MTB riding while on blood thinning medication

Right then
I might have to take blood thinning medication (Enoxaparin) for the foreseeable future due to a thrombosis in my leg. Bugger.
The doc wasn´t particularly keen for me to ride but I don´t want to stop riding.
Does anyone have any experience of this?

I was on blood thinners for about 6 months after a minor pulmanory embolism caused by stupidly driving home from southwest France more or less non-stop.

I was told I could ride but to take care in respect of accidents and cuts. I wore a wrist band which said that I was taking Rivaroxaban.  I was a bit nervous at first but soon got into it again.I should say, however, that at the time I was purely a roadie. The overall situation made me think about what I wanted from cycling and as a result I took up mtbing. A great move and I only wish I’d switched over earlier. I rarely ride on the road anymore other than to travel to the trails.

If I and been on the blood thinners and mtbing I would have been a bit nervous of doing anything too gnarly for fear of cutting myself.

Edited to add:   the other thing I was told was to avoid banging my head as I would be more vulnerable to brain bleeds.

I was on warfarin many years ago (prior to a cardioversion and then for a few months afterwards) and then in 2016 and 2019 I was on Rivaroxaban for 6 mths a time. I still rode but was as careful as I could be and carried a sachet of these as a ‘if the shit hits the fan’
https://www.medisave.co.uk/15g-celox-haemostatic-granules-each.html?gclid=CjwKCAjww-CGBhALEiwAQzWxOmewVo2rDf4aJjzsISITbsAv5-vvhE1GfhpcjILMDJ1QU8qTa6AgHxoCYYEQAvD_BwE

When I was on blood thinners, I talked to my doc about it, he wasn’t so worried about bleeding from cuts and grazes, but if I knocked my head badly and had an internal bleed was the main worry.

Not a big problem , I just took a break from any higher risk riding, especially when riding on my own when I normally just stuck with farm tracks and gravel road type routes.

Surely it depends on the dose as to the risk.

Just after my second unprovoked episode I was on loads of thinners, basically told that in the event of a crash my brain would be ****. I stayed on zwift (well, once I could stay awake for more than 60 mins).

I’m now on a lower (but still high) dose for the rest of my life and I’m back out on the MTB.

Upgraded my helmet and have started to wear knee and arm guards. I might push myself on trails I know well and are dry but as soon as it’s wet or something new I go a lot steadier and i mostly go out on the road bike.

There is another lad in the club doing full on enduro racing despite being on thinners (he spent a fortune on armour).

My Mum has been road and gravel riding for years on thinners. She has been told the above to avoid crashing/banging her head and is more cautious as a rider than many on here. But the other side of it is without exercise, you’ve a world of other problems. I’ve been on thinners on and off, but generally due to major injury/illness so haven’t been able to ride anyway – but if I could I’d probably stick to easier xc, gravel, road etc.

As with the others and consider elbow and knee pads and carry a big dressing

My radiotherapy and chemotherapy earlier in the year absolutely smashed Trevor the Tumour, but left my lungs peppered with embolisms and an apple sized infarction in my right lung. I was initially on 2x150mg injections of enoxaparin for a couple of months to clear up my lungs and have been on daily 150mg injections of Enoxaparin since, only stopping three weeks ago for the operation to remove the 35cm of my lower bowel that Trevor had ruined, then back on the injections the following day. I’ve to keep taking these ….’flipping’* sore daily injections for at least another six months.

As it happens, my surgeon is a keen mountain biker himself, when not studying for his GCSE’s, and we discussed this matter a couple of times. His opinion was that as long as I wasn’t planning on losing an arm or a leg, I should be fine. On the run up to my surgery, I was trying to get out on the bike as much as I could and caught a few, good and deep thorn scratches from the early summer brambles and Hawthorns. I honestly couldn’t say I was leaking any more than I normally would in that sort of situation.

Simple remedy is, if you’re worried, stick a 1st aid kit in your backpack. I always carry one and it’s come in useful many, many times. Always on me mind you….

*Insert really rude word here

C.

I’ve been on warfarin for almost 40 years.

Need a high INR thanks to an artificial heartvalve.

I bruise like a princess,

Biggest problem I have had is thigh haematomas – bleeding into the thigh muscle after a crash. Bed-bound for weeks in screaming pain as the thigh locks solid with internal bleeding). Done this three times now –  twice thanks to biking.

Now wear thigh protectors (evoc crash pants or similar) and would recommend this to others .

The crashes can be innocuous ones too – falling hard onto a pointy rock (leading to the pants on the internet incident that Beagleboy will remember, or landing on a branch).

The good news is that you can still take massive falls and just walk away in a cloud of dust,

Knee pads are also worn – only because both knees have been stitched.

Ohh Lordy, the underpants photo….

Mrs Beagleboy! Pass the Mind Bleach please?

Interesting. I’m on aspirin and Ticagrelor (antiplatelet) following multiple heart attacks and stents. I’ll be on the aspirin for life and the Ticagrelor until January 2022 (assuming nothing else goes wrong, it’s been reset 3 times already).

I bruise terribly and have blood seemingly the consistency of water- I bleed lavishly from even minor scrapes. Nobody has once mentioned being mindful of head injury and bleeds!

I’m slowly starting to ride again (although I’ve just done something to my back) so hopefully things are on the mend.

As with Stirling Crispin I’m on warfarin as I have a mechanical heart valve, apart from the bruising the biggest issue is that knocks to the head can be more serious than if you’re not on blood thinners. I always wear a helmet on the my bike now, even for a quick trip to the shops.

I’ve picked up a DVT in Left Calf muscle and just been put on apixaban (two tablets a day – not a particulary high dosage). I Was just planning on riding easy mountain bike trails with helmet for exercise along with some running. I always wear a good helmet and knee pads and gloves for the biking.