What I know about APS and 4G/4G

I really do not know much about the Antiphospholipid Syndrome or the 4G/4G gene but what I have learned is this...

APS can come and go and doctors are unsure if a miscarriage causes the syndrome in women or if APS causes the miscarriage.  A study, from what I told, has not been done on a pregnant woman.  I have heard that Antiphospholipid Syndrome is fairly common and if you have never had a thrombotic incident or you have APS by itself, then it can be treated with a baby aspirin while pregnant.   Not sure if this is always the case.  There is also the question if hypothyroidism is tied to APS, which I find interesting.

4G/4G is the mutation of the gene that can cause your blood to clot.  4G/5G is normal, and 5G/5G is thin blood.  I wonder how many people are out there with each type who doesn't know??  And why, if it is so important to our health, are babies not tested at birth?  It's such an easy thing to test!

This gene is important because people can react differently after surgery, pregnancy or even travel.  Now that I know I am 4G/4G, I must take a thinner if I am in a car or airplane longer than 2 hours.  I have been taking Pradaxa which is a relatively new drug on the market and is in a pill form.  Super easy to take and actually met a pharmaceutical rep that sells it recently!  I'm thinking that I could do that!!  :-)

In addition to travel, it's important to take care of yourself before/after surgery to find out what type of medication is best for you.  Since pelvic and leg surgeries are most likely to cause clotting, talk to your doctor about medication. I did Arixtra shots for 2 weeks and Pradaxa for 2 weeks after my fibroid surgery.  The Arixtra shots are expensive and come pre-filled.  You only have to do them once a day - the needles are not tiny but could be worse.  They burned for about 5 minutes.  I was told this was because of the alcohol from the swabs, but I believe that it was the medicine.  Pradaxa is a 12 hour pill, so I took that twice a day until my 30 days after the surgery were complete.  30 days is the "trouble zone".

Most people are not tested for either of the above until they have had multiple miscarriages.  I guess it is a blessing that I found out so early!  Since I have both 4G/4G and Anti-phospholipid Syndrome, I will be taking Heparin when I am pregnant, just to be on the safe-side.  There is still so much research being done on both disorders, that it's hard to tell what is necessary, BUT it's certainly not worth the risk to not do the shots.

Once again, I am not any type of medical professional so take what I say with a grain of salt and talk to your doctor.  I am only expressing what I have heard and have done in my own experience.