When taken orally, Plavix, also known generically as Clopidogrel, may help prevent heart attacks, severe chest pain and blood clots.
Side effects include head pain, joint pain, bleeding of the stomach or intestines, hemorrhage, nosebleed, eczema, itching and rash.
Severe ones include abnormal liver function tests and low blood pressure; decreased blood cells; hemophilia; acute liver failure; allergies, including those leading to serum sickness; bleeding from the respiratory tract, abdomen or urine; decreased blood platelets; deficiency of granulocytes, a type of white blood cell; eye or skull hemorrhage; giant hives; hallucination; hepatitis; inflammation of the large intestine or of the skin with blisters; kidney disease; low blood counts due to bone marrow failure; painful, red or swollen mouth; skin rash with sloughing; stomach ulcers; arthritis; bruises; diarrhea; fever; muscle pain; redness of skin and taste problems.
(NOTE: PharmPsych.com is featuring the first 10 of 200 of the most common prescription medicine brands reflected in Google’s app for Rx drug flash cards. The flash cards and the app were developed as visual aids to instruct medical students on modern drugs. In a series of summaries, we recap the purpose and nature of each drug, its side effects and advice on usage. The series will feature Lipitor, Singulair, Lexapro, Nexium, Synthroid, Plavix, Toprol XL, Prevacid, Vytorin and Advair Diskus.)
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Last updated September 2014
