Too Much Warafin

[jgburke]

I accidentially took 40mg of Warafin. I thought the pills I had were 1mg pills but were 5mg pills. I was supposed to take 8mg. Im very concerned. Does anyone have any information on what i should do.

[BobD Volunteer]

Don't waste time asking here ring emergency doctor right now.

[Lorna058]

You need hospital asap

[rosyG]

Agree with the above- A and E now!! You could grab some spinach if there's a shop on the way- I have found it reduces INR but obviously you will need hospital advice for large quantity involved in your case and don't let shopping delay you!!

[jeanjeannie50]

I hope you have heeded the advice above and had some form of urgent medical treatment by now. I really feel for you, that was such a large overdose for anyone to take, such a worry! Please let us know how you get on.

Wishing you well.

Jean

[DukesMam]

lease let us know how you are.

[Hidden]

Get help now a&e comes to mind

[Mazza23]

Like everyone else ER ASAP

[Barb1]

Please let us know the outcome when you can.

[hoppy77]

Why on earth were you taking 8x1 mg tablets when you could have taken 1x5 and 1x3. 2 tablets instead of 8. Anyway, hope you get through it ok. There are easier ways to kill yourself.

[TyBryn91]

Go directly to A&E do not delay

[howesgilly]

I hope you went direct to A&E and had your bloods taken and Vit K given as required.

please update us

[PeterWh]

If a minor injuries hospital was nearer than a main A&E then you could have found out if they would deal with this.

[7Helena]

When I was overdosed (not by myself) it showed up on my blood test and that same day, although it was also late in the evening, a doctor came out from the hospital with a Vit K injection. That was how urgently it was treated! So, please if you haven't done so, take immediate action and report to A & E as suggested.

Do please let us know how you've got on. On this site we worry about our fellow 'sufferers'.

[Annaelizabeth]

A & E fast.

[jeanjeannie50]

We are all concerned as we haven't heard anything from you. Please let us know how you are.

Do hope you are ok.

Best wishes

Jean

[jgburke in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Thank you for your concern. I called the doctor on call who told me that it wasn't great, but that I did not need to rush to emergency or any such thing. I was to watch for symptoms of bleeding (which I have had none of - thank goodness). I had my blood tested this morning, and am waiting to hear back what my my INR numbers are. He instructed me to not take any more medication (obviously) until we know the result.

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to jgburke]

Phew, what a relief you got through that without any nasty effects! Would be interested to hear what they say your INR is. So glad you are ok.

Jean

[cyrilbarnes]

Glad you're ok jg. It will be interesting to see your INR results.

[Christo4]

Yes would like to know what your INR was.

Pleased your ok we were all worried.

Christo.

[PeterWh]

Just in case someone in the future reads this post. My view is that someone should go to A&E (or minor injuries if they have specialisms) since A&E will either have someone who is trained in anticoagulation or they will have access to someone who is a specialist and not to rely on what a general doctor says about warfarin unless that doctor has been trained and is doing warfarin regularly.

[ILowe]

Many threads die quickly on this forum. Please keep us informed of results and actions until you are back to normal. Thankyou for telling us, so that good can come as we get some information about such a scenario.

My instinct is to keep away from doctors, take my own decisions, and ask medical people to 'think aloud' with me and convince me with evidence and reason. I also expect them to be super-cautious. Therefore the relaxed view of the doctor on call was attractive. On the off chance, were they British? It is possible they were not and had another approach.

But, in this case I would have been tempted to go to A&E, especially if I did not have my own Coaguchek. Also, this is one of the limitations, Coaguchek does not give reliable INR when it gets too high, so you really need venous blood. If they want to, (sigh) hospitals can get the result in less than 30 minutes.

The guidelines I use say you should take oral VitK (5-10mg) for >9. Monitor frequently, repeat if necessary. But you do not want it to go over 5.

Here is where it gets tricky -- the warfarin takes time to push up your INR, and you do not want an INR of <2. You also want to avoid swings. Therefore I would space the VitK. With a home monitor you could check every 4 hours, take a gram or more of Vit K and catch it before it gets high.

NB. f there is serious bleeding of any kind, it is a hospital job. If there is any history or predisposition to serious bleeding it is a hospital job. In this case, it is your life, you would need to insist, to shout, to highlight a bit.