“Can you live a long life on blood thinners?”

Yes.

Yes you can with some precautions. But why at your age are you taking blood thinners? They are usually given to old codgers like me (I am on them for stent in my heart & I'm 84 yrs old so I have lived long on them. You must be careful. These drugs are called blood thinners but they are really anti-coagulants. So you will bleed easier & take longer to clot. You must the avoid trauma like playing tackle football, etc. Watch for bleeding & tell your DR. I recently had an intestinal bleed, became very anemic, which put extra strain on my heart. I went into congestive heart failure & my lungs filled with fluid and went on to develop pneumonia. I had to be intubated & was on a respirator for 10 days-not fun. I am doing ok now but have some scaring in my lungs that may shorten my lifespan. I still take the meds but must watch it closely. at age 20 you have got a lot of years to watch & restrict your activities so be sure that the meds are really needed. "LIVE LONG & PROSPER" as Spock would say.

Taking blood thinners does not shorten your lifespan. If anything, it may actually help you live a longer and/or better quality of life in the absence of blood clots or complications of your original diagnosis that needs the blood to be thin. That being said, it does increase your risk of bleeding and you can decrease your life span if you don't pay attention to this and avoid such activities or stop monitoring for bleeding risk.

Definitely!!