Time difference adjustment for Warfarin

[winmay]

I will be going to Shanghai for two weeks. I usually take my Warfarin at 6 pm. There is a time difference of 7 hours between UK and Shanghai. Does this mean taking my Warfarin at 1 am in Shanghai?

[Alil]

I was in China for 3 weeks in the summer and just took mine when I went to bed. Despite 3 weeks of green tea and total change in diet my INR was exactly the same when I got back!

[winmay in reply to Alil]

Thank you for your reply. In that case I will do the same.

[ronz11]

Hi. When I travelled to the Philippines I was advised by my cardiologist to take all my heart medicine including warfarin UK time. Philippines was ahead 7 hours so I would set my alarm in UK time to take my medicine. Hope this helps.

Best,

Rona

[AnticoagulateNow]

Hey folks, you're worrying unnecessarily over a trivial issue. Warfarin acts very slowly - remember how it took days, even longer, to get your INR up into therapeutic range when you started? As long as you take your dose 'once a day' it really doesn't matter when you take it. Here I must insert a comment for pedants in the forum......two minutes to midnight and then again at two minutes past midnight is probably not a great idea!

This doesn't apply to all drugs of course. I'm only talking about warfarin. The effectiveness of the new anticoagulants (dabigitran etc) for example, increases and reduces very quickly, so it is important that these are taken at the same time(s) every day - ie as close to your usual UK time(s) as possible even if you happen to find yourself half-way around the world. Talk to your GP about slipping it an hour or so each day in the lead up to your overseas visit so that you are not having to wake up in the middle of the night to take your medicine while abroad.

But with warfarin, there's none of this kerfuffle. Relax. Once a day, at some time, is just fine.

[winmay in reply to AnticoagulateNow]

This explanation is very helpful . Thank you for all the replies.

[MarkS]

I've been all over the place and just take my warfarin at the same local time as I get into a routine. I always take my Coaguchek and that shows minimal difference (0.1 or 0.2) due to the delay or advance of up to 10 hours.

However I certainly would not recommend this for the NOACs which are an awful lot more sensitive.

Mark