Positives and negatives

[WannaBbetter]

Every time I have an appointment to have my inr checked I feel positive and hopeful that this time my reading will be just right. I'm almost willing the machine to display 2.5... More often than not, I'm either to high or too low. A high number requires a venous blood sample for better accuracy and a low number requires me to take deltaparin injections.

Does anyone have any advice on how to maintain an inr reading in range?

[SpeedyH]

I'm guessing that you are taking Warfarin or an equivalent in which case the medication works by regulating the extent to which vitamin K causes your blood to clot. So you are aiming to get a good balance between the amount of Vitamin K you eat and the amount of medication you take. Everyone is different and some people can eat anything with there being little effect on their INR and some people are very sensitive to Vitamin K loaded meals. It sounds like your body is very reactive to changes in your diet. It might be a good idea to keep some charts for a few weeks of exactly when and how much medication you take (as missed doses have a big impact) and also of when and exactly what you eat. Hooefully then your nurse will bdcsbldvyobdpitcs pattern to what is causing the fluctuations and change your medication accordingly.

[WannaBbetter in reply to SpeedyH]

Thank you. That was helpful advice and info.

[Tofino5]

That is such a difficult situation, For some people it’s hard to keep “in range”. I was the same, INRs all over the place for the 10+ years I was on warfarin. I watched my diet obsessively, every day aiming for the same mg of vit k in my food, and I varying the sources each day. I took a vit k supplement, per my doctor, to try to level things out, but it didn’t help. I had blood draws often, and since I’m tripe positive, the self test machine wasn’t reliable.

Are your self test results matching up with the blood draw results, so that you know the machine is accurate for you?

SpeedyH’s reply has great information.

Good luck and I hope this gets easier for you with time and practice. Anita

[Mair20]

Hello,

Please don’t worry too much about your levels unless there is a significant change. My levels are up and down all the time and I have been on warfarin for 20 years! It’s to do with a number of factors from food to body absorption, from self wellbeing, the weather and your age.

Try not to worry about your levels, I’ve been there worrying about them and it only becomes a big issue in your life. And I will say it’s not worth the stress and worry.

Hope this helps 😊