Aspirin is part of a well-established treatment plan for patients with a history of heart attack or stroke. Always follow the treatment plans your health care provider has recommended for you. Because of the risk of bleeding, aspirin therapy is not recommended if you have never had a heart attack or stroke, except for certain carefully selected patients. Because aspirin thins the blood, it can cause several complications. Tell your doctor if any of these situations apply to you.
You should not take daily low-dose aspirin without talking to a doctor if you:. There is a risk of stomach problems, including stomach bleeding, for people who take aspirin regularly. Alcohol use can increase these stomach risks. If you are told to take aspirin, ask your doctor if it is safe for you to drink alcohol in moderation.
People with diabetes who do not have a history of heart attack or stroke may not need to take aspirin therapy, unless their health care providers specifically recommend it as part of the overall treatment plan.
Most heart attacks and strokes occur when the blood supply to a part of your heart muscle or brain is blocked. This usually starts with atherosclerosis , a process in which deposits of fatty substances, cholesterol, cellular waste products, calcium and other substances build up in the inner lining of an artery.
This buildup is called plaque. Plaque usually affects large and medium-sized arteries. Taking low-dose aspirin to prevent heart attacks and strokes is not the same as taking aspirin as a painkiller. Read our information on aspirin for pain relief. Take our survey. Most people aged 16 or over can safely take low-dose aspirin if their doctor recommends it.
It's sometimes called baby aspirin because of the small dose, but it's not safe for children. Never give aspirin to a child younger than 16, unless their doctor prescribes it. There's a possible link between aspirin and Reye's syndrome in children. Reye's syndrome is a very rare illness that can cause serious liver and brain damage. Never give aspirin to children younger than 16, unless their doctor prescribes it. To make sure low-dose aspirin is safe for you, tell your doctor if you have:.
Check with your doctor that it's safe for you to take low-dose aspirin if you're pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or if you want to breastfeed. Take low-dose aspirin once a day. Don't take it on an empty stomach. It's best to take it with or just after food. This will make it less likely to upset your stomach. Your doctor will discuss what dose is right for you. It's important to take low-dose aspirin exactly as recommended by your doctor.
The usual dose to prevent a heart attack or stroke is 75mg once a day a regular strength tablet for pain relief is mg. The daily dose may be higher - up to mg once a day - especially if you have just had a stroke, heart attack or heart bypass surgery.
You can buy low-dose enteric coated aspirin and low-dose soluble aspirin from pharmacies, shops and supermarkets. If you forget to take a dose of aspirin, take it as soon as you remember. If you don't remember until the following day, skip the missed dose. If you forget doses often, it may help to set an alarm to remind you. You could also ask your pharmacist for advice on other ways to remember to take your medicine. The amount of aspirin that can lead to overdose varies from person to person.
Get someone else to drive you or call for an ambulance. Take the aspirin packet or leaflet inside it, plus any remaining medicine, with you. Like all medicines, aspirin can cause side effects, although not everyone gets them. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if the side effects bother you or don't go away:. It happens rarely, but some people have serious side effects after taking low-dose aspirin. In rare cases, it's possible to have a serious allergic reaction to aspirin.
It's generally safe to take low-dose aspirin during pregnancy, as long as your doctor has said it's OK. For more information about how low-dose aspirin can affect you and your baby during pregnancy, read this leaflet on the Best Use of Medicines in Pregnancy BUMPS website. But your doctor may suggest that you take low-dose aspirin while you're breastfeeding if they think the benefits of the medicine outweigh the possible harm.
Tell your doctor if you're taking these medicines before you start taking aspirin :. It's safe to take paracetamol with low-dose aspirin.
However, do not take ibuprofen at the same time as low-dose aspirin without talking to your doctor. Aspirin and ibuprofen both belong to the same group of medicines called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs.
If you take them together, it can increase your chances of side effects like stomach irritation. Aspirin may not mix well with quite a lot of complementary and herbal medicines. Aspirin could change the way they work and increase your chances of side effects.
If you think you are having a stroke, do not take aspirin because not all strokes are caused by clots.
Aspirin could make some strokes worse. Gout can become worse or hard to treat for some people who take aspirin. If you take some other blood thinner , talk with your doctor before taking aspirin, because taking both medicines can cause bleeding problems.
Drinking 3 or more alcoholic drinks every day while taking daily aspirin increases your risk for liver damage and stomach bleeding. If your doctor recommends aspirin, limit or stop alcohol usage. Before having a surgery or procedure that may cause bleeding, tell your doctor or dentist that you take aspirin. Aspirin may cause you to bleed more than usual. He or she will tell you if you should stop taking aspirin before your surgery or procedure.
Make sure that you understand exactly what your doctor wants you to do. Do not suddenly stop taking aspirin without talking to your doctor first. Talking to your cardiologist first is especially important if you have had a stent placed in a coronary artery. Tell your doctor if you notice that you bruise easily or have other signs of bleeding. These include bloody or black stools or prolonged bleeding from cuts or scrapes. Aspirin should not be taken with many prescription and over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, and natural health products.
So before you start aspirin therapy, talk to your doctor about all the drugs and other remedies you take. Although non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs , such as ibuprofen and naproxen, relieve pain and inflammation much like aspirin does, they do not affect blood clotting in the same way that aspirin does.
NSAIDs may increase your risk for a heart attack or stroke. Ask your doctor what pain reliever you should take. You may be able to use another type of pain reliever, such as acetaminophen, to treat your pain. If you take these pills at the same time, aspirin might not work as well to prevent a heart attack or stroke.
Do not take the NSAID pill during either the 8 hours before or the 30 minutes after you take aspirin. Here's an example: Take your aspirin. Wait 30 minutes. Your doctor will recommend a dose of aspirin and how often to take it.
A typical schedule is to take aspirin every day. But your doctor might recommend that you take aspirin every other day. Be sure you know what dose of aspirin to take and how often to take it. Low-dose aspirin 81 mg is the most common dose used to prevent a heart attack or a stroke. But the dose for daily aspirin can range from 81 mg to mg. When arteries are already narrowed by the buildup of plaque, a clot can block a blood vessel and stop the flow of blood to the brain or heart.
Called platelets, they bind together when they encounter damaged blood vessels. Like most medicines, aspirin has side effects. It irritates your stomach lining and can trigger gastrointestinal upset, ulcers and bleeding. And, because it thins your blood, it can be dangerous for people who are at higher risk of bleeding.
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