrollable brain bleed vs. the value I derived from track days.
On the other hand, I'm still willing to ride on the road- at least for now and knowing statistically it is more dangerous than the racetrack. However, there are several rides I want to do before I hang up my helmet. Significantly, I derive more value from my rides, so it is worth taking some measure of risk. I ride a little slower, a little more carefully and somewhat less frequently than I used to.

So yes, you have to ask yourself, how important riding is to you. What do you derive from the experience that may make it worth the risk? It goes beyond identifying oneself as "hey look at me, I'm a biker dude." What is it about riding that you need, that you find fulfilling, that makes some connection with and part of your existence? And are you better off living without it?
Kenadian Been here awhile

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Oct 29, 2008

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226

I am not a medical person, but I know that the quality of life declines when we stop doing what we love. I don't mean to be flip, but life is short and I think it is important to keep our juices flowing. I really believe that the most dangerous thing we can do is to give up when we hit a pot hole. I guess you have to check in with yourself and decided how important it is to ride a motorcycle. Good luck!
Ken
I have been an R.N in the operating rooms for 20 years now. Here is what I would do.
Make sure the therapeutic level of the anticoagulants is correct.
Make sure your doc says your fit.
Ride.
But you need to wear all the gear.
If you do happen to have a major off and a sudden decelerative injury tears your aorta your as good as dead whether you were on anticoagulants or not.
However (always a however) certain seemingly minor impacts to the head, even with a helmet, may cause bleeding subdurally. So if you wack your head a good one get medical follow-up. A bleed like that can take days to kill you so even if you feel fine go see a doc.
SugarPig, RoyBatty, FolsomTony, Ihendrik, Exurban and Kenadian:
This is why I LOVE THIS WEBSITE!!

First of all, you guys are great. It was'nt the fact that you were kind enough to respond but HOW UTTERLY SINCERE each of your messages were!

This is a strange time for me, (and I'm a doctor). Yes it will be a very personal decision but I know I will not give up riding. I will definitely slow down, no track days, choose time and day, and atgatt. Hopefully in 2 years I can get off this drug and go back to normal. What a colossal pile of shit!!

I'm a Christian so God bless you and keep it out of the trees men!

Sincerely,
You too ricohman!
Thanks,
I wouldn't let this stop you from riding at all.
From a medical perspective here is what I think....please take it for what its worth as I would not call myself an expert on coumadin. But I do think I have a pretty good basic grasp on it as a paramedic.

I think the first thing to point out is that there is risk of injury or death with or without taking coumadin when we climb on our bikes. We have to accept that possibility. However, there are reasons well stated in other comments of why we accept that risk. We help mitigate those risks by wearing proper gear and riding as safe as possible.

With that in mind we now have to ask what is the increased risk of injury or death while taking coumadin? Well basically you don't clot very well while taking coumadin. It also weakens your vascular system making you more vulnerable to bleeding. However given the fact that you are only going to be taking it for several years I would guess that your vessels won't be damaged near as much as say someone who has taken coumadin for many many years.

The injuries in my mind that have the highest potential of causing harm that would be complicated by taking coumadin would be a head injury(specifically a bleed within your brain or skull), hemothorax(bleeding into the space between your lung and chest wall causing your lung to collapse), liver laceration, spleen laceration, pelvic fractures, femur fractures. There is others as well but these would be the major ones. The thing to keep in mind is that these injuries would only be complicated by the coumadin and would likely take a mechanism of fairly significant force and would likely be present with or without taking coumadin. So really you are only increasing the severity of injury by taking coumadin....you are not adding new risks that would otherwise not be there already.

What is going to be your enemy while taking coumadin in case of a crash would be distance from a good hospital that can appropriatly manage a critical trauma patient. The good part is that the effects of coumadin can be reversed once you get to the emergency room by giving you vitamin K. They will also be able to give you blood until they can fix the problems.

The biggest thing you can do for yourself while taking coumadin is keep on top of your coumadin levels. It is a medication that is meant to be in a therapeutic range and has some not so nice side effects if that level gets to high.

In my humble opinion I think that there is not enough increased risk to ever quit riding while your on coumadin. The risks of riding were there before you started taking coumadin....will be there while your taking it....and will still be there after your done taking it.

Life is about doing the things that we enjoy and being around our family and friends. I wouldn't let this take anything away from that. If riding is important to you then keep right on riding.

I don't know if this was the info you were looking for and others may correct some of my details that know more than I.

EDIT: After I post I find out that you are a Dr and already know much more than I....oh well maybe my info on your thread will help others on this site that might be taking that med. Cheers and happy riding. I am sure that it is a very tough decision(especially with your medical background). I wish you well!
Signal it's such a fine line between stupid and clever

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Plavix or similar is a very different animal when compared to coumadin....
riding on coumadin has some real risks (particularly intracranial hemmorage).....plavix risk would be much, much less.

My vote- Gear up, ride smart, no stupid risks.
I am on coumadin for life. Must have a blood test every two weeks. I don't even think about it. If I can't ride my hayabusa and GSXR 1000 and 4 wheelers and dirt bike why live. I am to young for golf or fishing. I am only 62. Don't forget healthy people die to. There are more ways to lose your life then dieing. Life is short so get on with it and have fun.
In fact, the drug I'm taking is called Prasugrel or Effient. It is a platelet inhibitor similar to Plavix. Just newer and probably more expensive. It needs to be given to stent patients to keep those patent or open. Coumadin can be antagonized by giving Vit K and Fresh Frozen Plasma. Coumadin is more dangerous in a trauma situation but easier to counteract. It's margin of safety is narrower. It is one of the most powerful drugs we have. In order to counteract prasugrel you would need to transfuse platelets. In many circumstances, platelets are more difficult to obtain than FFP.
In either case there is increased risk but with a clear medical alert mechanism, (eg bracelet), I believe the risk is manageable. No matter how one looks at it, there is more danger. Again, it's a personal call. I think I'll take it with more conservative riding but I won't give it up. In 18 to 24 months, once the drug is stopped, the risk will be similar to anyone else.

It sucks getting old, (but the alternative is worse).

Many thanks!!!!
GB . Administrator Super Moderator Super Supporter

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Moved to the Riding forum.
THE CONSENSUS SEEMS TO BE: WE JUST NEED TO LIVE UNTIL WE DIE!
Right???

Sooo,,,, " WTF?!!!"

"Mangiare bene, schievare forte, non temare de la morte"

("Eat well, screw hard and never fear death")

Quote from my father, may he rest in peace.
6gun Been here awhile

I'm not a doctor but I used to play one when I was a child. Only advice I can give is to read my sigline!
After my third DVT at 46, I'm also working on a lifetime supply of Coumadin. I think it's very cool that independently, we all came to the same decision that riding is worth the increased risk of dying. This is one of the only threads where I agree with just about everything that everyone said. The only things I would add is that I always ride with a SPOT tracker and I always try to ride with at least 1 other person and let them know my situation in case something happens. In, my case, I can also ride with a prescription of Vitamin K to begin counteracting the Coumadin if necessary. Also, I won't ride further than a couple hour MedEvac ride from a proper hospital.
Thanks for posting this. Now I don't feel like as big of an idiot for going against my doctor's recommendations.
Had a stroke last year at 54, was on coumadin (rat posion) for about a year, made me feel like shit. Found a study on the internet that 4 full stength aspirins daily just as effective with no no blood tests required, my cardiologist concurred and switched me to aspirin therapy with no PT/INR tests. Feel better and always rode as much as ever regardless of medications.