Hello, I’ve been a member for a few years but have mostly just read the posts and didn’t share. I found out about my aneurysm five years ago and since it was small and the risk of rupture was small, I was just getting yearly MRAs done to monitor it. Last year they decided that this year would be a good time to get a repeat angiogram to get a better look since it would be 5 years since my last one. I had it done in September and they found that it was quite a bit larger and was more fusiform. My annie is on my left internal carotid artery just behind my left eye, it started around 1.3mm and each year was getting a little bit larger but was still small and stable. This year it was around 3 mm and since it was now changing shape, they decided it was time to treat it. I had the procedure to put in a PED device about 3 weeks ago. For the most part I’ve been feeling pretty good, I’ve had some intermittent headaches in my left eye that have been different from my normal chronic migraines and I’ve had some slight visual disturbances. The doctor said it’s to be expected and will probably improve as I heal. They had some trouble getting my blood thin enough, I didn’t respond very well to Plavix and Aspirin 81 mg so on the day of the procedure they switched me to 90 mgs of Brilinta and gave me a big dose of it crushed up and ended up making my blood a little too thin. I went from a P2Y12 of 206 right before to 3 during the procedure and I had to lay completely flat for 6 hours. That was really the toughest part of the whole thing, I have back pain so those 6 hours seemed to drag on forever!! Since the procedure they’ve been trying to get my P2Y12 levels where they would like, it was 5 a week later so they cut me back from 90 mg twice a day to 60. They checked it again last Friday and it came up to 19 so still thinner than they want and now I’m taking 45 mg twice a day. When they first prescribed the Brilinta 90 mg they sent in a 90 day supply and when they changed it to 60, they had to send in a whole new script so since they don’t make a 45 mg tablet I have to cut the 90 mg tablets in half so at least they won’t be going to waste now!! They’re going to re-check it again in about 2 weeks so hopefully they can get it dialed in soon!! I just need to be really careful not to cut myself in the meantime!! I can be really accident prone and funnily I actually slipped on some ice and face planted on a sidewalk a couple of days before the procedure,lol!! Needless to say, I am being VERY careful now and am trying my best to stay home when it’s icy!! I would love to hear others experiences with the PED!!
Hi @Amorgan!
You made me laugh this am. I was exercising a couple of weeks ago, slipped, and hit the side of my face on some furniture. Yup, there goes clutzky me, I am going to have this massive bruise on my face, so I had better come up with some great bar story for when people ask! Amazingly, the bruise never appeared … 
So, yes, I am part of the pipeline club too, and am on my daily combo of Plavix and baby aspirin.
Mine was just installed back in October. I did not have as many side effect issues as you have, but I am a PICA person, so I am sure that plays a lot into it. Mine also had grown to almost 3 mm, so small, but Elmer was sure a stubborn son-of-a-gun!
I used the word “was,” because the latest CT scan suggests that Elmer (my annie) is no more! I am waiting for my CTA next month to get confirmation, but count me a huge fan of the PED!!!
I am so happy you took the time to share your story! Please be careful with yourself, and take it easy …from one accident-prone person to another!
Fin Whale Fan 
Oh my goodness! I hate to fall, not so much because of the pain but because I have to remember to report it🤣. One more month and I’ll finally be past the “Have you fallen in the last year” question. I have a different stent but also had to be put on plavix and aspirin. They didn’t do any testing which I learned from @oct20 but I was constantly running into things and bandaids (plasters for our UK folks) were doing a lot of damage so i had to switch to non stick gauze and Vet Wrap. I still have a lot of Vet Wrap because when I had my follow up zoom appointment, she took me off the plavix and just on the 81 mg of aspirin for the rest of my life. I looked like I’d been in a bar fight so I told her you should see the other ten folks.
Thanks so much for posting your story. I hope other members with PEDs reply. As you know, give them time.
Thank you for sharing. My mom is 3 days post op after PED for giant left ICA aneurysm and we’ve been struggling with the blood stuff too. Her score on that test was 14 after she forgot amd took half dose for 3 days before surgery. Now she’s back on the full dose and I’m worried since she’s just black and blue. But she’s at such an increased risk of stroke that I don’t dare ask for a permanent decrease. She also had to do Brilinta due to aspirin intolerance. I’m just on here reading tonight in hopes for some more info. She just isn’t doing so well with pupils wonky and the pain which she hasn’t ever had. We’re trying the Compazine cocktail for that but maybe the steriods are also contributing. So many meds. Mostly concerned with the Brilinta because she has lost balance and is so dizzy that a fall would be BAD. Thanks
@Amorgan @Darkstar
I learned that the P2Y12 levels is a genetic thing, we all respond differently and that’s why it is important to be tested so we have the proper levels. I was what they called “ hyper sensitive “ and I had to take 1/2 pill, every third day!
@Darkstar I think it is important that your mother gets checked, it’s not a good thing if her blood is “too thin”. Please let her doctor make this decision.
I’m guessing she’s home, have you or her called the doctor? Maybe some blood work is needed. My skin became dangerously thin I think. When I stuck myself accidentally with a piece of wire, the bandaid I put on and went to change later took off a good hunk of it, enough that I ended up at my PCP. It was pretty gross having removed about a 50 cent piece of all the skin layers. Dumb me had put another bandaid on it, when the RN did my vitals and all she told me to take it off. So I commenced bleeding all over their floor. The PA came in and went in the look for gauze, she had to get other folks looking, one came in with regular gauze that then got stuck. It wasn’t fun. You might want to invest in a box of non stick gauze and vet wrap which is the same as Conan but usually less expensive. I would definitely recommend calling her surgeon. Squeaky wheel and all that.
so happy to hear your annie is no longer! stay blessed 
i am wondering if blood checks have to be done often on Plavix- i only had my bloodwork before treatment and nothing else is scheduled.
i would ask your doctor. I thought that they were going to lower my dosage or stop the aspirin since i assumed it was just for post-surgery. i was on 325mg and i didn’t feel like i needed that much. (listen to your body) i asked my doctor about 8 months after and she said “oh yes, we were supposed to lower the dosage on your follow-up” (which was in September, Surgery was in March).
They also wanted me to switch me to that med you’re on, i refused, i stuck it out with the aspirin. (anxiety issues).
But. always listen to your body and keep communication line open with the doctors
@Elena
I recommend that you ask your doctor/ medical team about the bloodwork while you are on Plavix.
If remember correctly, my team told me that when they have found the proper dosage, there is no need for further testing. I was tested quite often in the beginning and also the first weeks after I got my stent, but when the levels were stabilized I didn’t have to do it again.
Thanks everyone for replies. Will definitely ask my team
Hi @Elena -
FWIW (i.e. just from another patient perspective), I am about 5 months post PED with the CAT scan complete, and the angiogram to confirm Elmer (my annie) is gone in just a few weeks. 
Like you, my blood was tested pre-procedure, but I have had no tests done subsequently, well, as asked for by my neuroradiologist. Bloodwork by my PCP (and the hospital) to deal with a separate issue, you bet, but that did not relate to Plavix. 
My instructions are that I am on baby aspirin (81 mg) for life, but I can stop Plavix once Elmer is occluded - so we shall see what the next few weeks bring!
I agree with all the wonderful responses here that your medical team will know best though!
Congrats on getting through the procedure. You are doing GREAT!!
Fin Whale Fan 
My doctor said that they wouldn’t need to keep rechecking it once they got the level where they wanted. It made me a little nervous at first that they wouldn’t continue to monitor it but it’s one of the best hospitals in the area if not the country so I’m going to trust they know what they’re doing!! 