Tranexamic Acid

[scotsman]

Hi Can anyone tell me if this drug is used to reduce hormones as my wife has been given this by her skin clinic doctor to reduce hormone in her blood. I have looked it up on the internet but it says its for stopping bleeding nothing on hormone ?

[Sheryl]

"Reduce hormones" is not accurate. What it does is to block the action of an enzyme called plasminogen activator. By blocking its action the amount of something called plasmin in the blood is reduced; with less plasmin, the blood is able to clot better and this in turn helps stop excessive bleeding.

What is the condition for which your wife consulted the doctor? I have trouble of thinking of anything a skin clinic would be treating for which this drug would be appropriate......

[Jamie]

Does your wife have some sort of blood clotting disorder? Tranexamic acid is used mainly to stop bleeding in people with blood clotting disorders such as hemophilia. I'd question the use of that for a skin condition.

[scotsman]

Well my wife went to a skin clinic in bangkok the prapainalin for dermawave treatment for pigmentations on her face the ipl treatment was just too expensive so we went for the derma wave + the obagi nu-derm cream treatment recommended by the doctor.The doctor after 4 treatments has told my wife she is not happy with her improvement and told her that she has too much hormone in her blood. So we were given the pills that is spelled by the receptionist as tyanexamic acid 500mg 2 times a day but its the wrong spelling its tranexamic acid. I just don"t see why this medication was given to my wife who has no problems with bleeding. We go back to the clinic on the 6th April so I will ask the doctor. Thank you for your quick replies

regards

scotsman

[leisurely]

I think I would stop taking it (if you had started). What was the receptionist doing with the drugs?

[scotsman]

The receptionist gives out all the medications & creams with the bill, under the instructions of the doctor. I have not stopped my wife from taking this medication as yet until I have had a talk with the doctor. The doctor is very well qualified from the U.S.A and works in a big hospital in bangkok so I would like to think she knows what she is doing. I just wanted to know if this medication would do the job she has given them for? I am not a doctor but there are medications that do one thing like stop bleeding and may also reduce hormone levels but my concerns are that this medication has risks for having blood clots. I know that if I did not look up this medication on the internet my wife would trust anything a doctor gave her. I am not that trusting so I will talk with the doctor on the 6th April or I will phone her to find out. Thanks again for your kind reply.

regards

scotsman

[karenbenn]

Tranexamic acid is a potent anti-fibrinolytic medication. Fibrin is the basic framework for the formation of a blood clot. It’s main uses are treatment or preventing of excessive bleeding. Can’t find any other “off-label” uses.

[jingjingna]

I was prescribed this medicine a few years back when I had Fibroids and suffered from heavy and often painful menstrual cycles. As far as I am aware the medication stops the Fibroids from growing and helps to thin the blood.

[Sheryl]

It doesn't "thin" the blood, it helps the blood clot, hence the concern because taken by someone whose blood already clots normally there is a risk of developing blood clots whichi n turn can cause stroke, heart attacvk etc...

Scotsman I know the doctor you refer to and indeed she is well qualified so I am very puzzled about this. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the pigmentation was a type of bruising or bleeding? In which case I can see at least the logic of the prescription if not the advisability.

I'll be interested to hear the doctor's explanation.......

Regarding the "hormone" bit she may have just said "hormone" instead of "enzyme" since more lay people are familiar with the former term.

Anyhow I'd suggest you ask in detail what t\she thinks the cause of your wife's problem was and how a drug which increases the coagulability (ability to clot) of the blood would help...and also ask specifically about the risks of taking it.

[scotsman]

Thank you sheryl and all the other posters for your replies. I have stopped my wife taking this medication for now until I can talk with the doctor. The doctor told me that my wife had melasma which is dark pigmentations on her cheeks and that some were quite deep. The doctor also told me that hormone imbalance was the problem. Now after 4 treatments its improved a lot but when my wife has her monthly period it comes back slightly so thats when she was told by the doctor to go on this medication. My wife has no problems with bleeding everything is normal. I have seen on the internet that some skin clinics use a cream with tranexamic acid in it for melasma to help reduce melanin production in the skin but not 1000mgs a day by mouth. I will also inform the doctor that my wife and I will be flying long hall to the uk in late may so this medication would be very dangerous for her. I will post back later what she has to say about this and let you all know. Thanks again for your replies.

regards

scotsman

[scotsman]

Well after talking with the doctor today I was told that the 1000mgs is a low dose and is safe but not before you have to fly 12 hours on a plane. I was also told it is used a lot in japan for this kind of treatment as it reduces the hormone levels. Also this medication helps to reduce the amount of melanin in the skin so helps reduce the pigmentation thats what I was told today. I have told the doctor that for now my wife will not start this medication until we come back from the uk.

regards

scotsman

[Sheryl]

This is completely new to me, and I have been unable to find a single reference to it in the literature, even checked a 2006 article on advances in treatment of melasma. She may be right, but it is odd that nothing seems to have been published. Also, I am at a loss to figure out how it would work. Maybe you could ask the doictor for an artcile or reference on it? If it is anything other than a highly experimental treatment there should be something published on it.

[scotsman]

Hi Sheryl

If you do a google search with tranexamic acid & melasma you will find many skin clinics use this drug orally as well as injection. The japanese doctors in some skin clinics use the same drug 1000 mgs to treat pigmentations along with 2000 mgs of vitamin C & 400 mgs of Vitamin E. My wifes doctor has prescribed the same. I was told by the doctor that pigmentation is also caused by free radicals in the blood so I know that vitamin C & vitamin E helps to reduce the free radicals in your blood. The only thing that worried me was that tranexamic acid could have a risk of blood clots which I asked the doctor about and I was told it was a safe dose. When I told her that we were flying 12 hours in a plane to the uk in May she said that we should not use this drug before we fly. I got the impression that she did not like the fact that I was questioning her treatment as she said you don"t have to take the drug if you don"t want too like in a dismissing fashion that doctors do. Well I know that most Thai people will not question a doctors treatment but Its my job as a loving husband to protect my wife so I do.

Regards

Scotsman

[WaiWai]

My wifes doctor has prescribed the same. I was told by the doctor that pigmentation is also caused by free radicals in the blood

Sounds positively medieval to me, but am not a medical practitioner.

If the drug should be avoided before long flights, there are definite risks. I'd be wondering if they were really worthwhile, for a condition that is - I gather - not harmful in any way.