Thank you all for responses to my post re breathlessness...
I need to share this with you...
Today I went for my INR testing 4 weeks since the last one...A bit of a panic- My INR was 4.9...I was packed of to the hospital pretty smartly where I had another blood test which came up at a staggering 7.5 I was instructed not to take anymore Warfarin for two days and to go back to the Hospital on Friday for another test...I was just under the mark for Vitamin K injection
Well that came from out of the blue..There is no explanation as I haven't done anything different at all eating or drink wise so I just cant understand how this has happened....
Mine goes up into the 4s if im fighting an infection or virus or if im on antibiotics. On the day of my ablation it was 2.6. The following day it was 5! Even the A.N . Was surprised.
I have had the same problem on a number of occasions, no particular reason ever found. It is nothing to panic about, though, not in the short term, as it is just a matter of adjusting the dose. I agree with Koll, though. I invested in a Coagucheck a couple of years ago because I spend my summers in France, in a fairly isolated area,
and I didn't want the bother of finding a clinic that could do my INR. Now, I test myself once a week and adjust accordingly (taking into account that it take 2 or 3 days for the adjustment to show). I still have periodic checks at my Canterbury clinic, but this Coagucheck saves me a lot of bother and potential worry.
Two tests one close after the other, one 4.9, then 7.5. One has to be wrong !
The finger prick done twice at clinic which showed different scoring the reading on machine just kept going up and up... Then blood taken from arm at Hospital result came back I hour later 7.5
I would put my money on the Hospital venous reading being the most reliable...
The one from the venous will be the accurate one. It may be that the dos and don't for the finger prick weren't followed properly. I bought my own CoaguChek for time after ablation and there are very clear instructions as to how to entice the blood, not squeeze, etc. If blood is slow coming out then INR will be shown as being lower.
Thank you all for your kind responses...
On Friday I go back to the Hospital for another venous blood test and then take it from there re Warfarin as I was told to stop Warfarin for two days...
Thank you all again and l shall come back to you after I have been to Hospital on Friday
Hi Carol - Yes, this has happened to me. It was a few years ago and I went for an INR test and from what I can remember it was 6.5 . I've just looked for my old yellow INR record book to check, but can't find any of them at all! I was just told not to take any warfarin for a few days and then go back for another test.
Two weeks ago I had some basal cells removed and had my INR tested 2 days before and it was 2.4. The day before I had the spots removed I found out that I should have stopped taking warfarin three days before the procedure, but they said they would still do it. I was only able to miss one dose of warfarin. On the day of the procedure the hospital did my INR and it was 3.0. Now how can it have gone from 2.4 to 3.0 in 48hrs with my having missed a dose. I do wonder just how accurate these INR tests are. Mine were all done by the pin prick method.
I am really quite fed up with my INR always needing to be constantly checked, it goes up and down for no reason. I would go on one of the NOAC's, but as I have needed a few cardioversions in the past and have been told by the people who carry them out that they would want me to be on warfarin I'm reluctant to change.
You know the more I think about it, there must be lots of foods/drinks we consume that they don't know about that affect the reading.
AFA's leaflet is good but there is a better one on a US site and it is really useful. It is called:
USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 16
There are two versions one by vitamin K value (high to low) and the other foods alphabetically. I downloaded both as PDF. Not sure what the site is but if you can't find it message me with your email and I will happily send it to you.
Great. I downloaded both and only printed off the first 4 pages of the pdf sorted by K number on the basis that after that a lot are so small not worth trying to keep track of!!! Not even sure bout pages 3or 4.
Mine was 4.9 the other day. The nurse also did a venous one to send off to hospital to check as she said the pin prick method is known to be unreliable with high readings. Came back as 4.1, I had to leave warfarin for 2 days and reduce my dose. Another INR in a weeks time x
I have been on Warfarin for 7 years, I was out one day and there was a hand note in my letterbox when I got home, it was from the doc, my I r was dangerously high, 13! I was told to go to AandE and they would be waiting for me, I had to get Vitamin K and they kept me in overnight, they were amazed I didn't have a massive bleed! .in about the first years of. This medication, I was up and down, hitting 8 then down to 1. But now seem to have cracked it, am now sitting at between 2 and 3, excellent level Warfarin is a necessary evil, but one the body accepts it, no adverse effect, and hey! It keeps stroke at bay
Have you any idea why your INR went up so high? Was it something you were eating?
happenned to me twice only once a greek island both times above 8 here had vit k drops in greece vit k iv soon drops now on newer anticoagulant as mine was so variable
Yes, this happened to me but only the once. The hospital (34 miles away) sent out a doctor and nurse with a vitamin K injection to give me. Actually I was impressed that they had taken such care as this was at 10pm after my levels had been checked that morning at my GP's surgery. We live in an isolated position difficult to find in daytime let alone at that time of night well after dark!
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