No Pradaxa headaches here. If you have a real EP, ask about taking baby aspirin with Pradaxa. I got the clearance (not for headaches, for heart protection)... but if you can't afford Pradaxa, you have to switch to something else. A headache is better than a stroke btw. Talk to your EP. Don't make decisions by yourself or us... your EP knows your risk of stroke. petey

No Pradaxa headaches for me. It's unclear to me whether you have told your cardiologist about your headaches. I don't want to frighten you, but drug.com lists unusual headaches as a SEVERE side effect of Pradaxa and says seek medical attention right away. If you haven't told your cardiologist I encourage you to seek medical attention right away. I'm sorry you have no health insurance to support you in this.

No pradaxa headaches, but did eventually get heartburn/acid reflux.
After ablation, switched to baby aspirin.

Jim

I thought I would leave a quick note as to how things went...thanks jannmoorr for the advice...I called my local clinic Ive been going to and the saw me that day.....the Dr. there suggested i walk over to the ER and get checked out. They did a Brain CT scan and then another with a dye element added. The results came out ok...so they gave me something for the pain and was released. I still have a burning crown headache....extreme fatigue and all of a sudden indigestion every day. I asked the Dr. at the clinic what i would do when my Pradaxa free med program ended and whether i could just go on an aspirin therapy instead of coumadin...the felt aspirin therapy was just as effective...but coumadin more reliable....Im soon to be without the services of this clinic as Ive become homeless and have to move...so without insurance I will have to deal with this on my own....which is why I think I ll have to resort to just aspirin. I was surprised how well the ER Dr. and Nurses treated me with no insurance....thanks for listening.....at least this site makes me feel like Im not in this by myself....still the fatigue heartburn and headache bother me in that they must be indicators of something.....they were thinking of doing a spinal tap but decided not to....rambling a lil...sorry....Vinny

Vinny,

I'm very glad that you had your headaches checked out and everything was fine. I'm also glad that the clinic gave you such good care. Thanks so very much for reporting back - I've thought about you often and was hoping you'd let us know how you are.

Thought I'd ask you to consider looking into the possibility of getting low-cost or free Pradaxa.Then I got curious and decided to take a preliminary look. I quickly found some promising results - there may be more out there.

http://myhealthcafe.com/finding-cheaper-more-affordable-pradaxa-somewhere

http://professionalsblog.clotconnect.org/2011/08/03/prescription-assistance-when-patients-cant-afford-a-medication/

The second link lists some organizations other than the drug companies that may be able to help you. It also has a link so you can look at the Boehringer Ingelheim Cares Foundation's application form.

The reason I'm suggesting that you pursue the Pradaxa is because there's growing consensus among cardiologists worldwide that aspirin is not effective for the prevention of stroke associated with afib. You've reminded me that I need to post a topic on this if one hasn't already been done. Am I right in assuming you are taking Pradaxa to prevent stroke associated with afib?

Again, thanks for reporting back and I'm glad the news was so good.

jann

Vinny: My doctor said to take Prevacid if my stomach bothered me. I see we are talking about aspirin again. petey