INR levels to low ablation in 4 weeks

I will be having my 2nd Ablation on the 21st October but I just cant get my levels within range.I have been up a little one week down the next. I cant think of anything that im eating that may be causing this.I am now writing down everything that passes my mouth and will eat the same everyday for 4 weeks in the hope this will bring my levels into range.I have been on Warfarin 16 months and im very careful with food with have been so up and down.I wont eat any greens, i don't drink alcohol I really need this Ablation to go ahead. Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Rellim296]

Don't worry - you will get there in the end!

If your levels are low, see your doctor and get your INR target raised so that if your INR gets to the lower twos the nurse will increase your dose and you don't drop out of range a week later. It's so annoying when they say 2.0 is fine and next time you've gone down and have to start again. I've been there and the ablation which has transformed my life was six weeks later than it should have been,

[jennydog]

Can you look at my response to the DIETS post to-day? My ablation went ahead at 1.8. They had wanted it to be over 2 . It's so frustrating when you're doing your best. Our warfarin nurse accused me of not taking the tablets but I had taken them exactly as instructed.

Good luck with the ablation.

[Hidden]

Thankyou for your replies.I can only keep my fingers crossed that my INR will go up .I don't eat a lot as I worry each week what my levels will be.I have lost so much weight because I think I cant eat this and I cant eat that.Im hungry a lot of the time.I wish I could put some weight on but cant.I often wonder about the alternatives to Warfarin.It seems like being on Warfarin has taken all the pleasures out of my life.I don't drink don't smoke and now its food .Sorry if I sound abit peed off but it just annoys me.

[Rellim296 in reply to Hidden]

I'm with you about warfarin taking pleasure out of life. I hate it! I would also hate a stroke. You can eat quite well and keep vitamin K intake down. Sweet corn, onions, aubergine, mushrooms, beetroot, fennel and several other veggies are all almost vit K free. When I had to keep my INR stable and above 2, my husband was on a low fibre diet and we ate yellow and purple meals, with skin taken off all veggies. His diet was quite strict and his pills nasty, but only for 8 weeks or so. It made my pill regime and diet restrictions look very tame. I have to say we now don't eat a lot of things that were a normal part of our diet a couple of years ago, and quite a few things have become treats that we only have occasionally. What we do eat is very healthy, although I miss grapefruit and cranberries very much.

You can eat greens when on warfarin, and it's not a good idea to give them up completely, though tempting. Iceberg lettuce isn't very high. Parsley, spring cabbage and spinach are the highest in vitamin K Broccoli gets a bad press on this forum and I don't think it is as highly vitamin K laden as is often suggested.

I think worry and stress are unhelpful so you might find it helpful to relax a bit about food and gather a few favourite meals that will build you up a bit. I went through a phase of feeling sorry for myself and ate no salad but a lot of puddings for a few weeks. Having lost 8 kilos with the whole trauma of the warfarin battle, I then put 6 kilos on again. I've lost 4 of them again since then! I find my INR tests a hurdle but don't care too much any more about them and I eat much more freely. I take a lot of warfarin and limp up to an INR or 2.0 or under. I am thrilled to bits to be so free of AF after an ablation in March, and hope you will find an ablation works for you too.

[Hidden]

I was given a range of 3 to 4 for my last ablation. Inr dropped to mid 2's just before the day, but they went ahead anyhow.

Koll