Warfarin

[Tilla_w]

Hi , Iam 22 years old and have been taking warfarin for almost 6 months now since finding a blood clot in my wrist. Cause is unknown. Iam coming up to ending my medication.. Just wandering how long you have to wait until drinking alcohol? And my doctor wants me to slowly take small dosages over the next two weeks to get off the medication. Would it make much of a difference if I just stopped taking the medication rather than slowly coming off it?

Thanks

[KIPGIB]

Hi,coming off Warfarin is simple-just stop taking it.Your body will revert back to normal within a couple of days so don't understand G.P. advising reduction over a couple of weeks.My main concern is to what caused the clot and the reason behind your G.P.ending the medication.Have you discussed this issue with him and if so what was his reason.

[Tilla_w in reply to KIPGIB]

Hi

Thanks for the reply. My g.p along with other specialists could not find a reason for the blood clot.. After being on warfarin for 3 months they decided to keep me on it for another 3 months as a precaution. Now my g.p wants me to slowly come off it because he is afraid I wont 'bounce back' but I have never heard of someone slowly coming off the medication before.

[triff]

I'm on Warfarin for life with a target INR of 2.5-3.5 and I drink alcohol regularly, so I wouldn't worry about it. As KIPGIB says, it'll only take your body a couple of days to revert back to an INR of 1.