Xarelto Fluid Retention (Top voted first)

I had to take Xarelto due to two sinus venous thrombosis in my head. 8 weeks of heparin injections showed no side effects. But with the first day of taking Xarelto my body reacted by retaining water. Within the first three weeks I gained 24.46 lb hill exercising 5 times a week and eating as I always did. After retaining more and more water I stopped taking it after three months. I started with a weight of 120 lb at a height of 5''8 and now I weigh 157 lb. I have to ad that I started taking it in the middle of March and stopped taking it at the end of June. I was not able to loose any water/weight. I eat less than I always did before even while I exercise. All doctors couldn't find the one thing that changed through Xarelto. Has anybody ever experienced something like this while taking Xarelto??

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I'm a cardiologist and have had three patients with swelling. Drug representitive said no reported cases. I switched them to traditional Coumadin with low dose diuretic and gone in five days. I think xarelto causes swelling.

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Yes I have experienced the same problem with bloating and weight gain. I was on Xarelto for 6 months. Immediately when I started with the drug I started to feel bloated in my abdomen. My weight continued to rise until it was so uncomfortable that I stopped taking it. Doctors could not tell me why this was happening.
I was gaining weight despite fasting 2 days a week. I have been off the drug for 6 months now but I still feel bloated and my abdomen is still distended. This drug has clearly done something to our systems that is causing this to happen. I pray the damage is not permanent.

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Others have had no success with diuretics. Was yours successful? What did you use?

I have researched these Factor Xa Inhibitors (Xarelto & Elliquis). These drugs are highly protein bound in the blood and are not easily removed or filtered.
Could this protein binding be causing our systems to treat it as a protein deficiency which causes fluid/water retention?

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Finally! For those suffering with a bloated and distended abdomen I may have some good news for you. (It's not fluid retention). It appears that for some of us, the Xarelto drug has damaged the lining of the GI tract which results in it becoming too permeable. This condition allows an abnormal amount of toxins and food particles into the bloodstream, which in turn is attacked by our immune system. This condition remains unrepaired even after the cessation of the drug therapy. For 2 ½ years I have tried everything to attempt to return my system to a normal condition with no success, until now. Research the “The Master Cleanse”! It’s a 10 day program that is focused on a specific liquid only diet, but more importantly it has an elimination component that clears, cleans, and flushes your entire GI tract in a “top down” approach. This appears to be the primary factor for me in clearing the GI wall to allow the lining to heal without contaminants. I may have to repeat this “Cleanse” more than once over the next few years, but it is first time in 2 ½ years that my abdomen has shrunk back to normal!! Good luck!

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Hello Verwon
Thanks for your answer.
Yes we did try all diuretic that are available on the market right now. They helped a little bit on the first two days and after these two days all the water just came back. I've been sent to all different kind of doctors and they all tell me the same that they've never seen something like this before and that they have absolutely no clue how this could happen and how they could treat it. We had some experimenting me taking Metphormin, but it changed nothing.
The water does not concentrate on one specific area of the body but rather the whole body incl. fingers, toes, face, etc. And it shifts. After exercising, the water flowed down from my face and shoulders to my stomach and after an hour it just comes back up. Really creapy!

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That is so creepy . I've been so bloated 6 lbs. since being on xarelto and I've gained

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I am now on a diuretic again which is called: Dytide H. I also got support tights and the combination helped. I've already lost 5 kg and you can see that water is gone from my body. At the moment, I am fasting and hope that some water will stay away. I think my body is finally recovering and finds the strength again to let the water go. I hope it continues like this.

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I'm 27 years old, discovered DVT in left leg just after cristmas. Started Xarelto in the begining of the year which makes it 5 and a half months. I started swelling in the ankles about 2 weeks ago and slowly started growing into the calf of right leg, stomach and face. I feel like my stomach is going to explode. I only gained 5kg on top of my 64, but I have to say I've never seen my ankles and stomach so big! After reading these posts I will have to speak to my doctor and ask for a change. I will keep u updated.

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PLEASE READ!! I have finally found a way to get rid of WATER weight caused by XERELTO. I have been dealing w/it since August when I stopped taking xerelto. Organic TUMERIC!! Just mix 1/4 teaspoon in a smoothie or tea every day w/one twist of fresh black pepper (it's needed to increase absorption) I was about to start taking a water pill until I did research on natural edema cures. It has been two weeks & I have seen a major difference! B4 I started you couldn't even see my medial ankle bone & now it's prominent again. I wanted to make sure I shared this w/all of u! I'm going to continue taking it until the whole jar is finished & I am VERY optimistic. I don't care that the drs don't acknowledge this major side effect!! We all know it's true!! TUMERIC also strengthens your immune system & eliminates inflammation which is why I think it helps so much w/the edema. Good luck to all!!!! :))))

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Hi again,

I've seen another doctor which made it right. Put me off from xarelto straight away and gave me warfarin instead, also gave me some diuretic (bumetanide). After 10 days I'm almost as normal as I used to be before anything happened. It is just the ankles that are a little swolen. Hope this helped you.

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I have been on xarelto for 6 months post tummy tuck/ breast reduction that lead to bilateral PE's. Today is my last dose and I couldn't be happier! I, like many of you have experienced bad headaches and severe swelling. I am a nurse and work very long shifts. When I am at work I get so bloated and swollen that I literally feel as though my stomach may rip open. I wake up in the morning with a very flat stomach only to look 9 months pregnant by mid afternoon. I am unsure of my weight gain but I do know that it definitely has increased. I am so upset thinking that this will not go away now that I am going to be off the xarelto. Has anyone had any luck getting the weight off and has the swelling subsided? If so, what helped or what did you do? Please help this Mom feel good about herself again :(

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I am so glad I read this... I had a dvt from a long haul flight and was put on the blood thinner xarelto too. I actually had people feel my stomach and say congratulations. I train 3 times per day. I also go paddle-boarding before work so can end up doing over 3 hours of exercise a day 5/6 times per week. I tracked all my calories - usually 1700 to 2000 max and still gained weight. I wondered whether there was something going on with my colon and had days where I did a purge and nothing happened. Another couple of days I ate prunes to see if there was something to shift.. nope.

After trying everything I realized it was the blood thinner. I thought I would see if others have had the same issue and stumbled on you all. So thank you.

Today I came off the blood thinners so will carry on tracking weight and do some cleanses and report back.

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Sigh.....I agree. I guess doing everything we can including dieting helps us all rationalize that we are leaving no stone unturned. I can sense that we are all extremely healthy individuals who are highly disciplined and intuned with our bodies which is what makes our situation so difficult for us to deal with. Most average people would not be affected so greatly by our situation, they might not even Make the connection or just blame it on something else. We know better...

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Try taking a probiotic. It helped with the bloating for me.

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I switched from Coumadin to Xarelto after taking coumadin for 7 years (for a protein S deficiency) and generally being sick of it. To my surprise I started to swell almost right away and in about 6 months I gained 20 pounds. I went from 119 lbs to 138.8 lbs (and let me tell you that when you're 5'1 it shows) for no reason even if I ate better and watched my portions. To give a concrete exemple, in the space of two days while barely eating anything aside from healthy meals I gained 2 1/2 pounds

I'm a healthy 25 years old and now I'm stuck with that weight gain. What is weird is that it isn't exactly fat, I don't fit in some of my pants anymore and my breats are bigger/swollen, but then again I don't have love handles, it is very weird.

I've been off Xarelto for a almost a week now, going back to Coumadin, and I'm not losing weight. The first couple of days I peed A LOT and lost about 3 pounds of liquid but it stopped after that and my weight is not fluctuating anymore even though I eat even less than I did while on Xarelto.

Did anybody manage to lose the weight after they stopped taking Xarelto and could you explain how?

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I've approached this issue from a different perspective. Similar results to everyone here and a spongy stomach with weight gain and diet making no difference. I wonder whether Xeralto weakens the muscles, especially affecting the abdominals. It turns out that I have a Diastasis Recti (separation of the abs) and have started Physio therapy plus following the Tupler Technique with a band and transverse muscle exercises (sit ups are a bad idea). The Diastasis ties in with my Xeralto treatment timing wise and seems an odd coincidence. The core strengthening exercises are changing the shape, size and strength of my abdomen and I feel more in control. I don't think that it's a fitness issue, more muscular although fitness will follow once my stomach returns to its normal strength and size. I'll keep you posted. PS, I'm a 51 year old male and the doctor was surprised about the Diastasis as it is normally associated with pregnancy. Could Xeralto bring about some sort of hormonal change affecting abdominal muscles?

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Update: since my previous posts I can confirm I do not have ascites and the bloating has not changed. I have a small appetite and struggle to eat a large meal as I feel fit to burst after half a portion of food. I am off all anticoagulants and will try Randy's approach of either fasting for 3 days or using a diarretic to reduce water retention. Like everyone listed, I have little doubt that Xeralto is the cause and that in due course this will be proved. For now my doctors refuse to accept that this can be the case.

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I am so glad to have found this board! I thought it was just me. I have been on xarelto since late February and I noticed that each week when they took my weight at the doctor's office I was consistently gaining 10 lbs per week EVEN though I was eating less and much healthier. My entire body feels swollen but the worst is my abdomen. I can't tell if it's water weight or fat but after a meal or heaven's forbid a banana I am bloat up and look as if I am 7 months pregnant. Extremely tired all the time and I feel as if I am carrying the weight of the world when I walk. Painfully uncomfortable. Why don't more doctors know if this side effect?? My hematologist got a CT if my abdomen to rule out cancer but found nothing to cause the painful bloat. I think she thinks it's in my head despite the drastic weight change immediately following start of xeralto. Hope this is not permanent. Going to request to be taken off of it and then for a recommendation for diuretic.

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Same exact thing happened to me!! My body shape changed drastically! Still holding excess water mostly in abdomen but also in my legs, back & buttocks. Also skin appears dimpled which I NEVER had in my life. Stopped xerrlto on aug 10th. Been working out every day as well as 1hr walking per day & 20 min in sauna every day. Very little change...this is bizarre. I am going to schedule a complete blood work up w/an endocrinologist. This is unacceptable. Nothing in the side effects alludes to these strange symptoms. Have to get to the bottom of this.

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Hi everybody. I remember someone posting that xarelto is very protein binding, and lowers your thrombocyte levels. A couple things could be at play: We could have leaky capillaries. Humans require a certain level of protein for effective water balance.Someone with a protein deficiency may find it harder to get the water from the tissue spaces back into the capillaries. The enlarged abdomens of the malnourished are mainly caused by lack of protein. When inflamation is present,histamine is released. Histamine causes gaps between the cells of the capillary walls to widen, making them more leaky. Some remedies I've read include: Coumarin rich foods(especially parsley and celery) Coumarin helps macrophages break up proteins which have leaked into the tissue space. Also: Raise legs several times a day to improve circulation,support stockings, Foods high in antioxidants-strawberries,green tea, brusel sprouts, beans,onions apples, citrus, Also quercetin, rutin, to help repair capillaries. 100%cocoa, (has 2x's as wine, and 3x's as green tea of antioxidants. Vitamin B, Turmeric and Magnesium. I also take Green Vibrance daily. A diuretic could actually make our problem worse I've read.

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