Good evening doctors. i am on plavix & 81mg aspirin. i seem to be extremely prone to purple bruises--three on my left arm now, one rather large one on the underside of my arm. how do i know if the bruises are or are not because of the plavix& aspirin?

If you had not problem before and you started these meds recently and have them now this would be most likely cause. Otherwise you need some bloodwork and discuss with your Drs. Do not stop ASA/Plavix without talking to them. They know you we do not.

Not unusual to have bruising when on the combination of Plavix and ASA. This actually is a sign of the underlying mechanism of the treatment, and this combination has proven to prevent strokes and heart attacks. If you were without bruising previously, you might have a blood test to check your platelet level.