Articles

Daily aspirin therapy: Understand the benefits and risks

Content Should you take a daily aspirin? How can aspirin prevent a heart attack? Should you avoid daily aspirin therapy if you have another health condition? What's the best dose of aspirin to take? What happens if you stop taking aspirin every day? Can you take aspirin if you regularly take ibuprofen or another nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) for another condition? What are the possible side effects of daily aspirin therapy? What are possible drug interactions with daily aspirin therapy? If you take daily aspirin, is it still safe to take an aspirin during a heart attack? Should you take a coated aspirin?

What are possible drug interactions with daily aspirin therapy?

Combining aspirin with a prescription blood-thinning medication (anticoagulant) may greatly increase the risk of major bleeding. Anticoagulants include:

  • Apixaban (Eliquis)
  • Dabigatran (Pradaxa)
  • Enoxaparin (Lovenox)
  • Heparin
  • Rivaroxaban (Xarelto)
  • Warfarin (Jantoven)

Sometimes, it may be appropriate to combine a low-dose aspirin with warfarin or another anticoagulant. Such combination therapy always needs to be carefully discussed with your health care provider.

Other medications that can interact with aspirin and may increase bleeding risks include:

  • Clopidogrel (Plavix)
  • Corticosteroids
  • Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others), when taken regularly
  • Some antidepressants, such as clomipramine (Anafranil) and paroxetine (Paxil, Brisdelle, Pexeva)

Certain herbal and dietary supplements can also increase the bleeding risk when combined with aspirin. These include:

  • Bilberry
  • Capsaicin
  • Cat's-claw
  • Danshen
  • Evening primrose oil
  • Ginkgo
  • Kava
  • Ma-huang
  • Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil)

Drinking alcohol while on daily aspirin therapy may increase the risk of stomach bleeding. Talk to your health care provider about how much alcohol is safe to drink. If you choose to drink alcohol, do so in moderation. For healthy adults, that means up to one drink a day for women and up to two drinks a day for men.

Related Services